Live Sport Video Is a Primary Driver for Multiscreen Services
When broadcasters look to bring their content online, they should look to sports first. That was the message from Michael Martinez, director of sales engineering for QuickPlay Media, speaking at the recent Streaming Forum conference in London. He said that online sports is a sure winner.
"Why sports?" Martinez asked. "We choose sports for one very big reason: it's a very high-valued asset. When you're providing these assets, we know that multi-screen's expensive. You have to find a way to monetize it, so you need to go in with a slam dunk. The slam dunk is sports. You know if you put the sports out there, they're going to consume it, whereas if I picked some of my linear channels and I move them into the IP delivery space, some could be successful, some could not, but it's not a risk you want to do until it's a completely proven market with that type of asset."
To back up his statements, Martinez offered some stats from the London Olympics and showed how the BBC made smart moves prior to streaming its coverage.
"If we look at some of the numbers, the BBC for example: 12 million views requested on mobile and tablets during the Olympics. Well, 12 million's a pretty good number to go after, and again that's live content that they brought to the table and they also brought it across all the screens -- so having the applications available to consume that with a marketing push to explain, 'Hey, there's a way to consume that content beyond just your primary screen,'" Martinez added.
For more on delivering live sports to multiple screens, watch the full video below.
Multiscreen Services for Live Sport
Live sport is a primary driver for multiscreen services. Explore the delivery of live multiscreen TV based on the experiences of operators who have streamed sporting events including the Stanley Cup Playoffs, 2010 Winter Olympics, 2012 Summer Olympics and Major League Baseball. The session covers rights management, cost, authentication and business models.
Michael Martinez, Director, Sales Engineering, QuickPlay Media — Canada
Related Articles
QuickPlay Media looks at U.K. and U.S. mobile TV viewing: U.K. has higher penetration, while U.S. watches longer.
27 Nov 2012