“Big Data” Big Player in Pay-TV’s Future

One of the themes out of IBC and SCTE/ISBE Cable-Tec Expo last month was that the future of pay-TV relies not just on traditional broadband and video services but on how operators can harness “Big Data” to create new opportunities for services that are aligned with customer needs.

From improved search and discovery functionalities to IoT applications in healthcare and home automation, the ability of operators to gather, store, process and sometimes discard data is a key to making services more relevant to consumers, driving increases in usage and value propositions.

For pay-TV operators, creating a successful big data strategy requires overcoming a variety of challenges, including the need to:

·      Ensure security of data at all points, including servers, in the network and within the home;

·      Minimize the computational and network costs involved in collecting, transmitting and analyzing data in the cloud;

·      Prevent the explosion of data from congesting networks, especially as operators deliver more and more higher bandwidth 4K UHD content; and

·      Identify ways to keep storage requirements and costs – including power – from spiraling out of control.

In a new white paper entitled “Big Data: Expanding the Horizons of Pay-TV,” Alticast studies the opportunities operators have to capitalize on the potential of big data, and addresses steps the industry can take to unlock future services and revenue.

Adding Revenue Through Value-Added Services

In the popularity contest between video services and other subscription services, this Vindicia study leaves no question as to who wears the crown – or where growth potential for our industry lies.  The study talked about how Over-the-Top and Video-on-Demand services are the single most important subscription service to users with multiple online subscriptions, but what is equally intriguing is the vast number of subscription services that offer new opportunities for operators and content providers.

Two key Vindicia findings -- that four in 10 subscribers rank video services highest and that almost 60% of subscribers engage with their favorite service 11 hours a month – speaking to the commanding presence that video has in the market.  At the same time, Vindicia found that an overwhelming majority would be willing to ante up for value-added packages, which could range from simple upgrades from basic to premium services to new opportunities such as digital health or Internet of Things applications.  Three quarters of respondents expressed a willingness to pay an additional $3.99 per month for services that would add value; when the cost was trimmed to an additional $1.99 per month, 84% said they would commit to upgrades.

Here’s how Vindicia’s CEO viewed the results: “First, as long as service providers deliver sustained and obvious value for money, customers will stick around. Second, demand for value-added benefits is so high that service providers can consider it a reliable avenue for significant business expansion. Our survey found that despite the notion that consumers don’t want to add significant financial obligations to their lives, they are very willing to pay for the services they value.”

Our take is that this is exactly the type of data that operators should consider as they explore opportunities in an Internet-of-Things world.  While video will continue to be the primary contributor to operators’ bottom lines, their ability to make their networks the hub of “smart” activity for consumers has the potential to take our industry into the uncharted waters of future growth.

Envisioning an ‘Awesome’ Future for Pay-TV

With online video viewing and Internet of Things strategies on the rise, which technology giants are best positioned to be at the hub of it all?  We believe that the answer may be the pay-TV operators that already are bringing entertainment and broadband services to the home.

In “Alticast Has a Vision For the Future of TV (And It’s Awesome),” CED Magazine discusses how our AltiView 3 user interface and other capabilities that are on the way can position an oft-overlooked device -- the pay-TV set-top box – at the center of the connected home.

Following up on our compelling demo at CES 2016, the CED piece discusses AltiView 3’s contextual ability to “create a web of interrelated viewing selections” based on previous viewing, preferred genres and even program musical soundtracks.  It also supports the emergence of 4K content for leading operators such as our customer, Videotron.

In addition, the piece explains how we’re working on Wi-Fi capabilities that can make STBs the “single gateway into the connected home,” enabling monitoring of smart appliance, sensor and other devices and creating what our U.S. president and CTO John Carlucci calls a “data storm” that can be monetized by pay-TV operators.

The technology on the horizon is transforming how consumers interact with the myriad of devices in their homes.  We look forward to working with our pay-TV operator partners to ensure that are at the center of that innovation.

CES 2016 Wrap-up

Drones, robots and autonomous cars notwithstanding, it was difficult to find standout announcements at CES, but there was a definite increase in the number of companies solving particular problems, as well as improvements in burgeoning technologies. For the cable industry, health monitoring is becoming more viable, not just within personal devices, but in new products that can provide richer and more technical interfaces for remote medical care. The industry still tip-toes forward in consideration of privacy and security, but each year it seems remote doctor visits and remote family care are becoming plausible, with hopes that in the future cable operators will securely offer this important service to their customers.

New IoT offerings in home automation were highlighted alongside others that integrate devices, protocols and dashboards within a single service. A challenge is the difficulty of standardization, given the existence of Z-Wave, ZigBee, and other protocols for sensor networking, as well as the emergence of new protocols, some of which are designed for specific applications. Regardless, home automation continues to grow at a rapid rate, with Samsung standing out for its integration of their SmartTV with home services.

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As expected 4K Ultra High Definition (UHD) with High Dynamic Range (HDR) was everywhere.  This is good news for Operators like Videotron that, with the help of Alticast, already launched a 4K set top box.  There were also numerous announcements on content deals that will help accelerate UHD TV uptake. IPTV 4K delivery remains to be a challenge, the trick is ensuring enough continuous bandwidth over wi-fi or broadband for receiving this stunning content. Some solutions that deliver 4K content use Adaptive Bit-rate Streaming (ABR) which can fluctuate the resolution based on bandwidth availability, providing a non-optimal 4K experience. 

Virtual reality, a product of the 1980s, has come back with a vengeance, thanks to better and more accessible technology. Press reports suggest it will be a moneymaker, certainly for medical and training, but for entertainment content it falls prey to the same issues as 3D TV, requiring content that is expensive to produce and special viewing hardware. It will take time to see if it will proliferate beyond gaming-type applications.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

What does the future hold for these technologies?  In the months ahead, the market will separate the sizzle from the sustainable. For now, all of us can get back to doing what we do best -- innovate new products and enrich the lives of consumers. And, of course, look forward to the spotlight of CES 2017.