Posts
OTT Question Time S5, Ep 6 – The Dynamics & Future of Film & HETV Financing
Ben Keen, the renowned OTT industry analyst, recently published a report about the state of UK film financing for the British Screen Forum. In it he outlined some of the trends he’d spotted over the past 10 years including: total spending across all film and High-End Television (HETV) [...]
OTT Question Time S5, Ep 5 – OTT Service Feels
When you think, or talk, about various OTT services, what reactions do they evoke? Are they functional (catching up with Strictly Come Dancing on BBC iPlayer)? Transactional (Prime Video comes with my Amazon membership)? Or even, ahem, emotional (Netflix and chill)? Do we love, love, love our streamers, [...]
OTT Question Time Online, Season 5, Ep 4 – Olympics Debrief
Everything about the Olympics and Paralympics is at a gargantuan scale. The logistics, the venues, the ticket sales. The sponsors, the travel, the security. The inspiration, anticipation and the sheer spectacle of it all. And, of course, the people: the athletes and fans, volunteers and organisers, the media [...]
OTT Question Time Online S5, Ep3 – The Value of Content
One of the things that made the old TV model so successful was the relative scarcity of content. If you missed something when it was broadcast you’d have to wait for it to appear on the channel again, pay to rent or buy it, or subscribe to a [...]
OTT Question Time Online S5, Ep2 – IBC Preview
At this week’s OTT Question Time Online, Thurs 12 September, 4pm UK / 5pm CET, we’ll be talking about IBC – the industry’s biggest annual trade show in Europe. But fear not, it won’t be an extended sales pitch! Instead, and together with our guests, Jonas Engwall, CEO [...]
OTT Question Time Online S5, Ep1 – Back to the Future
OTT Question Time Online returned on 29 August and in the first episode of Season 5 we debated whether, with streamers increasingly adopting broadcaster characteristics, the old broadcast model was right all along. Together with Liz Bales, CEO of BASE (the British Association for Screen Entertainment), Gulliver Smithers, formerly [...]
Ad Tiers & Password-Sharing Crackdowns Go Hand-in-Hand
What happens when a streamer starts cracking down on password sharing? Some back-of-the-envelope thinking: Password-sharers (i.e. those not paying a subscription themselves) ignore messages and continue using the service for as long as they can They stop using the service altogether They legitimately subscribe to the service and [...]
Can we Stop Talking about FAST Now?
I was at the CTAM Europe Symposium in London yesterday where, together with excellent guests from Samsung TV Plus, Vevo and Virgin Media, I moderated a panel about FAST. Yes, another one. If you detect some weariness in my tone it’s because – at least for Europe - [...]
50 VOD Professionals 2024 – Nominations Now Open!
50 VOD Professionals – our list of the 50 most influential people working in the UK’s video-on-demand and OTT industry – is back for 2024! Nominations are now open and we’d like to hear from you about the brilliant people that power VOD services all over the UK: [...]
Disney’s Q2 2024 Numbers
In a wide-ranging presentation at this year’s OTT Question Time Live 2024, the excellent Ben Keen declared a winner in The Streaming Wars. Collectively, he said, Disney, Warner Bros Discovery, Paramount, Sony and Comcast had lost $600bn in value since peaking during the COVID years. “Why? Because Wall [...]
ITV 2023 Results – A Tale of Two Revenue Streams
A recap from ITV’s full year results 2023 released yesterday. First, the good news. Digital performance – that is, OTT – is up across the board: - Total streaming hours viewed increased 26% YOY to 1.5bn hours - Monthly active users rose 19% to 12.5m - Overall digital [...]
Amazon’s Ad Tier: Potential Growth & ROI
The comms from Amazon - at the turn of the year - about introducing its new ad tier were fascinating for two reasons: #1) Amazon said that it was making the change because it would “allow us to continue investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment [...]
OTT Question Time Live 2024 — Agenda Announced!
With 50+ speakers, 14 fireside chats, 7 panels and 2 presentations now confirmed, we have a full lid for OTT Question Time Live 2024! Come join us on 30th and 31st January at London's iconic British Museum where we'll be talking to, amongst others: Faz Aftab, Director of M&E Partnerships [...]
IBC 2023 Review
#1. Where are we at, as an industry, in 2023? For me, last year’s IBC had the flavour of a giddy reunion with long-lost friends – “We’re back! How have you been? You look different in person than on a screen!” This year, the mood was more focused [...]
Current Attitudes to AI in the OTT Industry
VOD Professional is conducting a survey about current attitudes to AI (artificial intelligence) in the broadcasting and OTT streaming industry and, as a valued colleague, we'd like to hear your opinions. We'll ask you 14 questions about AI and the impact it might have on both OTT itself [...]
OTT Question Time Live 2023 — Channel 4’s OTT Advertising Perspective
Jonathan Lewis, Head of Commercial Innovation & Partners at Channel 4 and Leon Siotis, Head of SpringServe International, at OTT Question Time Live on 31 January 2023.
OTT Question Time Live 2023 — Bold Moves from Amazon Freevee
Lisa Rousseau, Head of Amazon Freevee UK in conversation with Liz Bales, CEO of British Association of Screen Entertainment at OTT Question Time Live on 1 February 2023.
OTT Question Time Live 2023 — How Rakuten TV’s Content Acquisition Strategy has Evolved
Marcos Milanez, Chief Content Officer at Rakuten TV in conversation with Marion Ranchet, Founder & MD of The Local Act Consultancy at BBC Studios at OTT Question Time Live on 1 February 2023.
OTT Question Time Live 2023 — All About THEMA
Philippe Rouxel, EVP Worldwide Distribution at THEMA in conversation with Kasia Jablonska, Head of VOD at BBC Studios at OTT Question Time Live on 1 February 2023. **
OTT Question Time Live 2023 — Real World Churn: How Japanese Streamer Bandai Channel Cut theirs in Half
Chris Ambrozic, VP & GM Discovery at TiVo in conversation with Kauser Kanji, MD of VOD Professional at OTT Question Time Live on 1 February 2023.