Staking a claim with golden content: The business shifts shaping media strategy
The media industry is evolving at breakneck speed as content owners embrace next-generation technology to power new business models and reach viewers across over-the-top (OTT), digital, and free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) platforms. World-leading broadcasters and content providers accept that a robust digital strategy is fundamental to achieving commercial success and growing global audiences. Today, quarterly earnings calls are driven much more by the performance of the digital side of your business than legacy operations.
In an increasingly competitive and fast-paced business environment, media organizations and tech giants are sizing up the streaming market and investing heavily to seize more opportunities than ever before. High-value content will remain king, but media leaders need to find their proven kingmakers now to lay the foundations for success in a digital-first future.
Slicing and dicing a fragmented market
It’s no secret that premium content draws in viewers at scale and keeps them tuned in. Nowadays, premier content providers can easily ramp up their distribution capabilities to a global scale while also regionalizing at a hyper-local level. Broadcasters can bring the biggest live events to cross-platform audiences worldwide while meeting the demand for more curated content experiences, such as niche sports and entertainment. Previously, delivering niche, regionalized content to global viewers required too much dedicated technology infrastructure and investment for little reward. In other words, the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze. Powered by an IP-based multicast video transport network like the LTN Network and cloud-enabled automated versioning solutions such as LTN Lift and LTN Arc, bringing niche content to diverse and untapped international markets is now feasible, both from a business and technology perspective. Ultra-reliable global distribution and seamless regionalization to connect with diverse cultural audiences have never been easier, more efficient, or more scalable.
Enabling effective regionalization and maximizing reach is paramount to getting the most bang for your buck and optimizing ROI on ever-costlier sports rights and licensing fees. The consumer shift to digital viewing means established media brands, streaming services, and tech giants are battling it out to secure top-tier sports rights, fueling huge investment deals in a market SportBusiness forecasts will surpass $60B next year. Market entrants like digital-only platforms and tech giants are claiming their seat at the table, and amid challenging economic conditions, all rights holders and media providers must find ways to efficiently customize live sports content for multi-platform, multi-geography audiences reliably and at scale.
Top content drives limitless opportunity
The value of premium live content has never been greater, as major technology players and media companies invest heavily to drive advertising revenues. Industry leaders know that advertising will shape revenue strategies for years to come. When you invest in high value content assets such as premier live sports, you secure millions – potentially even billions – of eyeballs, unlocking limitless monetization opportunities.
Increased investment is fueling creativity in the media. Content creators are finding ways to produce outstanding new content that can be monetized in more powerful and dynamic ways than before, with immersive, personalized streams and game-like experiences. While creators innovate with golden content and advances in connectivity make it easier for consumers to access video content from any location or device, media businesses need efficient ways to create, version, deliver and monetize that content and capitalize on growing market opportunity.
The power of partnerships
Media brands that can effectively bring premium live content to digital audiences at scale are in pole position to thrive in a challenging marketplace, this year and in the long run. While there is an eye-watering amount of dollars on the table for content owners and streaming providers, the simple truth remains that creating, versioning, monetizing, and delivering premium live content is incredibly challenging, requiring best-in-class infrastructure, advanced software workflows and dedicated expertise. New market players and traditional media organizations are realizing that their existing infrastructure and technologies aren’t enough to deliver the required content tonnage and customization to meet the growing demands of a media market in constant flux, today and in the future.
Our customers – some of the world’s biggest media organizations – understand that navigating the transition to a digital-first future is a complex task. But throwing new technology at media customers and expecting them to harness it to full effect isn’t the answer. Creative powerhouses want to focus on their content, audiences, and business differentiators, not technology.
LTN delivers uniquely integrated, unified and scalable solutions to support business growth and give customers peace of mind and a good night’s sleep. In an industry where fast-evolving market shifts are re-shaping media strategies day by day, opting for future-proof technology partnerships and an IP-first blueprint is the smartest decision business leaders can make.