Data to have ‘significant impact’ on North American pay TV

Advanced data and analytics will have a significant impact on the North American pay TV industry over the next five years, according to more than half of industry executives polled in a new study.

Among the first findings from Nagra and research firm MTM’s Pay TV Innovation Forum 2017, was that developments in data and analytics will help pay TV operators to gain more flexibility and insight while reducing operating costs.

Operators will be able to deliver value through personalised content and user interfaces, targeted ads and improvements to sales and marketing operations, according to the report.

Elsewhere the study noted that the threat of content privacy is growing in the North American pay TV market, with challenges including more sophisticated pirates and the emergence of illegal IPTV set-top boxes and apps.

It also listed the growing costs of pay TV subscriptions is another ‘key challenge’ in the rise of content piracy, but said that legitimate on-demand TV services will help to reduce the impact of piracy in the long term.

“North American executives clearly recognise that the industry is experiencing a period of change and disruption – and are making the investments required to remain competitive in a challenging market,” said Jon Watts, managing partner, MTM.

“This year’s research programme shows that the North American industry is moving forward, developing and extending product and service portfolios and addressing new opportunities. In areas like OTT, data and analytics and IoT, the region is leading the way,” said Jon Watts, managing partner, MTM.

The study reported “strong generational differences” in the perceived value of pay TV services, with younger people opting more for multi-screen on-demand viewing, compared to the linear environments favoured by older viewers.

This has led operators to rethink their pricing and business model approaches to “better address all demographics and market segments,” according to the report.

“There are clearly significant challenges ahead, as competition grows – but the pay TV industry is on track to deliver improved value propositions to consumers. This is an industry in transition and it’s exciting to see the progress that is being made.”