VOD Providers Say Monetization is Biggest Challenge of 2014

Video-On-Demand (VOD) providers and broadcasters believe the monetization of digital media is the biggest challenge facing their business in 2014.

MPP Global – a leading provider of CRM and eCommerce solutions to the media and entertainment industries – recently staged a webinar, in which participants were asked to outline the key issues facing their organization.

Nearly half of the poll felt that finding new ways to make money from their online video content would be their most pressing concern this year. Meanwhile, more than one in four companies suggested that increasing engagement and interaction levels would be their biggest challenge in the coming months.

Around one in seven firms think expanding their audience will be their largest obstacle in 2014 and a similar number stated that CRM and big data will give them the most headaches over the next 12 months. Infrastructure concerns were also raised during the survey.

As explained in the webinar, entitled VOD: Challenges, Concepts and Opportunities, the demand for online video has soared in the past few years, with more than six billion hours of footage being watched every single month via YouTube in 2013. This represented a 50 per cent increase on 2012, which is a clear indication that consumer appetite for VOD is growing at a rapid rate.

Mobile devices make up around 40 per cent of YouTube’s global watch time, which is a telling statistic. BBC iPlayer views on smartphones and tablets also surpassed the web for the first time on New Year’s Day.

In 2014, VOD providers and broadcasters will need to review their business models in order to improve user experience and increase revenues. They must also find new ways to take advantage of the explosion of customer data that has been brought about by the growing demand for VOD services.

Paul Johnson, Chief Executive Officer at MPP Global, commented: “The issue of opening up new revenue streams has been a major hang up for VOD providers and broadcasters for some time and our poll shows this will be their primary concern in 2014.

“The success of Netflix and Now TV has demonstrated that consumers are willing to pay for quality online video content, while YouTube’s ad revenues increased by 53 per cent last year. It goes to show that media and entertainment companies can make huge profits if they offer three things – great services, great content and great offers.”

MPP Global’s eSuite solution – which comprises of ePayment, eManager, eHQ and eDeveloper – is tailor made to help media and entertainment companies overcome the many challenges facing them at the moment.

The CRM and payment solution integrates seamlessly with a firm’s existing branding and enables them to capture new customer data and payment details in an efficient manner. MPP Global’s eDeveloper gives customers the freedom to make repeat purchases without entering their details again, while the eManager service allows them to manage their own account.

With so much extra subscription information to store, companies can use the eHQ back office management tool to get the most out of their customer data. VOD providers and broadcasters can not only see what shows or footage people are viewing, but they can also find out when and where they are watching them. This enables them to launch targeted marketing campaigns that promote certain content to customers based on their viewing history.

Mr Johnson added: “eSuite allows businesses to find a single view of their company and customers, which can make it far easier to launch successful marketing campaigns and incentives.

“Many firms fail to realise it is more cost-effective to work on retaining existing customers than attracting new ones, which is why it is so important to ensure the user experience is as enjoyable as possible.

“Consumers are far more likely to pay for additional video content if they only have to click one button, rather than wading through page after page of data entry fields. MPP Global’s eSuite solution makes this possible.”

MPP Global will be at Cable Congress on March 12 and 13 in Berlin to discuss all the latest developments in digital content monetization.