Despite increased competition there remain key opportunities for content providers writes Fredrik Andersson, SVP Business Development and Co-founder, Accedo

We are facing interesting times right now in the media industry, with content providers facing every stiffer competition from a plethora of providers, from the traditional to the brands launching YouTube-style offerings.

Social media networks also have a growing role to play here, as demonstrated by Facebook’s recent announcement of its Watch service due to be launched soon.

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Fredrik Andersson, SVP Business Development and Co-founder, Accedo

As the video industry continues to grow and become more sophisticated, we are seeing more and more players entering the space. Naturally, these recent entrants increase the competition to earn viewers’ attention across all screens.

Our customers are finding it even more crucial to provide engaging and compelling content across multiple devices, available anytime in order to compete in this market.

Whilst many providers place a lot of emphasis on the software element of designing a video service, in actual fact in such a highly competitive market, that is only one part of a much bigger effort. To build a successful video service you need to think about the business and set out clear goals and objectives before you even consider beginning the actual development.

This is particularly crucial given that consumer interests are constantly changing, with new opportunities and competitors disrupting the market. Being able to evolve and adapt is increasingly important and having business strategies in place to enable that key.

The content provider opportunity

Despite this increased competition, there remain key opportunities for all those different types of content providers. This is partly because many consumers are quite happily signing up to multiple OTT services, each offering them something unique. This is giving rise to niche offerings and we have seen some great and highly successful examples.

There is of course the obvious opportunity for all OTT providers of being able to engage directly with customers thanks to OTT. However, as the market matures what we are now seeing are multiple options for monetising content, such as offering targeted and personalised ads and pushing premium content offerings to non-paying customers.

“As the market matures what we are now seeing are multiple options for monetising content”

When it comes to the technology for maximising the potential of OTT, one thing is clear – one size no longer fits all. When OTT was simply the premise of the likes of Netflix, the services were pretty similar, both in the way content was delivered and in the way it was monetised. Now, with so many different types of players with vastly varying needs, the technology to enable that needs to be flexible too.

I always enjoy the annual trip to IBC and find that the Content Everywhere Hub in particular is a great place to see how the industry is evolving. I expect we will see some interesting diversity at this year’s event reflecting that diversity of the industry we serve.

Accedo will be exhibiting at IBC2017 on Stand 14.E14