The sports broadcasting industry has evolved rapidly in recent years, and the move from live streaming to the Internet, using the OTT (Over-The-Top) infrastructure, will offer new advertising opportunities. The benefits for promotional sponsors are triple; video on demand (VOD) will allow more people than ever to watch sporting events, thus creating a larger advertising pool; a younger audience that is more receptive to ads will be drawn to these platforms; and OTT services will allow the distribution of more personalized advertising content.About the author Matt Bowman, Director, ISG Connect. For the first time in the UK, Amazon Prime's recent dip into Premier League streaming has provided an alternative to traditional linear channels. His claim that "millions" are listening is a snapshot of the potential reach of OTT services. Furthermore, the monetary potential of these platforms could lead to the democratization of sports teams. It is important to examine these effects and what they mean for the broadcasting and advertising industry as the future of broadcast TV confronts us now.
Greater access for fans.
OTT standardizes the rules of the game and democratizes access to sports equipment for all, which means that people will no longer have to pay premium prices to access their favorite teams through a Sky or BT Sport subscription. The recent Amazon Prime launch of Premier League soccer games is a prime example. After spending €90 million on a three-year rights package for Premier League football matches, the OTT streaming platform has become the first of its kind to broadcast live sports in the UK. After organizing its first series of devices, Amazon has claimed that the two-day period has seen the highest number of registrations since the company launched the Prime subscription service in 2007. Amazon's success not only poses a real threat to cable rights holders and traditional broadcasters, but also serves as an exemplary model that other sports authorities can follow to improve access to their sports. UEFA, for example, recently announced its new streaming service UEFA.TV. The platform will give football fans around the world instant access to highlights and clips from the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament, the first of its kind to take place in multiple countries. The addition of the UEFA.TV OTT platform means the tournament can maintain a localized feel for fans through instant access to content, even if it takes place across the continent. Ultimately, the OTT revolution will improve access to sports for fans around the world, exponentially increasing viewership figures for sporting events around the world.New advertising models.
OTT attracts a much younger audience; A much more receptive audience to advertising. For example, a Nielsen Media Research study found a 40% drop in traditional cable TV viewing numbers among 18-24 year olds over the past five years. At the same time, subscriptions to OTT services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Now TV have continued to rise to the point where they have exceeded UK pay-TV subscriptions for the first time in 2018. This migration of young TV viewers Live to OTT presents a multitude of opportunities for advertisers and marketers. It is well known that young viewers are more receptive to ads, while it is also true that OTT viewers are more likely to complete a full ad. The AdTech FreeWheel company found that OTT viewers terminate up to 98% of ads. Essentially, this means that OTT offers advertisers a large number of viewers who are more willing to consume and more receptive to their ads. Add to this the technological developments of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) that further enrich the metadata, we should expect to see a change in the traditional advertising models that we are used to. It will be possible to fund a channel with ads alone, thus eliminating the need for subscription-based models.Gold Rush Advertising
We've seen big developments in advertising recently, with "addressable advertising" the latest trend. These are television commercials that can be targeted to specific households through user data. Almost all of the major television networks and providers have implemented their own approach to addressable advertising. In the past, TV commercials could target viewers only based on basic demographics like their gender and age. This meant someone in health and fitness could get an ad for McDonalds, or a dog owner could get an ad for cat food. Addressable ads are intended to ensure that ads and messages are relevant to each viewer. So OTT will lead to an advertising gold rush where organizations fight for primetime seats on major sports devices to reach the new big and friendly audience. The OTT revolution in sports broadcasting will improve access to viewing around the world. As more and more fans are able to participate in premium global sporting events, we should expect new OTT channels to emerge that eliminate the need for subscription fees and rely solely on advertising. to generate revenue. In turn, this will further democratize access to sporting events for fans. The question now is whether this will not happen.- Stay safe online with the best VPN.