With the trend of smart TV owners not plugging in their devices coming to an end, smart TV shopping is set to boom, with generated sales predicted to reach nearly £750 million by the end of 2014. In addition, ESPN and Twitter are planning to take their partnership to the next level by posting sports highlight video clips on the social network.

Take a look at the news below and let us know what you think by leaving us a comment here or follow us on our social media channels.

Two-thirds of connected TV owners connecting (Rapid TV News)
Over the last couple of years it has been a trend for connected TV owners not to plug in their devices. But Parks Associates says this is no longer the case, with 63% of smart TV owners connecting the set to the Internet, and 79% of these owners using the TV to watch premium online video on a monthly basis.

Smart TV shopping set to boom (Broadband TV News)
Retail experts Conlumino are predicting that shopping direct from an interactive smart TV screen is about to boom in the UK, with 25% of people doing it by the end of 2014 and generating sales of nearly £750 million (€886.7 million).

ESPN, Twitter Expand Tie-Up (WSJ)
ESPN and Twitter are announcing a major expansion of their collaboration to post video-highlight clips of major sports events on the social networking site in the coming year. The sports network plans to sell ads that will run inside the video clips, and marketing sponsors will commit to buying from Twitter a minimum value of “promoted” tweets to circulate their pitches.

YouTube, Netflix suck up half of Internet traffic (IP&TV News)
According to US firm Sandvine, Netflix and YouTube accounted for half of all Internet traffic in North America in the year to date. The report predicts that 2013 will be the year that long-form video moves onto mobile networks in many markets, as users become more comfortable with watching films and TV shows on their handheld devices.

In our previous Operators Survival Guide post presenting Rules of Engagement #1, we discussed the changes in the living room and in people’s expectations when watching TV. In this post, we’ll dive deeper into how operators should adapt to maintain their central position in the TV experience.

Viewers need a tour guide to help them navigate the adventure of content discovery and consumption. Content service providers, who are in the best position to play that role, must understand the constantly changing trends in subscribers’ attitudes.

Content services offered to users need to be made less linear and more contextual by adapting them to viewers’ way of thinking. One clear conclusion can already be drawn; it better be “easy to play, yet hard to master”.

Easy to Play; Hard to Master
Service providers must make it easy for any user to consume content – “easy to play” – while still enabling advanced users to enjoy more depth and wiggle room – “hard to master.” The challenge is to design one system that offers the sophisticated features demanded by advanced users while not compromising the ease of use for beginners and average users.

We can illustrate this idea in the familiar context of Apple and Android. Apple, which is fairly straightforward, reflects the “less is more” approach. It is easy to play and not hard to master. In contrast, Android is not as “easy to play” for most smartphone users. However, as they become more advanced after familiarizing themselves with all of Android’s features and customizations, users can turn it into quite a gem that serves their purposes very well. But note that neither Apple nor Android is both “easy to play” and “hard to master.” As a result, there are divided teams in the smartphone market. If a service provider can incorporate both approaches, there will be a win-win for all parties.

Seamless and Enjoyable Data
As most of you have probably experienced while watching content, it is common for most viewers to have many questions about actors and other aspects of the content. Today, these questions can be answered easily with data available from a variety of sources. In fact, it is believed that 80% of these questions can be answered with 20% of the data. That data has to be packaged in a way that creates a seamless and enjoyable user experience.

This is where service operators play an important role. In addition to adapting to the growing number of users and providing them with an engaging experience, service providers must also ensure that the content itself and user data are protected.

The Engagement Model 
The first step in creating an optimal experience for viewers is providing them with
Basic Services. These services have to be open and flexible in order to adapt to constant technological advances.

Personalization is the next step. Operators can personalize their basic services, such as VOD, by referring to users’ social profiles and behaviors analysis to help them create enhanced services that satisfy each subscriber’s tastes. This “personalization” then encourages social interaction and increases the opportunities for purchasing content.

Enrichment is the final step in the model. The next generation of metadata provides relevant data about what the viewer is watching and can generate an endless amount of magazines on specific topics related to the content on second screen application. This promises full engagement and guarantees a total, satisfying package.

Enjoy the second part of the “Operators Survival Guide” session in the clip below, and check out the slideshow used in the TV Connect 2013 presentation.

Missed the Rules of Engagement #1 for the Operators Survival Guide? Read it here now.

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Curious to see how an enriched experience created for the Academy-award winning film “Argo” might look? Click here to find out.

Click here to learn more about the companion apps war from our CEO’s blog post.

If you binge on TV shows, VOD might be the pay-TV service you value the most. You might also be interested in the future of OTT service Hulu, as it was rumored that Yahoo’s CEO met with the company’s owners. With viewers binging on TV shows, whether starting a series from the beginning or catching up on past episodes, it’s interesting to see what services customers value, and how service providers will accommodate their needs.

Take a look at the news below and let us know what you think by leaving us a comment here or follow us on our social media channels.

VOD most Valuable Pay-TV Asset (Broadband TV News)
A new study found that 62% of consumers value VOD highest, above DVRs (60%) HD channels (55%) and premium channels (47%).

Yahoo said to be Courting Hulu for Video Unit (Cnet)
Hulu, the OTT service, has been rumored to be looking for a buyer over the past couple of years. With Yahoo looking to expand it’s video feature, it’s not surprising to hear that Yahoo’s CEO Marissa Mayer recently met with the video streaming company’s corporate owners.

IPTV not Getting the Attention it Deserves from Service Providers (FierceIPTV)
Despite positive earnings results and subscriber numbers to back them up, IPTV is still playing second fiddle to other telecom services. FierceIPTV editor, Jim Barthold, warns that without a further emphasis on IPTV, customers looking for a transformative experience may find it with a company that is not a telco.

So, ‘Who Will Dominate the Living Room?’ Check out this responsive post by analyst Steven Hawley.

Ever thought about how it could look if Twitter launched a TV app? What is Heineken’s new strategy? Do you yell at the TV at a moment’s notice while watching soccer?

Read how different companies are embracing second screen trends, applications and their possibilities in this week’s industry news.

Let us know what you think by leaving us a comment here or follow us on our social media channels.

What if Twitter launched a #TV app? Here’s what it could look like (Lost Remote)
Following the release of Twitter’s music app that ties to external services like Spotify, there is speculation about Twitter’s ability to do the same for TV and what it might look like.

Heineken Embraces Second-Screen Trend with New Mobile Push (brandchannel)
Heineken knows that mobile is a game changer, and is launching a strategy to target consumers on mobile devices in real-time second screen experiences.

Vubooo’s take on the second screen: Less talk, more gooooooals (GigaOm)
Vubooo, a second screen app that specifically targets soccer fans, does away with badges and trivia. Instead it allows fans to predict the outcome of a game, and then simply cheer and boo as the action unfolds on the field.

Al Jazeera adds 2nd screen to iPad app (Broadband TV News)
Al Jazeera English has updated its iPad app, adding a “social second screen” alongside the live TV feed. Users will be able to view the channel’s official Twitter feeds, the user’s own personal Twitter feeds, hashtags, and more, all while watching news and programs.

Who Will Win the War of the Companion Apps? Learn more in VO’s recent CEO blog post.

What Viewers Want

Second screen usage and companion apps are increasingly becoming essential components of the TV viewing experience. Like most viewers, I love them because they allow for seamless multitasking. We can gather information while interacting with our networks and the program itself. This transforms a traditionally passive viewing experience into an active pastime.

Source: http://www.slideshare.net/AdColony/adcolony-nielsen

Because the field of second screen apps is relatively new, many players are now trying to enter it, including broadcasters, operators, producers and independent parties, such as Miso and Twitter.

Interestingly enough, most of the second screen apps that viewers use are not provided by the operators. As a result, when it comes to providing an engaging viewing experience to accompany programs their viewers are enjoying, operators are falling behind and losing control.

Advantages and Challenges for the Big Players

The big players’ goals of increasing viewer engagement and gaining control of viewers’ multitasking activities can be easily accomplished. Operators need to control the set top box and remote control. In the face of competition from newer second screen players, operators must also maintain their position as the gateway to content in the face of competition from the newer second screen players. As the second screen becomes the primary screen, producers need to optimize the interactivity between users in order to increase user engagement and advertising revenues.

Source: http://www.second-scream.com/shopping-on-second-screen/

Challenges Faced by Broadcasters, Operators and Independent Players

Each of the many players trying to gain a foothold in this market has their own challenges and advantages.

Broadcasters can partner with producers to create offerings that promote deep interactions. Deep interactions can give a key advantage to producers facing the issues of apps’ recurring usage and cost.

Operators should provide a comprehensive experience for all their content, whether live or on-demand. This renders content discovery more natural, which encourages recurring use. With operators’ unique knowledge of users, they can create frameworks for comprehensive and interactive experiences, leading to interactions that are deep and targeted to specific programs.

Independent players are stand-alone businesses. Consider Miso, which has a comprehensive app, but lacks a direct relationship with the producers. Consequently, it is on its own in creating a valuable business. Miso’s biggest challenge is sustaining a business based on second screen apps and generating revenues only from that. Other market players have other revenue sources.

For some specific programs, stand-alone apps can provide compelling interactive experiences. However, this option is limited to few flagship programs, and will not produce recurring usage. Comprehensive players are in the best position to secure recurring usage with content discovery apps, even if the experience itself would be average for most programs. The real competition between these players revolves around their ability to bring a comprehensive experience to each program and to create relationships with the producers to enhance the second screen even further.

What the Future Holds

The second screen, offering content discovery and interaction and serving as a remote control, is becoming the most prominent screen. With viewers increasingly spending more time on their mobile and connected devices, companion apps will continue evolving, and interactivity throughout the broadcast spectrum will keep on expanding. The former second screen will eventually become the primary focus of users as they send content from their mobile devices to the big screen. The battle for the companion apps will become the battle for the first screen.

Read more about companion apps in previous post:
http://blog.viaccess-orca.com/industry/pave-the-way-for-blu-ray-second-screen-apps/

This week’s industry news takes a look at the growth occurring in the TV industry worldwide. Orange TV has grown to now reach over 6 million homes, and Swisscom is taking their TV Everywhere service everywhere. We also see analyst Guy Bisson’s recommendation for pay TV service providers who want to compete with OTT, and Aereo, the New York based startup, is expanding to Boston. Take a look at the news below and let us know what you think by leaving us a comment here or follow us on our social media channels.

Orange TV Reaches 6 Million (Broadband TV News)
France Telecom’s Orange TV service is now available to over 6 million households, ten years after its debut as MaLigne TV.

Swisscom Takes TV Everywhere Over the Border (Broadband TV News)
Beginning Monday, April 29, Swisscom customers can access their TV Everywhere service in Switzerland and beyond. This is the first time an IPTV provider takes such a service not only nationwide, but also across the border.

Analyst: Pay TV Providers Need to Build CDNs to Compete with Netflix, Amazon (Fierce IPTV)
According to Guy Bisson, research director for television at IHS, pay TV service providers should invest in content delivery networks (CDNs) if they want to hold off the likes of Netflix, Amazon and Hulu. In order for pay TV service providers to compete, they must embrace TV Everywhere and properly control content delivery.

Aereo Brings Free Over-The-Air TV And Cloud DVR To Boston May 15
Aereo, a New York based startup that promises TV viewers will be able to watch and record live TV over the Internet, without having any hardware installed in their homes, is planning to expand. Starting May 15, Bostonians will have access to the startup’s free, over-the-air TV services and usage-based cloud DVR subscription options.

Most OTT content viewers, especially those who appreciate the glitter and novelty of newly purchased smart mobile devices, are enthused by the variety and quality of available OTT content possibilities. Big players, including content service providers, content owners and copyright holders, being well aware of this, continue to promote more content that their viewers can enjoy on any device. However, every good story has its bad side, and with OTT there is no doubt it is content piracy.

As the major players began feeling the painful effects of cyber attacks, they hastened to find ways to detect and fight piracy before it could get worse. It turned out that P2P and Content Delivery Networks, supporting both file sharing and live content streaming on the web, pose one of the greatest threats to content service providers and owners. The few who upload content onto such networks and use services and technologies from untrustworthy platforms, can actually cause more harm than the legions of people consuming content illegally. The hackers using these shady services typically steal content by exploiting security flaws to access the premium set-top box world. They then redistribute live programs globally in real-time.

And there is more… with the technology behind the emerging TV Everywhere trend becoming more open in order to enable content to be viewed anywhere, anytime and in any place, hackers can now easily make their victims’ computers, smartphones, tablets and smart TVs vulnerable to malware. In fact, service reach calls for diversity among platforms, and, unfortunately, also offers multiple hacking targets among device platforms. In essence, one hack fits all!

In order to put an end to the hackfest and to protect both content and viewers, the big players are seeking ways to develop and apply customized solutions for monitoring security and managing renewability. Operators must still maintain direct relationships with end devices, even though they regret no longer being able to control them directly. Piracy management is therefore becoming urgent for the content stakeholders, none of whom want the hackers to prevail. As content providers focus on risk management over time and in real time, they will provide more protection for their premium content before OTT content piracy gets out of control.

David Leporini is the Executive Vice President of Marketing, Products and Security. Prior to this role, David was a member of the Executive Board of Viaccess and served as CTO since 2007

Connect with David Leporini:

Read more from David Leporini:
Great to SUX
Mirrors All Around Us
The Road to IBC: Hybrid Whispers

The living room, once dominated by TV, has changed dramatically in recent years. From a TV kingdom, with viewers glued to the screen, the living room has been transformed into a room full of screens – iPads, smartphones, and laptops – all fighting for viewers’ attention. Viewers are no longer passive couch potatoes, but have become an engaged audience that is tweeting, SMSing and IMing while still watching the TV show on the main screen.

This new reality faces operators with a major challenge in maintaining their central position. But fear no more! We are happy to present to you the first part of “Rules of Engagement: The Definitive Operator Survival Guide.”  

Obvious and Not So Obvious Changes
Remember when you had to wait anxiously for the show you liked to be broadcast on TV? Those days are gone! The opinions and concepts regarding viewer engagement have shifted radically in the last few decades. Before the idea of TV Everywhere was even a flicker of the imagination, viewers would wait for hours or even days to watch a program of their choice, which was shown in a predetermined time slot. Later, they would talk about the program with their friends and peers, some would also wait to purchase magazines or other periodicals to get more background information about the program, and refer to those publications when later discussing it.

Not anymore! People now have different expectations. Enabled by advances in mobile technology, viewers have come to enjoy multitasking and have become more demanding than ever before. Power has shifted from the hands of the television industry to the viewers themselves – power to the people!

Power to the People
Viewers are now smarter and expect more. They want their questions answered immediately. “Where is this actor from?” “Does this town actually exist?” “Is this based on an actual event or on a book?” “Where can I purchase a similar outfit?”

They seek instant gratification while watching the program, be it receiving answers to their questions or being able to express and share their thoughts, the demand is to have it here and now.

“Persocialization”
The modern viewer wants to be satisfied on both a personal and social level: “persocialization,” as we call it. People seek ways to share their opinions through various existing platforms such as social media and blogs. They want to share their thoughts as well as hear what their community has to say. Unlike decades ago, communities are now global. Being able to engage with others worldwide simply adds to the thrill, because viewers no longer feel isolated. They can share all the ideas that run through their minds as the program unfolds.

Excitement is the key
Viewers are also much more sophisticated than they were 30 years ago and it takes a lot more to excite them. One way to do so is to make their experience of video content consumption more entertaining by presenting it in a story-telling manner. This way, they can jump from content to content the same way they jump from thought to thought, allowing them to consume the content in a less linear and more contextual way. All these attitudes, expectations and facts need to be taken into consideration in order to provide a good content service.

To Be Continued…
Check back soon to learn more about how less linear and more contextual content comes into play for operators providing a service. Further episodes in various forms, such as webinars, additional blog posts, and more are coming up. Stay tuned!

Meanwhile, enjoy the video clip, and check out the slideshow below that was used in the TV Connect 2013 presentation.

Watch the 6 min short interview with Haggai’s Barel- Have a sneak peek inside the Operators Survival Guide- Episode One session.

Love shopping? Love shopping while you watch TV? Apparently this is one of the five most popular second screen activities for TV viewers. In this week’s industry news we take a look at the second screen and how viewers are using it to multi-task while watching TV. Twitter is also trying to get a bigger piece of the second screen action as the social network is close to reaching partnerships with television networks. Additionally, a new report shows that promotions are effective tools for attracting pay-TV subscribers.

Take a look at the news below, and leave us a comment to let us know what you think.

Shopping is 3rd most popular Second Screen Activity says Report (The Second Scream)
This analysis of The NPD Group’s report focuses on the use of second screens for shopping while watching TV, which indicates a clear possibility for future monetization with synced apps.

Are second screen apps facing a ‘Crossing the Chasm’ moment? (Lost Remote)
Another take on this report asks if second screen experiences are facing a “Crossing the Chasm” moment, which refers to Geoffrey A. Moore’s work that argues that there’s a challenging chasm between a product’s early adoption and mainstream use.

Twitter Said to Seek Deals With Viacom, NBC to Feature TV (Bloomberg)
Twitter has supposedly held talks with Viacom Inc. about hosting TV clips on its site and selling ads alongside them, and is discussing a content partnership with NBCUniversal. The partnerships would let Twitter stream videos on its site and split the resulting ad revenue with the networks.

Discounts and Promotions Bring Cord-Cutters Back to Pay-TV (Rapid TV News)
New research from Parks Associates has found that promotions such as offering free or discounted premium channels are the most effective tools for pay-TV providers to attract cord-cutters who were lost to OTT services.

Want to learn more about the second screen phenomena? Visit our infographic for stats and figures.

There has been a focus on cloud-based TV services this week, with the launch of Magine and also a report on how IPTV will help drive these services. We also took a look at the companion screen, and mobile video. See the news highlights below and share your thoughts with us by leaving us a comment here or on our social media channels.

Disruptive Cloud TV Service Magine Plans Euro Launch (Broadband TV News)
Cloud-based TV operator Magine launched in Sweden last week and is preparing to launch in Germany and Spain later this year. The service brings live TV and cloud PVR across a number of devices. It’s interesting to note that the creation of the service was based on the question: “If TV was invented today what would it look like?”

IPTV to Help Drive Cloud-based TV Services to $750 Million by 2017 (FierceIPTV)
According to a new report developed by the Multimedia Research Group, cloud-based TV services, driven by IPTV, cable and satellite pay TV service providers, will grow from $120 million in 2013 to more than $750 million by 2017. In the report, senior researcher Jose Alvear concludes that the cloud will prove to be a leveler in the competition to provide multiple pay TV services.

Second Screens Vying for TV Viewers’ Attention (Digital TV News)
New information from The NPD Group has shown that the majority of US consumers surveyed are not using applications designed by broadcasters on their laptops, smartphones, and other second-screen devices. It’s interesting to note that the most common TV-to-second-screen interaction was learning more about the TV program they were watching, and finding out about the actors in that program. Seems like more viewers could use DEEP – our data enrichment and engagement platform.

Adobe Reports U.S. Mobile Video Views Up 300% in 2012 (Digital TV News)
While at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) conference, Adobe Systems released a report that found that TV Everywhere adoption increased 12-fold in the US, and mobile video viewing grew by 300%.