An industry in perpetual motion

The broadcast and media industry has entered an era in which speed of development has accelerated massively. A raft of new technologies and tools have been developed and deployed in a very short space of time, with one solution superseding the next in just a matter of months and with little time for testing. An important driver has been consumer demand – irrevocably altered by the digitalisation of all types of services from online banking to ecommerce, viewers have increasingly required more digital content and greater flexibility in fruition.

Just think back to how we used to consume content a decade ago. In most European countries only a handful of channels were available and, in order to access more variety, viewers would have to purchase satellite subscriptions and traditional pay TV packages on standard monthly subscriptions. Nowadays physical borders are completely broken down with consumers easily streaming or downloading a variety of different types of video content from numerous sources – some generated, like YouTube, and some curated such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. Not only are there many more sources of content, but the way the content is bundled for purchase and the devices that viewers are employing have increased, putting pressure on broadcasters to ensure their content is easily accessible over different types of screen and operating systems.

At Fincons Group we have been ideally placed not just to witness this incredible acceleration, but to drive it and help our clients navigate it successfully. Having taken part in the European Union MPAT (Multiplatform Application Toolkit) project and through our work developing various generations of HbbTV players for broadcasters selecting the most suitable systems, interfaces and technological innovation, it has become clear to Fincons how important it is to stay ahead of the curve.

The broadcast industry needs partners that constantly invest in research and innovation scouting, and which regularly refine and evaluate the range of available solutions to predict the features that will become the next differentiators. Indeed, the breakneck pace of developments demands this type of attitude. None of this would be effective, however, without an in-depth understanding of broadcast and media business models. Only by tailoring solutions to the specific media or broadcast client by integrating with existing systems and fine-tuning new platforms and solutions is it possible to help today’s broadcasters achieve RoI.

Fincons Group has been in the privileged position of working with NAB on the introduction of the US ATSC 3.0 standard, equivalent to the HbbTV standard in Europe, for the past two years. In this role we have been able to provide guidance based on real-life experience of implementations in Europe, but at the same time we have gained an interesting perspective into US business models and viewer demand. As broadcasters strive to keep up with the pace of hybrid TV innovation it is clear that the wider the view, the more informed and experienced the partners, the greater the likelihood of success.

Francesco Moretti is deputy CEO at Fincons Group and CEO at Fincons US.