WHITE PAPER | Thematic Services: the future of OTT?
In our latest white paper, Thematic Services: the future of OTT? we explore the rise of thematic OTT services and discuss the opportunities and challenges they face.
The white paper features the results from Digital TV Europe’s Annual Industry survey 2020, where industry experts share their opinion on the relative appeal of specialist streaming, including what they think leads consumers to sign up to a subscription service, and how likely thematic services are to attract customers.
Independent analysis firm Omdia also share original research giving a unique consumer perspective on thematic OTT services, alongside forecasts on consumption and revenue share. We also look into how strategic marketing and technical agility can enable thematic OTT services to penetrate global markets and build a sustainable business. And María José Revaldería, Director General of FlixOlé provides an insight into the conception and growth of the Spanish Cinema streaming service. María also offers advice to others considering launching a thematic OTT service.
Register your details here to receive the white paper, Thematic Services: the future of OTT? in your inbox today.
To find out more about Magine Pro’s thematic OTT partners, including FlixOlé, PassionFlix and Docsville head to our experience page. You can find out more about our flexible OTT solutions and how we can help you build and launch a successful OTT business here.
Don’t forget to subscribe to the Magine Pro e-newsletter to stay up-to-date with our latest news, partners, products, and to find out which industry events we’ll be attending next. You can book in a meeting now on our events page; meet the team and demo our OTT services firsthand.
Renewed passion between Tosca Musk’s Passionflix and Magine Pro OTT
Tosca Musk’s OTT service Passionflix, the VOD bringing best-selling romance novels to life on screen, is renewing its long-term cooperation with platform partner Magine Pro by signing a new three-year contract. Passionflix has used Magine Pro’s platform since it first launched and is now prolonging the agreement for further expansion in the coming three years.
The story of Passionflix is about Tosca Musk taking her own route in Hollywood. The unique Passionflix concept is to produce and distribute romantic films as a fan service, attracting a female audience and readers of romance stories, and engaging the fans to be heavily involved in the filmmaking process, from casting to premieres. Passionflix was first launched at a romance novel conference in 2017, where fans signed up for crowdfunding. Later in 2017 after additional funding, Passionflix released their first own produced film, Hollywood Dirt, produced and directed by Tosca Musk herself. After three years the service has seen exceptional growth, with the support of the fan community.
Passionflix is, in fact, building its own “Romance Business Vertical” by taking control of everything from movie production to distribution of the service to the viewers in a cost-efficient and profitable way. This concept of profitable and cost-efficient thematic productions has parallels with the concept of Magine Pro. The OTT platform is serving thematic and Tier 2 linear and VOD services with cost-efficient end-to-end solutions, integrating the whole technical flow into one end-to-end solution.“Magine Pro has been our close partner since the early days,” says Tosca Musk, Founder and CEO of Passionflix. “I wanted an end-to-end solution that could scale in a reliable way for our future expansion. By placing Passionflix on the Magine Pro platform we could focus on content and marketing, leaving a large portion of the technical distribution in the hands of the Magine Pro team, and now, after three years, we are happy to prolong our relation further”. “We still share the same passion for Passionflix and are delighted that we now have gained the confidence to continue this partnership,” says Matthew Wilkinson, CEO of Magine.
About Magine Pro
Magine Pro is the platform for b2b managed services for OTT, which enables global content owners, broadcasters and telcos to build thriving OTT businesses with live TV and Video-On-Demand platforms. Magine Pro’s customers are located in Europe and the United States, as well as in emerging markets.
For more information
Håkan Tranvik, Corporate communications, Magine. +46709383293. hakan.tranvik@magine.com
Matthew Wilkinson, CEO Magine. matthew.wilkinson@magine.com
WEBINAR | Live expert chat: Insight into thematic OTT services delivering content in a world of giants
Watch our recent webinar ‘Live expert chat: Insight into thematic OTT services delivering content in a world of giants’ on-demand for in-depth analysis and discussion about thematic OTT services, based on the results of the Digital TV Europe Annual Industry Survey and original research by Omdia. The free webinar session is available on catch-up here.
Topics include:
- A first look at Omdia’s research into the rise of thematic streaming services on behalf of platform provider Magine Pro.
- For the first time on a global scale, hear forecasts on revenue and consumption for thematic services.
- Experts share their opinions on the report findings and the future of thematic OTT services, including the market opportunities and challenges they face.
- How content and b2b partnerships can drive growth for thematic services and increase user engagement.
- Magine Pro partner, FlixOlé shares the realities of operating a thematic OTT service.
Webinar speakers:
Introducing Silverline TV by Magine Pro
We’ve got some exciting news to share! We’ve partnered with Silverline Television AG to build and launch a branded streaming service for their HD linear channel and 30-day movie catch-up content.
Silverline TV launched in 2003 and is a German pay-TV movie channel that focuses on horror, action, crime, thriller and Asian cinema genres. They partnered with us looking to build an SVOD service that features a traditional EPG for their HD linear channel, as well as a VOD discovery page to hero their catch-up content. The Silverline TV branded service features an intuitive user interface and includes parental control features and content pin codes required by regulation in their chosen launch markets.
The Silverline TV web service and app (iOS & Android) are now available to download and enjoy on devices in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. You can check out our case study to find out more about our partnership with Silverline TV here.
Take a sneak peek at the new Silverline TV service…
If you want to find out more about Magine Pro solutions and services, get in touch! We can help you enhance your existing services and/or launch something entirely new. You can also check out our experience and more of our case studies here.
Stay up-to-date with our latest releases and news on LinkedIn, or sign up for our e-newsletter and get them delivered straight to your inbox.
Thematic OTT Services: The Art of Attraction
What attracts subscribers to sign up for one streaming service over another? We asked respondents to Digital TV Europe’s 2020 Annual Industry Survey as part of the thematic OTT services section what they believe makes consumers more likely to choose. Over 93% of respondents said that original content was either very relevant or moderately relevant, while over 87% felt the same about exclusive content. This was closely followed by an attractive or competitive price.
As expected, content is still considered the best incentive for viewers to sign up and return regularly to a service. In fact, over 62% of survey respondents consider an out-of-date, or rarely updated library of content, as one of the key reasons people are likely to opt-out of a subscription. This means streaming services need to offer their users enough content that interests them: and keep it coming!
Some operators, including the likes of Disney, have responded to the viewer’s demand for more by bundling services together (The Disney bundle includes access to Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+). According to a study commissioned by Vindica from nScreenMedia in 2019, the average American subscriber now watches 3.4 services. Loading up on subscriptions may give viewers more choice, but it doesn’t alleviate the bugbear of having to scroll through multiple services to find what interests them. It’s not necessarily cost-effective for the viewer either.
Not surprising then that we’ve seen the conversation and interest in thematic OTT services increase in recent years. Unlike broad mainstream players, thematic services appeal to niche interests and aggregate consumers with similar interests, not content. As part of the DTVE survey, respondents were asked how likely they believe thematic or niche streaming services are to attract consumers that already subscribe to one or two general entertainment streaming offerings. Respondents agreed that those who already subscribe to one or two generalist streamers such as Netflix or Amazon Prime Video are more likely to complement this with a thematic offering than with a third general entertainment service. 66% of respondents believe users are much more likely or somewhat more likely to add a niche service to their existing streaming portfolio.
At Magine Pro, we believe we’re likely to see more market growth with thematic OTT services over general entertainment offerings in the coming years. This is particularly interesting for new market entrants and existing players looking to refine their content offerings.
Our partners PassionFlix, FlixOlé, and Docsville are great examples of successful thematic services. Each specialises in a particular genre of content as opposed to general mass appeal programs and movies.
For new market entrants, determining what genre/s to specialise in will depend heavily on the markets they want to enter into. Understanding the target audience and their viewing behaviours is vital to the success of any streaming service. As part of the DTVE survey, we also asked industry respondents their view on what genres or interests are best suited for new thematic streaming services. Sports and kids programming came out on top as the most promising genres, with an honourable mention going to services aimed at specific expatriate or migrant groups.
You can find out more about Digital TV Europe’s Annual Industry Survey 2020 here and download the report in full.
To find out more about our partners, PassionFlix, FlixOlé, and Docsville, who operate niche services, head over to our Experience page. You can also find out more about Magine Pro video streaming services, and in particular how we can help you build your own Thematic OTT service, here.
Don’t forget to subscribe to the Magine Pro newsletter to stay up-to-date with our latest news, partners, products, and to find out which industry events we’ll be attending next. You can book in a meeting now on our events page; meet the team and demo our OTT services firsthand.
Magine Pro partners with DTVE for 2020 Industry Survey
This week, Digital TV Europe released its fifth annual industry survey, which provides a unique snapshot of industry executives’ views on the key issues and trends facing the digital video business today.
We teamed up with DTVE this year to find out what industry respondents think about the relative appeal of specialist thematic streaming offerings, and the key elements that are likely to go into making such a service a success.
Here’s a sneak peek at some of the findings in the report:
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- Over 93% of respondents said that original content was either very relevant or moderately relevant to being a reason consumers sign up for a subscription streaming service, while over 87% felt the same about exclusive content.
- 62.6% believe an out of date or rarely updated library of content is one of the main reasons people terminate a subscription to a streaming service.
- 24% of respondents said users are much more likely to add a niche service to their existing streaming portfolio, while 44% believe they are somewhat more likely.
Download the full report here to read more of the findings.
Magine Pro’s CEO, Matthew Wilkinson also shared his thoughts on the survey results:
“When asking the industry about success factors for thematic OTT services, it’s clear that content and pricing are in focus. The fact that many respondents believe subscribers are more likely to terminate a subscription if the content is out of date or rarely updated is telling. Despite some market saturation, results show there’s still room for emerging OTT services that cater to specialised global or local audiences.
OTT has now become a mature distribution form, where technical flaws are mentioned less as impacting user experience. Flawless streaming is now a basic requirement. The consumer perception of quality for a streaming service is largely dependent on the originality or exclusivity of content that is available. For the operator, it’s also about decreasing CAPEX, optimizing return of investment, easy integration and the interrogation of analytics to develop a service further.
Magine Pro has experience running global OTT services since 2011. We understand the importance of meeting commercial priorities regarding content, price, and service economics that this survey indicates as important. Our full end-to-end OTT solutions are proven and flexible and meet the demands of a mature streaming market.”
If you haven’t done so already, download the Digital TV Europe survey here. We’ll be sharing more of our thoughts and opinions on the findings here on our blog in the coming weeks. You can stay up-to-date with our latest posts and news on LinkedIn, or sign up for our e-newsletter and get them delivered straight to your inbox.
OTT Content strategy: the secret to streaming success
It’s no secret that content can make or break the success of an OTT service. Viewers have more choices than ever before, so you can’t expect subscribers to stick around if you don’t offer the content they want to watch (or enough of it). Putting an OTT content strategy in place is important for every video service that hopes to see positive subscriber growth.
What is a content strategy?
It’s essentially focusing on the planning, creation, and delivery of your content, whether it’s video content for your service or copy for your website and marketing channels. It boils down to asking yourself what content you should be producing or buying for your video streaming service and why?
The goal is to offer sustainable, high-quality content that engages your viewers. The content you provide should ultimately inspire them to act, whether that’s to subscribe/purchase or return regularly to watch more.
Content strategy starting points
Here are a few things to consider before you begin outlining your OTT content strategy:
- Define your end goal: How can an OTT content strategy improve your streaming service? Before you begin mapping out, figure out what you want to achieve. Do you want to see an increase in subscriber numbers, for example? Reduce churn? Or, have it help inform your decisions around content acquisition or production? Knowing your end goal will help you devise a strategy that can meet it.
- Audit your content: Before you begin making plans to produce or purchase more content, review what you already have. What are your viewers watching? How long are they watching for? Are they engaging with content through other channels such as social? Understanding what content is already working and why will help you decide what you need more of or what needs to change.
- Strategy & Planning: Your OTT content strategy should always align with your communications and marketing strategies. Planning for content production/purchases is important but your timeline for release should be carefully considered. For example, some content may be topical and worth waiting to release until relevant. Regardless, you should always align new content releases with your marketing plans to boost its chances of discovery online.
- Maintain & Track: Continually review your content strategy throughout the year and be ready to adapt and make changes. Most importantly, keep reviewing your library and track what content is working. Global services should also consider location – some content may show low viewing numbers overall but could be particularly popular in some parts of the world.
For more guidance, check out our Top 5 Content Strategy Tips. You can also find out more about Magine Pro video streaming services, and in particular how we can help you build your own successful OTT service, here.
Don’t forget to subscribe to the Magine Pro newsletter to stay up-to-date with our latest news, partners, products, and to find out which industry events we’ll be attending next. You can book in a meeting now on our events page; meet the team and demo our OTT services firsthand.
Thematic OTT; It’s the future
It doesn’t seem so long ago that the choice of streaming services was straightforward but pretty limited. Today, there are more options than ever before, with over 300 services available in the United States alone. The viewer is arguably well served but not surprisingly overwhelmed.
The viewer’s frustration of having to manage multiple subscriptions to access the content they really want to watch is understandable. So is their request for more (or better) content aggregation, which is logical but not always realistic. At Magine Pro, we believe consumer aggregation is the answer, not content aggregation.
Thematic OTT players that bring people (who share the same interests) together from across the world are the future. Our partners PassionFlix, FlixOlé, and Docsville are examples of this. Each specialises in a particular genre of content as opposed to general mass appeal programs and movies.
Although mainstream players have big budgets and original programming, there’s still plenty of opportunities for niche players to cut through the noise. Thematic OTT services do have an advantage, as mainstream players aren’t ever going to be able to offer enough of the kind of content to fans that niche can. As more mainstream players invest in original content, it also means there’s more existing content available in the market for Niche players to purchase.
Thematic services needn’t overstretch budgets for premium or particularly well-known content though. Our partner PassionFlix offers a library of romantic content and creates original movies and series based on best-selling romance novels. Their success is down to remaining focused on their audience’s specific interest, romance.
Thematic OTT services can also market much more effectively on smaller budgets than big players. They can streamline their efforts by targeting a specific audience (even on a global scale). Social media campaigns are particularly effective at reaching audiences that identify themselves with niche interests.
To find out more about our partners, PassionFlix, FlixOlé, and DocsVille, who operate niche services, head over to our Experience page. You can also find out more about Magine Pro video streaming services, and in particular how we can help you build your own Thematic OTT service, here.
Don’t forget to subscribe to the Magine Pro newsletter to stay up-to-date with our latest news, partners, products, and to find out which industry events we’ll be attending next. You can book in a meeting now on our events page; meet the team and demo our OTT services firsthand.
Magine Pro’s top 5 platform updates you need to know about!
At Magine Pro, we’re constantly working on new ways to improve our tech and OTT platform. It’s our priority to ensure our partners can provide a seamless video streaming experience by utilising all the latest technical innovations and tools available in the market. Most importantly, we base all our product enhancements on data and learning provided by our partner services, alongside client and customer feedback.
In 2019, we made a whole host of platform updates and enhancements. Take a look at our top five that have improved our OTT offering in the past year:
Dynamic Ads Insertion in Live stream
Our partners are now able to serve dynamic ads on Live channels without relying on VAST tags. This means ads are dynamically transcoded within the live stream so it no longer requires ad integration and can’t be dismissed by ad blockers. Ads are also targeted and served independently.
TVOD expansion for monetization
We expanded our TVOD offering, which means our partners have more options available when it comes to monetizing their content. Business models now include Free, Recurring, Non-Recurring, Pay-Per-View, Unlimited, as well as new options such as Default, Pass and 3rd party.
Expanded support for live events
We also extended the content catalogue and monetization opportunities for our partners who offer Live events. Live events can now be categorized separately in their service to VOD or linear content, which makes it much easier for their users to select and purchase a single or set of Live events.
Marketing campaigns & developing Reseller partnerships
We’ve made it easier for our partners to set up marketing campaigns that allow new users to access their service without having to input their payment details upfront. Our partners can now link service access to marketing campaigns such as redemption of gift cards, promotional codes, and coupons, etc.
Our partners are also able to acquire new paid users from 3rd party solutions that resell their subscriptions.
Customising services via the Magine Pro Console
We’ve also expanded the level of customisation our partners can make to their services via our own CMS, the Magine Pro Console. Our partners now have more control to fully customize their service with a simple pick and choose tool. Service look & feel, content customized highlight, content engagement options, user access settings, 3rd party solutions integration… and much more.
In addition to these, we’ve also enhanced related content, web apps integration, parental control, dynamic links and in-app and cloud messaging among other things. If you would like to learn more about our platform updates, please get in touch. You can also find out more about Magine Pro video streaming services, and in particular how we can help you build your own OTT business, here. Head to our experience page to see our case studies and learn more about how we’ve helped our partners build successful and global OTT businesses.
Don’t forget to subscribe to the Magine Pro newsletter to stay up-to-date with our latest news, products, and to find out which industry events we’ll be attending in 2020. You can book in a meeting now on our events page, meet the team and demo our video services firsthand.
Sports OTT: A new frontier for Magine Pro
It’s been a busy year at Magine Pro. We’ve attended some of the biggest industry events, including two of the most insightful in Sports broadcast/OTT recently, Sportel in Monaco and the Sports Pro OTT Summit in Madrid. Here are our thoughts on the Sports OTT market after engaging with the industry professionals and thought leaders.
We were delighted to take a stand at Sportel for our first time, and met with multiple rights holders, some who have launched, or dipped a toe in the OTT water, and others who are ready to go. Luke Boyle, Magine Pro’s CCO, noted a distinct move from those below the 1st tier (in regards to either geographic location or content) being ready to take advantage of a direct to consumer offering. He noted in particular how over his years of working in OTT the questions have changed. Questions like, “does it work and how?”, are now, “how do we monetize? what is the best content? which devices resonate greatest?’. He believes there is a more mature understanding of the requirements for OTT and the business positives. It’s not just revenues, but cross-marketing, fan interaction and engagement, new sponsorship activation opportunities, and more.
Sportel itself has changed, as the traditional rights sales market of some 25 years standing, is now much more than that. Conversations abound across the stands about OTT solutions and in particular, how to address the younger viewer (a problem for many sports). Similarly, multiple stands were showcasing their OTT ‘channels’ alongside their content for sale to traditional and OTT broadcasters.
At the more specific OTT event, the SportsPro OTT Summit this year, it was clear from the sheer increase of rights holders in attendance, that this industry continues to develop rapidly. Again many of the 1st tier rights owners and broadcasters were on stage offering best-practice advice. And while incredibly difficult to do, their thoughts on the future. The consensus is that OTT remains a game-changer, and continues to evolve, and live sports, in particular, remains a core driver. The questions are still, will we see aggregation? And if so, by who and how? Will there be global and local services? Niche content alongside premium or separate? AVOD or SVOD? – It seems the US is more ready for the former, while EMEA and most of the rest of the World (outside of huge Asian hubs) plump for the latter.
Conversations and debate around content were commonplace, short-form VOD, short-form or long-form highlights, and indeed live. There is no clear answer, each sport, each market, and each device requires thought and planning. Of course, the beauty of OTT means that analysis of success or otherwise is significantly more readily available. One thing is for certain though and was at the center of every conversation, there is a triangle of success (as we like to call it) – great content, great tech, and strong marketing. The latter is perhaps an oft-understated necessity for a successful OTT platform.
One of the more exciting outcomes to occur over the course of the events was Magine Pro picking up its latest sports client. Recently launched, we will be talking about that much more soon! Sign up to our newsletter now, to stay up to date on our latest news and to find out which industry events we’ll be attending next.
You can also find out more about Magine Pro video streaming services, and in particular how we can help you build your own OTT business, here. Head to our experience page to see our case studies and learn more about how we’ve helped our partners build successful and global OTT businesses.