Navigating the Future of Streaming: 5 Key Takeaways from IBC 2023
Matthew Wilkinson, CEO of Magine Pro, shares his insights on IBC 2023, highlighting five crucial lessons for navigating the future of streaming.
A month has passed since our participation at IBC 2023 in Amsterdam. This year, the event saw a remarkable surge in attendance and was a real reflection of an industry in constant flux. Beyond the customary customer value demonstrations, IBC remains an event of strategic importance, offering a unique opportunity to gain valuable insights, driving the acceleration of our understanding of market dynamics and customer needs.
With that being said, here our five key takeaways from IBC 2023:
1. Pacing with Technology Trends
The industry’s innovation pace is relentless. Attending IBC to discover new solutions and technological advancements might already place you behind the curve. At Magine Pro, we’ve embraced Large Language Models like ChatGPT to augment our metadata and streamline workflows. The initial allure of this technology might wane, but its implementation promises significant and rapid business impact.
2. Navigating Market Shifts
The past 18 months have seen a profound shift in the macroeconomic landscape, with diminished capital availability and elevated performance expectations from streaming industry investors. This transformation is driving us to innovate swiftly, to prioritise return on investment and realise cost reductions & service. The reins of decision-making have shifted from CTOs to CFOs, who demand improved ROI, especially in content investments.
3. Content, Content, Content
Success in this evolving landscape centres around content strategies and strategic partnerships to reach audiences. Service providers can no longer afford to deploy capital to build and integrate both the technology and invest in content; businesses must be focused on validating the go to market hypothesis, and the “product” consumers demand is content, not the technology behind the scenes. Capital needs to be deployed smartly to drive customer acquisition, engagement and retention – and building a customer technology stack, will not significantly optimise for this much better than outsourced platforms.
4. Embracing Broader Horizons
It is imperative to consider the broader context beyond traditional streaming. Evolving technology consumption behaviours, notably influenced by platforms like TikTok, are reshaping how consumers engage with media and allocate their time. The traditional streaming media market must evolve to align with changing consumer expectations, and proactive innovation can capitalise on shifting preferences.
5. Readiness for Transformation
The industry is poised at a crossroads. As we look to the future, our success hinges on our adaptability and innovative spirit. Prioritising content, leveraging technology, and anticipating evolving consumer behaviour will position us to thrive in this dynamic landscape.
On a last note, I’ll leave you with a quote from a meeting with an industry peer “There’s opportunity for everyone to succeed in the market – we just need to figure out how!”
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If you weren’t able to attend the IBC this year and missed the panel discussion ‘Building an OTT Video Service – Custom Build or Managed Service’, where Matthew shared insights alongside other industry experts, don’t worry! You can catch up on the panel right here.
Want to find out more about navigating the future of streaming and how Magine Pro can help? Get in touch or book a meeting with a member of the team to find out more. We also have some useful insights and resources available on our blog and free to download white papers, ebooks and more.
Panel Discussion: Building an OTT video service
It’s no secret that the way we consume video content has drastically changed over the years. The popularity of online streaming services has increased significantly across the world. However, building an OTT video service is no easy feat, which is why it’s essential for operators and those considering launching a service to catch up on the free panel discussion ‘Building an OTT Video Service – Custom Build or Managed Service’ that took place at IBC 2023 in Amsterdam this September.
During the panel discussion, Magine Pro’s CEO Matthew Wilkinson joined other industry experts to discuss the best approaches to launching an online video streaming service and tackling important questions such as, should you build a custom service, or opt for a managed service platform? Is it better to go with in-house development or outsource? The panelists offer valuable insights on each option and more. They also explore the relevance of a hybrid approach for incumbent players, and the role of the CDN.
WATCH THE PANEL HERE
Moderated by Ian Nock, Vice Chair of IET Media, and features the following industry experts:
- Matthew Wilkinson, CEO at Magine Pro
- Manish Sinha, VP, and Business Head of OTT Solutions & Services at TO THE NEW
- François Collobert, CDN Product Manager at Orange International Carriers
Want to learn more about how Magine Pro can help you build and launch a successful OTT business? Book a meeting with us and experience our OTT platform firsthand and gain valuable insights into how our robust and scalable streaming solutions can benefit you.
About Matthew Wilkinson, CEO at Magine Pro:
Matthew has over 18 years of experience in Telecom & IT, working with clients in the IT & Cloud, and Media Domains, with deep experience in software development & delivery, SaaS, and enterprise solutions, and previously held various leadership roles in strategy & delivery.
Email: matthew.wilkinson@magine.com
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewpwilkinson/
If you are keen to find out more about the panel session and/or our streaming solutions, get in touch with us today. We also have some useful insights and resources available on our blog and free to download white papers, ebooks and more.
Branding: How to configure your service & build user trust
Strong branding is essential for any business looking to build trust and loyalty amongst its users. Branding gives a company identity and helps create an emotional connection with customers that goes beyond just the product or service they offer. A good brand will make a user feel more confident in the product and assured that the company also stands behind what they’re offering.
Building a positive brand should be of particular focus for online streaming services that operate in a saturated market. Branding helps to differentiate services from one another, especially those with similar entertainment offerings. Differentiation can be achieved aesthetically through design elements such as logos, colour palettes, fonts, etc., with messaging about the brand, what it stands for, and overall tone of voice, helping to create the personality. Consistent messaging across all platforms is imperative though, as along with the design elements, you can create a unique story about your business that builds trust and a connection with your audience.
At Magine Pro, we understand how important branding is to your business, which is why our video streaming services can be customised to feature your logo, brand colours, editorial and content. Our partners can seamlessly configure branding within their service via the CMS Console.
How to configure branding within your Magine Pro-powered streaming service
Consistent brand identity promotes familiarity and ensures audiences recognise and remember a brand later on – making it easier to market additional or new products or services. For streaming service operators, becoming a trusted, go-to source of entertainment will make people more likely to recommend it to others. However, building trust is not a one-time event. Branding efforts should be ongoing and adapted as your business evolves. Keep users engaged and loyal by sticking to your set values, responding to user feedback, and sending regular and engaging communications and offers.
Get in touch for more guidance on branding, including how to customise your Magine Pro-powered streaming service. You can also check out our blog for additional insights into launching a successful OTT business. To lean more about our flexible OTT platform and how we enable our partners to create a video streaming service to monetise their live events, linear and VOD content seamlessly through subscription, advertising and/or transactional business models, head here. You can also book a meeting with a member of the Magine Pro team today and discuss our OTT platform and video streaming solutions in more detail.
Content Engagement Strategy: Why curation is key to reducing churn
A content engagement strategy will vastly improve user retention rates, which is critical for video streaming service operators where the cost of new customer acquisition is high.
Viewers who deem your streaming service and content engaging are much more likely to stick around and continue watching regularly. They are also inclined to share positive recommendations with their friends and family, leading to increased subscriber numbers and revenue.
At its core, user engagement is about driving viewers’ active participation. For streaming service operators, this means creating a content engagement strategy that offers a wide variety of quality programming and actively encourages users to explore the full breadth of your video streaming service.
Content Engagement & Curation
It’s not enough to simply rely on algorithms that recommend content based on a user’s past behaviour. To keep audiences coming back for more, streaming services need to offer a mix of content that appeals to users’ current interests and trends. Human curation can help bridge this gap by providing context and relevance that automated recommendations may lack.
At Magine Pro, we offer our partners the flexibility to curate their own content categories. Our partners can choose catchy and unique category names, decide what content appears in a category, and even how and where it is displayed in the service.
Manually curating content categories that are original and exclusive to your service is a fantastic way to promote discovery; here are a few of our top tips to get you started:
1. Review your user data and determine what types of content your viewers like to watch. This will help you build content categories that are more likely to resonate with your audience.
2. Create content categories that are seasonal and relevant to all users. Obvious choices include romance in February, horror during October, and family Christmas films during December, but also think outside the box and incorporate other important dates.
3. Create categories that are topical in response to current events. For example, you might want to consider building categories around well-known actors when their latest films are released in theatres.
4. Resurface older popular content from your library to fill new categories. This not only lets you make the most of your existing library but also helps keep the service discovery page fresh.
5. Based on user data, you can build categories that include the most-viewed content. People trust others’ opinions, and if they perceive content to be popular, they are more likely to engage with it.
There are countless other ways to increase content discovery and engagement in your streaming service. At Magine Pro, we offer a flexible OTT platform that can be customised according to your needs. And have a team of experienced experts on hand who can help you launch and grow your OTT business successfully. If you would like to learn more about how we can help you build and launch a successful OTT business, get in touch or book a meeting with the Magine Pro team today.
For more tips on building a content engagement strategy, check out our white paper ‘OTT Discovery: How to stand out amongst the crowd‘ which explores what new streaming services can do to enhance service and content discovery. We also have some useful insights and resources available on our blog.
3 myths about launching a video streaming service
If you are considering launching a video streaming service, don’t let misconceptions about the industry hold you back – with the right partner, platform, and marketing strategy in place, it can be quicker and easier than you think to launch and generate a healthy return on investment.
Here are three of the most common myths about launching a video streaming service and the realities:
Myth 1 – You need a large library of mainstream content before the launch
In reality, you can launch an online streaming service with as much or as little content as you like, provided it’s high quality and, most importantly, relevant to your target audience. The key is to acquire or create valuable, engaging content that resonates with your audience. Then, while you establish yourself as a trusted source of entertainment, you can expand your library and even experiment with new content types or genres. By prioritizing quality over quantity, you can ensure that your streaming service is off to a strong start.
Existing Magine Pro partners have all launched vastly different catalogues in terms of size, genre, and content type. We don’t set limits to what you can ingest. Our partners are able to independently update their streaming services with VOD content via the Magine Pro Console, whilst we’ll take care of ingesting live events and linear TV channels. To learn more about our reliable content ingestion and delivery architecture, here.
Myth 2 – An online streaming service needs to be available on every device at launch
One of the most common misconceptions about launching an online streaming service is that it needs to be available on every device at launch. While it’s undoubtedly important to have a wide range of devices supported, it’s not essential to have every single one covered from day one. In fact, many successful streaming services launch with only a few supported devices and then expand their reach over time. For new market entrants, it’s more important to focus on providing a great experience for the supported devices rather than trying too much at once.
At Magine Pro, all our partners launch on the web and devices that support iOS and Android platforms as standard, but we support a vast range of platforms and devices overall, including Smart TVs. Learn more here.
Myth 3 – You have to have a subscription model with low monthly prices in order to succeed
Subscription models are indeed a great way to monetize your content. However, it’s important to understand that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to subscriptions – you’ll need to find the right model for your OTT business. For example, if you’re offering high-value content, such as blockbuster releases, you may want to consider combining SVOD with a TVOD model or setting a higher monthly subscription price point. Research shows that people are willing to pay more for content that they perceive as being higher quality, so don’t be put off raising your price point.
Combining multiple business models is a fantastic way to maximise monetization opportunities. Our branded video services support SVOD, TVOD, and AVOD business models, either separately or combined, enabling our partners to create a service best suited to their content and customers. For more details on the models we support, head here.
At Magine Pro, we offer a flexible OTT platform that can be customised according to your needs. Create a video streaming service with us and monetize your live events, linear and VOD content seamlessly through subscription, advertising, and/or transactional business models.
What’s more, we have a team of experienced experts on hand who can help you launch and grow your OTT business successfully. For more myth-busting insights and inspiration, check out our blog. And if you’re interested in learning more about how we can help you build and launch a successful OTT business, get in touch with us today.
Q&A: Tosca Musk, founder of Passionflix on the romance-themed streaming service
In our latest White Paper, Go big or stay small? Why the Smart TV experience is essential for online streaming services, we chat with our partner and Passionflix founder, Tosca Musk, about the romance-themed streaming service.
Passionflix is a premium romance-on-demand streaming service that’s home to a library of classic romantic content and original movies and series adapted from bestselling romance books. The unique service was founded in 2017 by film director and producer Tosca Musk and launched worldwide via the Magine Pro platform.
Passionflix is accessible via the web, mobile devices supporting iOS and Android, and the big screen. Subscribers can stream via the TV through Roku, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV-supported televisions, and dedicated Smart TV apps for Samsung, LG, and, more recently, Vizio.
We spoke with founder Tosca Musk about the realities of launching a video streaming service, strategies to aid discovery and reduce churn, and the importance of expanding onto multiple devices, including big-screen today.
What inspired the creation of Passionflix?
We wanted to turn best-selling romance novels into movies and series but there was nowhere to release them because they were considered too risqué, so we created our own platform.
Who is your target audience, and what are your key marketing strategies?
Our target audience is romance readers from ages 18-99. And social media marketing has been one of the most powerful tools for Passionflix when it comes to brand awareness and growth.
In addition to creating engaging content that highlights our original films and series, we also create and participate in conversations among the romance reader community. The authors of our adaptations also play a significant role in our marketing efforts, introducing Passionflix to the fanbase they’ve already established. We also run advertising campaigns throughout the year to build brand awareness and drive potential subscribers to specific titles.
How important is it to Passionflix to be available to audiences through the big screen?
As we want Passionflix to become a household name, it’s important to be available on as many devices as possible. Anytime Passionflix becomes available on a new device like Roku or Vizio, we see an increase in subscribers.
What advice would you give others considering launching a video streaming service? And what are your long-term growth plans?
Find a great white-label streaming platform like Magine Pro to support your specific vision. Also, understand your niche and remain laser-focused on that. Our goal is for Passionflix to become a household name. I want to see it in every home worldwide, and Magine Pro will be key in helping us secure the distribution.
Learn more about our partnership with Passionflix within our case study. And download the white paper; Go big or stay small? Why the Smart TV experience is essential for online streaming services now, to find out more about how we enable our partners like Passionflix to expand on multiple devices, including the big screen. Within the white paper, we discuss why offering native Smart TV apps is essential for online streaming services and dive into the complexities of building TV apps.
Head over to our homepage to find out more about Magine Pro’s extensive library of technical resources and experienced team that enable our partners to deliver seamless streaming experiences on all devices, including the big screen. You can also check out our experience page to learn more about our partners.
Don’t forget to subscribe to the Magine Pro e-newsletter to stay up-to-date with our latest news, partners, and products and discover which industry events we’ll be attending next.
OTT: How to increase video content views
Streaming service operators are always striving to boost user engagement within their service and, more specifically, increase video content views. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways operators can leverage their content, service, and even experience to optimise discovery for their users, including maximising their metadata for search and running external marketing and social campaigns.
Optimising the User Interface and Experience
One of the best ways to increase video content views is to optimise the interface and enhance the user experience within the streaming service. If users have a positive experience, they’re more likely to return and recommend it to others.
There are several ways operators can optimise the user interface, including making quality content easy to find. Curating rich categories of entertainment and positioning content high up on the discovery page of the service is one such solution.
Magine Pro-powered streaming services allow operators to curate the discovery page thoroughly, including content category curation and selecting content to hero within the top carousel. Our partners can also use the CMS Console to select what artwork and poster sizes are presented and add engaging and informative titles and descriptions to entice users to choose particular movies or series. Adding additional content, such as trailers and even editorials, will also help expand the discovery experience and give users a clearer idea of what’s available.
Making the Most of Metadata
Another way operators can help to increase content views is to ensure metadata is as SEO-friendly as possible. Metadata is data that defines and describes the data object it is linked to. In this context, metadata describes, via text descriptions, the content of a video, making it readable for search engines.
Ensuring that metadata is SEO-friendly will help content appear much higher in search results both inside and outside a streaming service. To do this, providers should focus on using keywords throughout metadata descriptions, including attention-grabbing and descriptive titles, and adding content summaries that accurately reflect what users will see.
Using the Magine Pro CMS Console, our partners are able to upload, manually edit, and even use custom metadata to help enrich their user experiences and improve search results.
Running External Marketing Campaigns
Service operators can also look to increase discovery and views by running external marketing campaigns focusing on select content instead of the entire streaming service. A strategy like this works particularly well when the chosen content is well-known, sought after, and/or exclusive to the service itself.
Utilising digital channels is a fantastic way to generate interest and track a campaign’s success. Google ads and sponsored social media on audience-relevant platforms are great starting points. And can build out further to partnering with trusted companies or influencers who will promote the content to their loyal audiences and help penetrate new markets.
Magine Pro’s Data Insights toolset gives our partners a clear 360 view of their service’s performance, enabling providers to follow the entire user journey from marketing attribution to engagement throughout the customer lifecycle. Data-led insights like these give operators a complete view of a marketing campaign’s performance and whether focused external content strategies are cost-effective and capable of producing the desired outcome.
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At Magine Pro, we offer a flexible OTT platform that can be customised according to your OTT business needs. Create a video streaming service with us and monetise your live events, linear and VOD content seamlessly through subscription, advertising, and/or transactional business models. What’s more, we have a team of experienced experts on hand who can help you launch and grow your OTT business successfully.
For more guidance on increasing content discovery, views, and engagement, check out our blog. And if you’re interested in learning more about how we can help you build and launch a successful OTT business, get in touch with us today.
Top 5 strategies to improve OTT subscriber retention
Subscriber retention is essential for any business, but especially in OTT, given the choice of services and the propensity of viewers to regularly change or alternate subscriptions.
To grow sustainably, streaming service operators need to focus on converting new customers and retaining existing ones. Fortunately, there are several ways to keep your subscribers happy and engaged, such as offering exclusive content, early access to new features or releases, personalised recommendations, and customer service that goes above and beyond. By implementing a subscriber retention strategy, you can make sure your business grows sustainably for years to come.
With that in mind, we’ve put together our top five strategies to improve subscriber retention:
1. Customer feedback loop
It’s essential to create a space where customers feel heard and their concerns are taken seriously – even if you can’t always immediately resolve the issues they’re experiencing. All feedback is valuable, and negative feedback can be especially useful in identifying areas that need improvement. Ignoring customer feedback or brushing it off will only lead to frustration and eventual retention. Create a strong customer service and retention strategy to ensure your customers always feel like their voices are heard and valued.
2. Leverage your data
The cost of customer acquisition is high, so it’s important to keep your existing customers engaged and coming back for more. And one of the best ways to do that is to understand their viewing habits and cater content around their interests. Fortunately, with today’s data-driven insights, tracking customer behaviour and developing targeted campaigns that resonate with your audience is easier than ever. Leverage your data and gets to know your customers; you can build specific content categories around their interests and personalise comms for select groups to highlight what’s available.
3. Regular and engaging communication
Keep your subscribers engaged and interested in your content to keep them coming back for more. A well-considered communication strategy is essential for achieving this. You can personalise your communication based on data you know about your subscribers, such as their favourite actors or genres, and highlight up-and-coming releases that they might be interested in. Stay top of their minds with regular outreach that is engaging, informative and on brand for your business.
4. Reward loyalty
It costs much less to keep a customer than to acquire a new one, so rewarding loyalty makes good economic sense. There are a number of ways to show appreciation for loyal customers, such as offering discounts, access to exclusive content early or for free, or even a personalised thank-you email. Whatever the method, the goal should be to personalise the user experience as much as possible. After all, happy customers who feel valued and appreciate your brand values are more likely to stick around.
5. Continue to educate
At Magine Pro, we believe customer education should continue long after conversion and onboarding. Continuing to educate customers throughout their journey with your brand is essential. Build educational campaigns around your streaming service, highlighting valuable features such as building Watchlists, Continue Watching, etc. By helping users make the most of their subscriptions, you’re more likely to keep them loyal and engaged. In addition, these campaigns can help to create a more positive customer experience, which is essential for driving long-term growth.
Want to learn more ways to increase subscriber retention and engagement for your streaming service? Our white paper ‘OTT Discovery: How to stand out amongst the crowd‘ features some great insights. You can also check our blog for more practical advice.
If you’re interested in learning more about our flexible OTT platform, our partners, and how we can help you build and launch a successful OTT business, get in touch with us today.
Case Study: QR Codes Enhancing the Smart TV Experience
How Magine Pro integrated QR code technology to streamline the sign-in and sign-up process for Smart TV streaming apps, making it faster and more user-friendly.
What is a QR code?
A Quick Response (QR) code is a two-dimensional barcode that can be scanned using a smartphone or tablet. It can store various types of information, including text, links, and images. By incorporating QR codes into the login process, service users can bypass manual input entirely—simply scanning a code to authenticate their account.
Motive: Friction in the Smart TV Sign-In Process
Logging into a Smart TV streaming app can be a frustrating experience for users. Manually typing login credentials with a remote control is time-consuming and cumbersome. Magine Pro set out to eliminate this friction by offering a seamless, QR-powered authentication method.
End User Benefits
- A seamless sign-in experience for registered users.
- Quicker and more convenient than typing in details with a TV remote to sign in or for new users to sign up.
- An effortless way for users to connect their TV to their streaming service account.
Solution: Integrating QR Codes into the Smart TV Experience
The QR code project was conceptualised during a Magine Pro engineering Hackday and began development in Q2 2022. The team took a Backend for Frontend (BFF) approach, ensuring that the QR code authentication system seamlessly integrated with the existing platform without disrupting the login flow.
Key Technical Considerations:
- Front-End Optimisation: Ensured smooth integration with Smart TV apps.
- Long Polling vs WebSockets: Opted for Long Polling to maintain compatibility and avoid conflicts with ongoing engineering projects.
How It Works: The QR Sign-In Journey
The steps to sign in to the TV app using a QR code
- Users download the compatible native app on their Vizio, LG or Samsung Smart TV.
- Once loaded, users will be asked to scan the QR code on-screen for quick sign-in, or manually enter a sign-in code via their mobile device.
- Users who scan the QR code will be asked to confirm the link and can then immediately begin streaming through the TV app.
Results & Insights: The Big-Screen Potential
Magine Pro’s QR code implementation has significantly improved the user experience, reducing login friction and enhancing engagement. To learn more about what we discovered during the QR technology build, including engineering lessons and UX/UI challenges, download our white paper, Go big or stay small? Why the Smart TV experience is essential for online streaming services.
Inside you’ll discover:
- Why native Smart TV apps are critical for OTT success.
- Key challenges in TV app development and how to navigate them.
- Exclusive insights from Passionflix founder Tosca Musk on running a specialist streaming service across multiple devices.
Head over to our homepage to find out more about Magine Pro’s extensive library of technical resources and experienced team that enables our customers to deliver seamless streaming experiences on all devices, including the big screen. You can also check out our experience page to learn more about our customers.
Don’t forget to subscribe to the Magine Pro e-newsletter to stay up-to-date with our latest news, partners, and products and discover which industry events we’ll be attending next.
White Paper | Why the Smart TV experience is essential for OTT
Smart TV or Connected TV technology is changing how subscribers of online streaming services experience entertainment. Viewers are no longer confined to smaller mobile screens or need to necessarily invest in secondary devices such as set-top boxes or game consoles to watch and share content on the big screen at home. This makes having a presence on Smart TV platforms increasingly attractive for OTT operators.
The challenge lies in developing apps for Smart TVs, which require a specialised understanding of the technology and its various ecosystems. This can be a complex and daunting prospect for OTT service providers who may lack the expertise or resources to do so. That’s where Magine Pro steps in – we provide comprehensive solutions for TV apps, both native to Smart TVs and those that require secondary devices, that simplify the process for our partners.
In our latest white paper, ‘Go big or stay small? Why the Smart TV experience is essential for online streaming services’ we explore why Magine Pro is best positioned to help OTT operators capitalise on the big-screen experience, enabling them to reach more viewers and grow their OTT business. In addition, we discuss why offering native Smart TV apps is essential for online streaming services. We also dive into the complexities of building TV apps, including how we at Magine Pro can enable big screens for our partners and their end users. And share insights from one of our partners, Passionflix founder Tosca Musk, on the realities of running a specialist streaming service on multiple devices, including the big screen.
Download the Smart TV-focused white paper now and discover the following:
- The rise in big-screen streaming and why Smart TV is essential for online streaming services.
- How TV apps are developed to deliver an optimal end-user experience.
- Case study that explores QR Codes and the Smart TV experience.
- Q&A with Passionflix founder Tosca Musk
And much more…
Find out more about Magine Pro’s extensive library of technical resources and experienced team that enable our partners to deliver seamless streaming experiences on all devices, including the big screen, here. You can also head over to our experience page to learn more about our partners.
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.