Just how mainstream is streaming? According to Deloitte’s Digital Democracy Survey, 56 percent of U.S. consumers stream movies and 53 percent stream television every month. Those percentages are much higher, however, for people between the ages of 14 and 25. In that group, 77 percent stream movies and 72 percent stream television programs.
The expectation is that today’s youngest consumers will continue to watch streaming services when they move out of their parents’ house and start households of their own.
As traditional TV companies go direct to consumer, what are some of the things that they will need to consider?
As history tells us this is no easy demand to meet. Over-the-top, direct-to-consumer services, require a whole new set of technology capabilities. These include subscriber and product offering management, subscription billing, customer relationship management (CRM), customer service and technical support, as well as new marketing techniques.
In addition, media companies must consider a number of business objectives such as requirements, cost, timing, integration, flexibility and scalability.
There are also multiple approaches to the solution. There are turn-key solutions such as online video platforms (OVP), over-the-top (OTT), TV everywhere (TVE), and virtual pay operators (vPop), as well as end-to-end point solutions integrating CRM, subscriber and product offering management, subscription billing, customer service and marketing.
No matter the approach that programmers choose, at least one thing is clear: With consumer demand for direct-to-consumer streaming on the rise, TV programmers are sure to follow suit. The media industry is poised for disruption, and the consumer desire for content anytime, anywhere, may finally become a reality.
How is your company responding?
Daniel Ledger is a principal at Deloitte Consulting LLP and a leader in the Media and Entertainment Industry for Deloitte Digital. For more information and recommendations, see Deloitte’s Digital Democracy Survey.