I moderated a panel at Digital Hollywood in Los Angeles on May 1st titled “Multi-Screen Universe: TV, Tablets, Broadband, Smartphones and IPTV - Strategies for Connected TV Technology & Content.” On the panel were some very distinguished speakers:
Matthew Durgin, Director of Smart TV Content, LG Electronics, USA.
C. Arnaud-Battandier, Vice President, Strategy, Technicolor
Jay Hinman, Senior Director, Marketing, MobiTV
Kent Sahin, President & CE), Real Software Systems
I provided a few statistics as a backdrop to the panel and I’ve included them here:
Online Video Consumption Keeps Growing:
- From Feb. 2011 to Feb. 2012, the number of videos watched online grew 660%
- During the same period, the number of hours of online video watched by an average user increased by 60% to 21.8 hours per month.
- Of the 179 million Internet users in the US 84% watched nearly 38 billion videos during the month of February along with 7.5 billion video ads.
(Comscore February 2012)
More Connected TVs:
- 200 million connected TV devices will cumulatively ship over the next 18 months.
- This, combined with Internet enabled devices that connect to TVs such as Xbox (23 million+ Live customers), PS3, Wii, Apple TV and Roku – means about 300 million TVs will be connected to the Internet in the next 18 months.
(DisplaySearch July 2011)
Tablets are Selling Like Hot Cakes
- Consumers will take home 106.1 million tablets in 2012
- This is a 54 percent increase from 2011.
(IDC March 2012)
Mobile Video Usage Going Up, Up, Up!
- By 2016, it is estimated that more than 110 million Americans—or one-third of the total US population—will watch video content on a mobile phone at least once per month.
- This year, just under 20% of the population, or 25.2% of US mobile phone users, are expected to watch mobile video monthly.
(eMarketer April 2012)
The panel covered topics of content, distribution, devices and consumers. Here are some interesting takeaways from the panel.
- Screen size determines what content type is consumed. Mobile is better for short form and of course TV’s are getting most long-form plays.
- I asked how many people in the audience have seen Netflix’s original show “Lillyhammer” and 10% of the room raised their hand.
- Original content produced by online services such as Netflix, Amazon, Google will have a hard time competing with network programs that have established track records at least for foreseeable future.
- I asked how many people in the audience did not have a cable subscription and 25% raised their hand.
- Over 75% of LG’s connected TV’s are actually connected.
- MobiTV has launched a platform where users can tailor their own programming across mobile and tablet devices.
- Technicolor has created spin-off company MediaNavi to go direct to consumers with a proprietary interface for consumer guidance at home.
- DRM on HTML 5 remains a challenge according to Real Software Systems.
- Convenience is most important to consumers followed by content quantity.
- Second screen experiences for linear TV will only expand.
- Social networks important in content discovery.
- Creating a video standard not easily done since device platforms vary. Industry is still too fluid for a standard but consortium of CE manufacturers is looking to address this problem.
- Wearable screens such as Google glasses will not get real adoption rates.
The multi-screen universe brief has been an active one over the last 4 years at Digital Hollywood and the panels have been a great way to hear multiple views about where it is headed. Each year, we adjust our outlooks to this ever-evolving landscape. Digital Hollywood can affirm your strategy or help you adjust based on new insights from industry insiders. I suggest it strongly as an event worth attending.