TVBEurope hosted its first ever roundtable, in association with Grass Valley, at Twickenham Stadium last month. November Digital Edition carries the discussion on second screen, apps, systems integrators and customer service. Reporting the Roundtable for TVBEurope were Melanie Dayasena-Lowe and David Fox. Event Moderator Jeremy Bancroft opened the roundtable by pointing out that, “today we have a channel-centric model but it’s very outdated because everyone is competing in multiscreen and multiplatform. But are they?”
He asked the participants: “How important is multiscreen and multiplatform to the future of your organisation now and in three years time?”
Andrew Ioannou of ITV admitted that predicting what will happen over the next three years is near impossible in terms of what is around the corner in the next platform. “Multiplatform is very important but that depends on the genre of content. If it’s live content, multiplatform has got a different meaning and different application. Having content available on multiple platforms is a significant part and it’s what consumers are expecting. It’s driven by consumer demand and it’s part of the product.”
Talking from the Sky News perspective, Bevan Gibson of BSkyB explained that consumers with a Sky ID have access to the Sky News iPad app. The iPhone app and website are free of charge. “We’re now looking at selling the iPad app abroad and we’re generating revenue from that. Multiplatform is very important and there is a big push within news specifically for servicing tablets.”
Bancroft asked if the apps are profitable and sustainable for the business? Sky Sports’ Darren Long believes they are. “We’re really focusing on what value we can give to the individual customers out there and apps is one of the ways we can do it. Equally, we as a company have to be very adaptive and also lead the pack. We’re constantly looking at new technology. Some we may pass on and some we may take up. As new technology comes along, we’ve got to embrace it. The value is that the people we keep as our customers are our best advertisers.”
With Viacom International Media Networks’ MTV brand’s core demographic, there is an expectation now to have complementary material on other platforms such as second screen and social media interaction with the content. Tim Bertioli of Viacom International Media Networks said: “We do a lot around that for our big UK shows like Geordie Shore and The Valleys. There are certain limitations on what we can do over-the-top [OTT] in the UK because of our contracts with Sky. We do have some pay per view available online but it is early days as to whether it’s really a big revenue driver for us. In the case of second screen and Facebook, there’s certainly a big drive and expectation from our core customers.”
