Interest in OTT online distribution is attracting new audiences to IBC. The role of the Content Everywhere Europe Hub is to explain the ‘content everywhere’ opportunity to these first-time visitors as well as to those from IBC’s loyal core audience who are trying to understand how broadband fits alongside traditional broadcast.
As this IBC Daily Preview is being put together, executive producer Ian Volans (of Volans Consulting) is busy shaping his impressive list of VIP speakers into a final schedule for his free-to-attend Content Everywhere Hub sessions, but he promises to deliver compelling content.
He says that the 13:00 sessions (Friday-Sunday) take quite a broad look at the OTT space while the 15:30 slots on Friday and Saturday have a sporting emphasis (same times for Monday’s sessions).
Content Everywhere panellists will debate how customisation of content, personalisation of the user experience and learning the tastes and habits of each individual user are the key skills that all content distributors now need to master. They will also explore what multiscreen delivery really means for today’s media brands, broadcasters, operators and service providers.
IBC’s Content Everywhere Hub is located in the heart of Hall 14 where a host of exhibitors will be demonstrating business models designed for long-terms sustainability and technical success. Volans explains that his speakers will provide detailed advice, and case studies: “Many of the traditional boundaries between different players in the value chain have become blurred in the Content Everywhere world. I’ll be working with all panel speakers on a common vocabulary to cut through this confusion.”
Included in the schedule are speakers talking about live streaming of niche sports, for example. Volans says sessions will also explore the technical challenges that live streaming presents for a genre where viewers have zero tolerance for interruptions. The session will discuss the potential impact of platforms such as Facebook Live, Periscope and Snapchat and share insights gained in football, horse racing, boxing and in territories as diverse as Germany and Thailand.
Key to success in Content Everywhere is discovery, and helping audiences find, select and watch content. Panels will also explore how viewing habits are changing, the extent to which consumers are viewing OTT to supplement pay TV, the emergence of ‘dip-in-and-out’ and the implications for business models and customer service strategies.
One word of advice to would-be attendees: grab a seat early as these free sessions are justifiably hugely popular.
