Patrick Béhar, global CEO, Kantar Media, takes TVBEurope through the changing streaming landscape in 2023, and why he believes broadcasters and platforms need to expand the definition of viewing to make sense of both streaming and linear viewing habits.
What industry trends have particularly stood out for you in 2023, and why?
2023 was defined by continued economic troubles with persistent inflationary pressure impacting consumer spending. The effects are not uniform, however, with inflation suppressing subscription appetites for some. As a result, media companies are re-evaluating their business models with many of the subscription-based streaming services opening advertising-funded tiers at lower price points.
This shift towards ad-supported streaming broadens choice for audiences and opens new revenue streams for platforms. Meanwhile, broadcasters and networks, with their longstanding expertise in advertising, may find it easier to incorporate and sell ads than those for whom advertising is a new specialism.
As a result, we are seeing a renewed focus on the value of data. Macro insights remain valuable for direction, but this must be combined with nuanced customer insights and media measurement to build impactful strategies that resonate with audiences.
What impact are you seeing those trends having on the media and entertainment industry?
Evolving audience preferences and shifts in content consumption, intertwined with the industry’s push to monetise and measure, underscore the dynamic transformation across the media and entertainment industry.
A major disruption came in the form of the Hollywood writers’ and actors’ strike, born out of debates around fair residuals from distributors, and concerns about the potential use of artificial intelligence in scriptwriting and production, amongst other issues.
It also gave pause to consider an interesting question – should content strategies always be about creating something new? Timeless classics like Friends and The Office US continue to capture audiences, be it through linear broadcast or on-demand. Meanwhile, archive franchise content – including Pixar, Marvel, James Bond and LucasFilm – is being given a new life as the bedrock of themed FAST ad-supported streaming channels.
Adapting to this precarious landscape, platforms are strategically spreading their bets, curating diverse content line-ups. This will accelerate the trend towards global VoD platforms commissioning non-US drama content as they look for the next Squid Game. Certainly, there is a growing appetite for non-English language content, with Netflix’s own figures showing a 90 per cent increase over the last three years.
Yet, even with the right ingredients, there’s no guaranteed recipe for success – only a holistic data strategy, built on trusted data and actionable insights will give media and entertainment businesses the edge.
How do you see those trends developing further in 2024?
In 2024, VoD’s success will be uneven. To make sense of both streaming and linear viewing habits, broadcasters and platforms will expand the definition of viewing and measures of success looking beyond overnight ratings towards more holistic measures, integrating first (and third) party data alongside panel data.
For advertisers, as they pursue the path to cross-media measurement, calibration panels will take centre stage. These panels serve as the singular ‘ground truth’, enabling both the buy and sell sides to better comprehend, leverage and maximise the utility of their respective data sets.
This enables organisations to make more informed decisions based on a unified data set, rather than disparate data points, which is crucial for the integrity and optimisation of cross-media strategies.
More generally, we will see data strategies become ever more sophisticated as media and entertainment brands seek to better understand their audiences and grow share.
For example, the cost-of-living crisis has cemented the view that traditional demographic-based segmentations– such as age, sex and gender – no longer suffice. It’s now also key to understand attitudes, values and behaviours to identify the consumer groups with different spending priorities and criteria of choice.
Do you expect to see any new trends within the industry in 2024, and what will they be?
In 2023, the availability of multiple data sources, including direct-from-device and first-party data owned by platforms and advertisers, has enabled ever more granular understanding of audience behaviours.
In 2024, I expect advertisers and content owners to continue to move beyond siloed first-party data in order to integrate information from varied sources to improve strategic decision-making.
The need for a holistic view of audience behaviour is also prompting advertisers to pursue cross-media measurement solutions. Such solutions offer de-duplicated data on reach and frequency, thus empowering advertisers to better comprehend the scope of their campaigns.
While initial advancements have been predominantly focused on viewing forms, as exemplified by projects like Origin in the UK, this is a step towards a more inclusive approach that will eventually encompass a broader range of media forms. As such, the work undertaken to measure cross-platform should be seen as a critical component in the journey towards true cross-media measurement capabilities, rather than the end goal.
