Video on demand platforms are being urged to include public safety announcements about coronavirus in an effort to spread the word to viewers.
In an open letter to the media tech industry, Marc Risby, group CTO at Boxer Systems and DigiBox, is asking the likes of Netflix, BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky, Amazon, YouTube and other platforms to add PSAs into their content.
“These are unprecedented times, we are watching a global pandemic play out in real-time but unbelievably the messages about how the public need to deal with COVID19 are not getting through,” writes Risby. “In times gone by our TV channels would be peppered with PSAs but right now they seem few and far between.”
Risby adds that the content viewing landscape is no longer limited to linear broadcasting, with “a good number of eyes watching VoD and streaming.”
He suggests VoD platforms force PSAs into their content, running pre-content, post-content and even during live streams.
“We can hammer home the COVID19 messaging quickly and better than other mediums and we can do it now. It should be government-led but it doesn’t have to be. Our industry can save lives, what are you going to do?” Risby concludes.
