IBC in Amsterdam has come and gone, but I want to share a few of the top trends from the conference that I uncovered during my time there. IBC 2019 wasn’t, as they say, my first rodeo. I’ve been going to IBC for years. But, this year, there was a different feel about the show.

We’re deep into the OTT evolution and that made a difference in the panels, the topics for presentations, even the mix of exhibitors and what they were highlighting. For the past several shows, the big question has always been: “If I need to get my content online, how do I do it?”

Now, as the evolution becomes a revolution driven by consumers, very few broadcasters question whether they need to go online. Now, they want to know how they can get directly to the consumer over-the-top, and how quickly they can get there. The basic equation has really changed.

Watch my video above to see the top tech trends to come out of the conference, along with how attitudes toward content and consumers have changed. Then, download my Global Video Index for an in-depth look at the streaming landscape.

To view our Partner blog, click here

The evolution of the streaming media space has accelerated, and consumers are driving massive transformation in content, delivery, and devices. Broadcasters and content owners are searching for ways to get into the space quickly and maintain their relevance with viewers—who increasingly are looking to OTT services as their primary source of video entertainment.

The subscription video on-demand (SVOD) space alone is expected to reach nearly 1 billion subscriptions by 2023, nearly double what it is today, and that doesn’t even touch on the growth anticipated to happen with ad-supported video services.

Having the right insights will help you build your business.

That’s why we’ve put together Brightcove’s Q2 2019 Global Video Index , a deep dive into the consumer behavior that’s at the root of OTT’s growth. The Video Index looks at hundreds of millions of data points from the quarter for insights into how viewers are watching, what devices they are watching on, and what kind of content they’re consuming.

Mobile makes a move to dominate

In Q2, plays on mobile devices—smartphones and tablets—grew to 53% of all video starts globally—thereby “flipping the field,” as mobile plays grabbed the majority share compared to desktop computers.

The biggest growth in share was by smartphones, which saw more than a 45% share of all videos played on mobile devices and computers. That’s up from 38% a year ago.

We also looked at how the numbers shook out in seven markets: the Americas (the United States and Canada), Australia/New Zealand, APAC, Europe, Latin America, Japan/Korea, and the Middle East/Africa.

In emerging markets, especially APAC, mobile is king. A whopping 84% of all plays in the region were on mobile devices. In Japan/Korea, the share was 58%, and in the Middle East/Africa, mobile share was 57%.

In every region (except the Americas), mobile took share from desktop computers.

Leveraging mobile video consumption continues to be crucial for OTT providers as they look to not only reach younger viewers, who traditionally have been mobile-first, but also older demographics that have simply discovered mobile video as a convenient way to consume content outside the home. The amount of content being consumed on mobile devices has more than doubled over the past year—as more content owners and distributors make premium content available to consumers where they want it, when they want it, and on any device they want.

That growth will continue as more content, especially high-value sports content, finds mobile a very welcoming and profitable path to follow.

iOS loses share to Android

On mobile devices, the dominance of iOS (iPhones and iPads) has eroded in the past year. The share of video viewed on Android devices now is significantly higher in four of the seven world regions we reported on for Q2. Just three regions—the Americas, Australia/New Zealand, and Japan/Korea—see more video plays on iOS devices than on Android devices.

On a worldwide scale, Android smartphone share has increased to 68% from 59% from a year ago. But Apple’s iPad remains dominant in tablet plays.

Nowhere is Android as dominant as it is in APAC. Some 92% of video plays are on Android phones and tablets. Europe is next highest with 70% of plays being on Android devices. Of the three regions dominated by iOS, only Japan/Korea saw growth in Q2 from a year ago.

Long-form content dominates time watched on all devices

Continuing a trend, long-form video (21-40 mins.) and ultra-long-form video (41+ mins.) saw faster growth in its share of time watched in Q2 on every device, including mobile phones.

Ultra-long-form content took the highest total share of time watched across all devices, with short-form video (0-5 mins.) having the highest number of assets published.

The increasing quality of delivery to mobile devices, cheaper data plans, and more affordable Android smartphones from China, have had a significant impact on how content is consumed.

We’re seeing total screen democracy with the closest screen at hand being the screen of choice. Mobile is no longer dominated by snackable content. It’s providing a multi-course meal to consumers.

At IBC earlier this month, as we saw at NAB, the core of the discussion has changed to delivering content direct-to-consumers—with more personalization and fewer limitations as to what’s included in the content mix. That’s a trend that will continue the growth of OTT content consumption. We’ll continue to see growth on all devices, with longer content dominating time watched.

Interested in learning more about the latest video streaming trends? Download the full report . 

The Brightcove Global Video Index reflects the anonymized, aggregated, online video metrics of Brightcove customers.

To view our Partner blog, click here

How many times have you watched a TV show and seen a product that instantly caught your eye? And then proceeded to go on a wild goose chase across Google Search—trying to find and buy the exact product that was featured? You’re not alone. In one case, Crate and Barrel saw its sales for a particular wine glass surge 20 times its regular weekly volume after the item was featured in ABC’s drama Scandal as the glass most often favored by the show’s protagonist. Now imagine being able to click on that wine glass, add to cart, and check out—all within the program or after the program. This is the value proposition behind the concept of shoppable video. 

The shopping avenue in online TV remains largely untapped. But there is a strong interest in shoppable TV opportunities, especially in Asia. According to our 2019 Asia OTT Research Report , an average of 30% of users in Asia are open to purchasing products as seen on TV post-program, while 40% might be open to the concept—representing a potential market size of 70%.

It’s clear that there’s a high revenue potential for shoppable TV. Here are the top four strategies OTT players and advertisers should implement in order to launch successful shoppable video campaigns.

Incorporating shopping into the viewers’ experience

In Asia, ecommerce adoption is at an all-time high, with the industry predicted to reach $102 billion in value by 2025 . The majority of consumers in this region don’t live near a premium retailer, so the process of discovering new products usually occurs through digital channels and on mobile. 

Globally, people are inspired by the products in the content that they watch, but currently, there is no easy way to direct that person to purchase. Typically, the consumer’s process involves Google Search and surfing through a myriad of sites before they find and purchase the product they seek. (But then there is the whole aspect of whether they are buying the legitimate, original product or a less-expensive replicated edition, but we won’t get into that). If online TV platforms and advertisers could shorten that search-and-buy cycle, and make the experience seamless and convenient, we are betting that many consumers would be open to shoppable video as part of their viewer experience. 

Designing a less-intrusive experience

Shoppable video should aim to enhance the viewing experience, but if not designed carefully, it can backfire. Today, videos use dots or cues as a way to indicate the interactive element. But when interactive cues or dots are added into a TV program, it can be off-putting and distracting. OTT TV providers need to design a less-intrusive experience whereby they can advise viewers that the shoppable element is available in the program that they are about to watch. The cues can appear as part of the opening or end credits, or appear as picture-in-picture style near the scrubber bar—and can also be switched on or off, much like switching on subtitles. 

Creating branded content in a direct, measurable way

Branded content is a relatively new emergence in TV programming. NBC Universal teamed up with ecommerce fashion giant Zalora in South East Asia to produce Style Me Now , a TV show that focuses on makeovers. The premise here is that products featured on the show would drive online traffic and online sales on Zalora’s site, but the question remains if there is actually a direct correlation between an episode and product sales. Can Zalora measure this collaboration with solid metrics? My guess is no, not really. 

Brands have long been subtle when it comes to product placement in programming, but this does not provide any meaningful data beyond brand impression data. With shoppable video, content owners can track click-to-view, click-to-buy, and click-to-share interactions—and ultimately, get a clearer view of conversion data. 

Branded content within TV shows or movies that have an interactive element—which enables viewers to either seek out more information about the product onscreen or click-to-buy—could change the way brands and content owners monetize using this advertising format.

Diversifying revenue streams in the era of streaming wars

For OTT operators, customer acquisition and retention is a major challenge. Business models that are subscription-centric, ad-funded, or a combination of both only offer a sustainable business model to a certain extent. Shoppable video opens up a completely new revenue stream potential, while also helping to differentiate OTT service offerings in the era of streaming wars. 

By marrying TV with commerce and adding interactive elements, OTT TV operators can explore the measurable impact of shoppable video. This video can link directly to the point of purchase—enabling OTT operators to go beyond native OTT advertising. Conversely, advertisers are presented with another innovative way to market their products and uncover user buying preferences—all with the trackable conversions and audience data they crave. The possibilities with branded content and shoppable video commerce could be endless, and we are just at the starting line.

Ready to set your shoppable video strategy in motion? Speak to our OTT experts today.

To view our Partner blog, click here

Day 1: Friday, September 13

I arrived here in Amsterdam a few days ago, but IBC officially kicked off at 10:30 this morning. The entire onsite Brightcove team—over 40 of us!—were ready and waiting at our stand in Hall 5 for the show to begin. Before long, the floor was flooded with people, demos were rolling along in our stand, and IBC 2019 was well underway.

A big topic of conversation on the main IBC stage was change: changing monetization models, changing consumer habits, even changing content expectations (have we reached Peak Content yet?). That feeling of change was alive and well in the Brightcove stand, where we debuted our new product, Brightcove Beacon—you can hear all about it in our IBC show below!

Tomorrow, two of my Brightcove team members will be speaking at IBC: Video Technology Fellow Yuriy Reznik will speak at the UHD Forum Master Class about video encoding technologies, and Lexie Knauer will speak at the Future Trends Theatre on how to succeed in today’s OTT market. There’s lots more to come from IBC, so we’ll be live streaming from the show floor over the next two days. You can watch by following us on Facebook or tuning in on our IBC page . On tomorrow’s live stream, our Product Marketing team will cover all things live streaming (does it get any more meta than that?), and the next day, we’ll chat about the trends and predictions we’ve been hearing about around IBC. Catch up on today’s episode right here, and be sure to tune in over the next couple of days. Plus, our industry analyst Jim O’Neill is doing a deep dive on the day’s topics of conversation over on his blog, Videomind .

If you’re at IBC, you can request a meeting with our team at the stand. Otherwise, check back here tomorrow to see what you missed!

Day 2: Saturday, September 14

After the festivities last night—the happy hour we hosted with Fastly at the Waterfront—we were back in business at stand B69 early this morning. Today was another big day for our team, since Video Technology Fellow Yuriy Reznik was speaking at the UHD Forum, and Product Marketing Manager Lexie Knauer was speaking at the IABM Future Trends Theatre. I caught up with Yuriy after his presentation (the topic: video encoding technologies) to get his take on the latest advances. “Efficiency in encoding is more essential than ever, particularly with the arrival of UHD / 8k content,” he told me. “Yesterday’s screening of the Game of Thrones episode ‘The Long Night’ looked incredible in IBC’s state-of-the-art, immersive auditorium—in order to replicate such quality of experience for at-home viewers, innovations in encoding and delivery technologies, such as Context Aware Encoding, will be the key.”

After Yuriy’s presentation, it was back to our stand in Hall 5 for our IBC live show, where Lexie and our VP of Product Marketing, Mike Green, talked live streaming. Justin Barrett, the Senior Director in our EMEA office, stopped by to talk about exciting developments in the region, and we also heard from Chief Revenue Officer Rick Hanson—enjoying his first trip to IBC!  

Lexie also spoke at the Future Trends Theatre today, so I tagged along. Her topic? What success looks like in today’s fragmented OTT landscape. In fact, the entire afternoon session at the Future Trends Theatre covered various ways that OTT has disrupted media and continues to change, from monetization models to platform innovations to CDNs and more. OTT isn’t going anywhere—it’s clear by the amount of attention it gets on the IBC stage.

Industry analyst Jim O’Neill has been attending panels and presentations, plus walking all over the exhibition hall to see what the biggest new advances are. He’s recapping his big takeaways from the day on his blog, Videomind , so be sure to check it out.

If you’re at IBC, you can request a meeting with our team at the stand. Otherwise, check back here tomorrow to see what you missed!

Day 3: Sunday, September 15

Just because it’s Sunday doesn’t mean the IBC show floor was any more peaceful than yesterday! 

Now that we’ve been at the show for three days, the team has been seeing some patterns. Everybody is talking about 5G, and how it will impact connected TV, TV Everywhere, and OTT in general. Another big topic is live video and latency—when will live streams be truly “live,” with no delay? Our resident analyst, Jim O’Neill, has been chatting with people from all over the media industry about all this and more—so check out his blog Videomind for a deep dive on today’s big topics of conversation.

Tonight, we also attended a networking reception for members of DASH Industry Forum , an organization that promotes MPEG-DASH and associated guidelines. A single, industry-defined open standard like MPEG-DASH is definitely something we support as a contributing member of DASH IF, so it was great to get together with the other members, which include 67 companies from around the world.

We also talked about the trends and predictions we’re hearing around the exhibition hall on today’s live stream. Watch it here to see what you missed—and watch all the way to the end for a surprise promo code for PLAY 2020 tickets!

If you’re at IBC, you can request a meeting with our team at the stand. Otherwise, check back here tomorrow to see what you missed!

Day 4: Monday, September 16

Today is the last full day at IBC for most of the Brightcove team, so we stayed busy with meetings, demos, and one last tour of the exhibition hall to see any cool new things we may have missed.

Between Lexie’s and Yuriy’s presentations at the Future Trends Theatre and UHD Forum, the packed IBC conference schedule, our live streams from the Brightcove stand, and everything else there is to do and see here, the last few days have been a whirlwind. It’s been fascinating to have the whole industry here in one place, talking about the future of media. I’ve chatted about OTT, live streaming, AI, 8K, security, and analytics with some of the most innovative people and teams in the business.

It’ll be hard to pack up and leave tomorrow, but there is a silver lining—in May, Brightcove will be hosting our annual conference in Boston, PLAY 2020. We’ll cover a lot of the same topics, and with how quickly our industry is changing and innovating, I’m sure there will be plenty of new ground to cover!

If you want to join us at PLAY , we’re offering discounted passes for a limited time, so be sure and sign up soon! Enter code IBC2019 when you register for $100 off your PLAY pass.

To view our Partner blog, click here

Changing consumer video viewing habits are forcing the media industry to evolve. Broadcasters, content owners, and pay-TV providers are all looking at new business models, new technologies, and hybrid strategies in an effort to stay ahead of OTT disruption.

The number of subscriptions to video on-demand services globally is expected to top 947 million by 2024, more than twice the number of subscriptions there were in 2018. And those subscriptions will tie to more than 531 million subscribers (about 1.78 subscriptions per person), up from 175 million in 2018, said Digital TV Research in a series of reports.

That count is likely to be dwarfed by the number of consumers who watch ad-supported or freemium streaming video from an ever-increasing number of services.

While just how many new streaming services are launching every year is a tough number to pinpoint, conventional wisdom suggests there should be at least 500 new OTT platforms rolling out annually for the next three years or so.

Last year, in the U.S., for example, there were 20 services launched (the high was 67 in 2015, according to Parks Associates). This year is likely to challenge the 2015 high, as there have been a swarm of OTT players entering the market.

And, in the next few months, we’ll see more major additions.

The latest OTT players

In November, Disney is launching its subscription Disney+ service, and offering a hybrid bundle of Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. Apple TV+ is scheduled to bring its own long-anticipated subscription service into the market at the same time.

AT&T, meanwhile, is expanding its AT&T TV, AT&T TV Now, and AT&T WatchTV services, while planning a spring 2020 deployment of four more services under the HBO brand. NBCUniversal is also set to come to market in 2020, and the list goes on.

Broadcasters, studios, pay-TV operators, sports leagues, and various content rights holders are all looking to go over the top directly to consumers (D2C), cutting out the middleman. A D2C play also allows them to create multiple flavors of their services—a la Disney and AT&T—creating multiple incremental revenue streams that allow them to appeal to not only broad swaths of consumers, but to very specific groups, as well.

Media companies are also offering consumers options on how they pay for content. While SVOD has been the fastest growing business model, ad-supported services are seeing new traction as consumers look to limit spending on subscriptions.

The result has been more OTT providers looking to offer hybrid models—a combination of SVOD, AVOD, and freemium.

Don’t get left behind

It’s become crucial for OTT providers to be able to react like a startup… to trial different concepts, A/B test, and be flexible with business models, for instance. A common trait? Speed. Being able to get to market quickly—and accommodate and react to changing market trends—is the difference between success and failure.

It’s all part of the industry’s evolution, which, in nature, is often misconstrued as “survival of the fittest.” That’s not really the case, as any freshman biology major will tell you; in fact, using the term will likely cost you 5 points on a 10-point essay.

Charles Darwin in On the Origin of Species used the phrase “natural selection” when explaining evolution, pointing out that it’s the positive traits an organism has that are more likely to ensure its survival. In other words, it’s not the fittest that survive, it’s the ones most able to readily and rapidly adapt to a changing environment.

The modifications our industry is undergoing are a form of natural selection driven by changing consumer appetites and technological preferences.

Introducing Brightcove Beacon™

At Brightcove, we’re committed to providing our customers with the resources they need to stay one step ahead in the ever-evolving OTT marketplace. Don’t get left behind: Now, more than ever, you need to get to market quickly—and our new SaaS-based OTT platform, Brightcove Beacon , will empower you to do just that. With our streamlined development process, you’ll be able to launch captivating, consistent experiences for web, mobile, smart TVs, and connected TVs in record time. Learn more about Brightcove OTT experiences —and stay tuned for additional information on our upcoming Brightcove Beacon release.

To view our Partner blog, click here

At Brightcove, we obsess over the customer and viewer experience. As an early believer in the power and potential of OTT video, we have 15 years of proven leadership in the video space—and we understand the latest industry shifts and consumer preferences better than anyone else. In an age when viewers have increased expectations and growing appetites to watch content on an ever-growing list of devices, we believe that it’s more important than ever for you to be able to reach your audience—wherever they are.

Brightcove Beacon™, our new SaaS-based OTT platform, is our latest example of our dedication and investment in this space. The upcoming release will empower you to deliver captivating OTT experiences on more devices in record time. Once Brightcove Beacon officially launches in a few weeks, it will join our existing OTT offerings —making it easier than ever for you to choose the right solution for where you are in your OTT journey.

Interested in learning more? Here’s a quick overview of the technology behind Brightcove Beacon—and the benefits you can expect.

Reach audiences everywhere

Brightcove Beacon’s streamlined development process empowers you to get up and running on more devices than ever before—in the time it used to take to develop and deploy just one. Our new OTT platform contains three main components: a Content Management System (CMS), an admin portal, and an application generator. In the CMS, you’ll be able to designate how you want your content to be displayed to users—creating content playlists and the content publishing structure (using easy-to-change metadata tags). Then, in the admin portal, you’ll have the ability to:

• Configure the look and feel of the application experience

• Input any applicable monetization configurations

• Set up any advertising you would like to send through to the application

Once you’ve configured this information, the application generator will create native code for the specific devices on which you want to launch your OTT experience (i.e.,  iOS, Android, Samsung TV, and Roku). After this process takes place, you’ll be able to quickly package your app and submit it to the appropriate app stores—making it easier than ever for you to get to market faster.

Optimize your application management process

Once you generate your initial app, your remaining apps will all reference the single CMS for their content, as well as for the designated look and feel. This means that after you set up your CMS to your specifications, you’ll be able to generate applications for a variety of devices—from nine different types of smart TVs to four different kinds of connected devices, and more! Now that you won’t have to redo your configuration work each time, you’ll be able to launch multiple apps much faster than you ever could with the traditional, serial process of developing them one at a time (or in parallel with many more resources).

And you’ll also have the power to push out minor changes quickly and easily across all of your apps. If you want to adjust things like your app navigation, you’ll simply need to make the change in your admin portal; you won’t have to regenerate or recertify your apps. And once you make the adjustment, it will automatically be pushed out to all devices—empowering you to always provide a consistent experience.

With Brightcove Beacon, you can leave us to worry about the technical delivery—so you can focus on how to capitalize on the next big trend. I know that I can speak for the entire team when I say that we can’t wait for you to see firsthand all that our new release has to offer. Click here to learn more about Brightcove OTT experiences , and keep an eye on this space for more information about the upcoming Brightcove Beacon launch.

To view our Partner blog, click here