IBM and IBC Report: Increased Viewing of Mobile Video Content is Driving Consumer Demand for Better Content Experiences

·
More than half of consumers watch videos on mobile
devices – expected to grow 45 percent in three years

·
92 percent of media and entertainment executives
say cognitive will play an important role in the future of their business

ARMONK,
N.Y., and AMSTERDAM – September 14, 2017:  Digital video consumption is
viral and, according to a new study released today by IBM (NYSE: IBM) and International Broadcasting
Convention (IBC), more than half of the 21,000 consumers surveyed are using
mobiles every day to watch streaming videos, and that number is expected to
grow 45 percent in the next three years.

Today,
the explosive growth of new digital content available via online video
distribution networks such as YouTube competes directly with traditional
broadcasting creating a new connected landscape with data at the center. With
this shift in industry competition, media and entertainment companies aim to
maximize content investment and return while providing a differentiated and
exceptional customer experience. Ninety-two percent of surveyed media and
entertainment executives say cognitive technologies will play an important role
in the future of their business.

Released
this week at IBC’s annual conference, the “Creating
a ‘living’ media partner for your consumers: A cognitive future for media and
entertainment ” study, conducted by the IBM Institute
for Business Value, is based on findings from two studies. The first is a
survey of nearly 21,000 consumers in 42 countries about their video consumption
habits, and the second offers insights from 500 global media and entertainment
executives about the impact of cognitive computing on their industry.

Globally,
the study found 51 percent of surveyed consumers–and 67 percent in emerging
markets—access free, over-the-Internet video from providers such as YouTube,
Facebook and Snapchat, whereas 48 percent access video through regular
subscription services from traditional pay-TV providers. Among the 55 percent
of surveyed respondents who watch video regularly on mobile devices, about a
quarter spend one to two hours using mobile broadband instead of WiFi. Despite
consumers’ drive to go mobile, many respondents say the experience leaves much
to be desired. For example, 65 percent of surveyed consumers very often or
regularly experience buffering problems and 62 percent have long waiting times
to start a video.

Although
media companies have advanced in recent years, most lag digital disruptors in
the application of data, machine learning and advanced automation to deliver
next-generation experiences at scale. Cognitive capabilities can play a critical
role in this transformation by unlocking and interpreting previously
inaccessible data, yielding audience, content and contextual insights that can
help media companies reach viewers with compelling, personalized experiences.

To
deliver audience-tailored services in the moment, broadcasters must gain
actionable, relevant insights from large amounts of data, leveraging advanced
data tools and cognitive systems. In fact, organizations such as the All
England Lawn Tennis Club who organize the Championships, Wimbledon are already using cognitive
computing and artificial intelligence (AI) to create, acquire and program
content, personalize services, manage advertising inventory management,
streamline production and enhance staff productivity.

Cognitive
tools can also be applied to interpret video and audio content in terms of
sentiment and automating the identification of key moments of interest. Applied
at major events such as the Masters and the
U.S. Open , these tools help streamline the editing process and support
customization at scale to better serve individual fan interests.

“The proliferation of video platforms and services are enabling
more dynamic social, short-form, and immersive content formats that creates
cross-platform competition for traditional licensed and original content,”
says Michael Crimp, CEO, IBC. “This is a challenge for advertisers and
content providers to reach target audiences with relevant, personalized
offerings and messages–to succeed they need to embrace technologies and
innovations in the marketplace, such as cognitive computing.”

“With an
ever-increasing array of devices and over-the-top direct-to-consumer platforms,
connected consumers are now clearly demanding high quality and personalized
anytime, anywhere content experiences,” said Steven Canepa, Managing Director,
Global Telecommunications, Media & Entertainment Industry, IBM.  “The
challenge is to use the data emanating from this connectedness for competitive
advantage.  Cognitive computing allows media companies to better
understand their audiences, to enhance customer choice and engagement, and to
derive the insights necessary to better connect the right content with the
right audience member.”

With the
rapid evolution of customer preferences and demands, media companies face
immense pressure in a hyper-competitive market. The IBV and IBC recommend
organizations embrace the opportunities that the marketplace is currently
presenting by:

·
Applying cognitive technology to achieve
personalization. Delighting and engaging each individual consumer by understanding the
personalized, in-the-moment experiences each customer craves is critical.
Cognitive applications in media and entertainment can help do just that, by
delivering audience insights and content enrichment, as well as content
prediction to create a compelling customer experience based on audience
preferences, affinities and tastes.

·
Revamping infrastructure to meet the coming
demands. Moving
from several hundred channels to several million “cable channels for one” that
predict and serve individual needs in real time will require much more flexible
and scalable processes. Companies will need to implement hyperscalable systems
to manage the ever-expanding data processing necessary to analyze, personalize,
and distribute video content. Such a platform must be scalable to accommodate
growth, resilient to support uninterrupted service and secure to manage
identities and protect valuable assets. Content value chains —from acquisition
through production to distribution —need to be unified, requiring workflow
automation, which must consider the media content, associated rights and
technical and descriptive metadata. Media workflow systems must monitor system
infrastructure, the location of content and distribution channel
characteristics. By applying cognitive methods to both audience insights and
content distribution, media companies can create an architecture that scales
automatically based on predictions of audience demands and peak loads, helping to
match costs and resources dynamically to changing market conditions and
business or operational needs.

·
Reengineering business models to profit from in the
new media landscape. Media companies will need to make backend systems
and processes more intelligent to fully monetize the new opportunities while
cutting costs and refocusing investment on content and customer experience. As
media companies look to the future, those that apply data to optimize revenues
and costs and strip out non-core activities will free up funds to reinvest in
content and enabling technologies, driving further growth and success. Emerging
technologies like cognitive solutions and blockchain may play a key role in
that future. Industry leaders will be those who can institutionalize such
capabilities as part of their Digital Reinvention efforts and focus their
companies on investing in great content and delivering superior customer
experiences.

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IBM’s Institute for Business Value

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