In recent years, IP-based content delivery has opened the floodgates for a wide variety of new players to enter the TV space. As such, operators are under huge pressure to keep their customers happy, and are increasingly looking to international markets to grow their subscriber base. Various Pay-OTT operators are making strong inroads into these markets, but these businesses are not yet completely monopolising consumer wallets. In reality, consumers are viewing content from various sources, with VOD/OTT usage often supplementing traditional viewing habits. Consumers are still very partial to the services that traditional operators can provide, such as FTA channels, live events and sports coverage and catch up services. At NAB, I’m looking forward to seeing the ways in which operators are building more engaging services, in what is an increasingly crowded marketplace.

As the media landscape becomes more saturated with TV services, operators are under pressure to engage more actively with consumers to achieve long-lasting and profitable subscriber relationships. Though content is king when it comes to choosing a TV service, brand and experience are equally as important but are often overlooked. As content becomes less exclusive, it is becoming apparent that service delivery to improve the customer experience is emerging as a new and powerful differentiator between all TV services and technology that streamlines this process is going to be critical.

Having carried out over one hundred projects with operators, we have seen first-hand how successful subscriber management is all about reacting appropriately at the moments when consumers make decisions. The way that operators turn up, behave and respond when interacting with consumers –from finding and joining a service, consuming content, upgrading and downgrading, billing, leaving and winning back - has a major impact on their decision to keep subscribing. Therefore at NAB we will be unveiling major updates to our subscriber management platform, sharing our new personalised solution which helps operators respond effectively to consumer decisions and behaviours at specific moments along their TV journey.

I think an interesting trend we’ll see coming out of NAB is that operators will be increasingly focusing on using data to create insights. These insights will allow operators to understand different customer ‘personas’ and improve the customer experience through personalised engagement, recommendations and services that will in turn build their brand and create loyalty. While big data has been a developing trend for the past few years, it’s evident that operators haven’t yet found the most effective solution to harness this data, and there is room for improvement. Different regional nuances create challenges for operators however. Lower credit card penetration in MENA, for example, hinders certain types of OTT business models. Mobile viewing in Asia will also force some operators to strengthen ties with telcos, but the expense of streaming content in this way means it will face sluggish adoption until costs reduce.

I’m planning to attend the Online Video Conference, where I’m looking forward to the keynote “The OTT landscape: Why now and what’s next” from Michael Paull, VP Digital Video, Amazon, to hear his thoughts on what the future holds for the OTT industry and what he thinks the key trends for 2016 will be. Horowitz Research will also be hosting a research presentation, looking at the role of broadcast content in today’s multiplatform environment, which looks particularly interesting. I’ll also be heading along to the Mobile Video Explosion panel, to hear more about personalised TV in the ‘mobile revolution era.’

I will be participating in a panel session to discuss how operators can monetise the connected subscriber at Connected Media|IP@NAB on Wednesday 20th April. Andrew Burke (Chairman at Paywizard) will also be hosting a seminar following the panel discussion, to introduce findings from new US and UK consumer focus group research and provide insight on they key consumer decision moments at different steps of the customer journey.

This year’s NAB show will be a year of significant change for Paywizard because we’re not only launching our new insight-led subscriber management platform, but we are also shifting our focus to hone in on the importance service delivery for operators, and explaining why driving engagement, revenues and increasing ARPU all depend on ensuring flawless and immersive experiences for customers.