Second screen apps, enhanced DVR key for pay-TV ops’ future success

Editor | 13-02-2014

As they battle it out for subscribers in a TV anywhere world, pay-TV operators will be using value-added services like second-screen apps and enhanced DVR capabilities to both attract and maintain customers, says Infonetics Research.

In its Multiscreen TV Service Strategies and Vendor Leadership: Global Service Provider Survey, Infonetics sees such devices as tapping into the new world of TV where convergence is happening in the living room between smartphones, tablets and connected TVs. Indeed it says that for most pay-TV providers, the tablet has become the de facto second screen: 47% of respondent operators support tablets as part of their multiscreen service now, growing to 89% by 2015.

"Pay-TV operators are simultaneously grappling with how to address the desire among subscribers to take their content with them wherever they go, whenever they go," explained Jeff Heynen, principal analyst for broadband access and pay TV at Infonetics Research. "The net result is a major change in what equipment pay-TV operators invest in to ingest, encode, transcode, and play out video content, as well as how they negotiate with content owners for the right to distribute content across multiple formats."

"In a growing number of markets, pay-TV providers find themselves at a crossroads … their traditional business models are under attack as telco IPTV providers, over-the-top (OTT) providers and consumer electronics companies - Netflix, LOVEFiLM, Amazon, Hulu, Apple, Samsung, and others - continue to divert revenue away from them.”

Infonetics noted that despite the need for multiscreen among pay-TV operators, it was still a relatively new service offering for many, making it necessary for multiscreen equipment vendors to demonstrate the reliability of their products and provide support to customers.