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The Future of TV

The Trend Continues

It’s no surprise that traditional TV viewing in the U.S. has decreased in recent years. Consumers are getting rid of their cable and shifting toward mobile and other digital platforms. But TV is taking on new forms and adapting to the digital landscape, as shown by the substantial growth of over-the-top (OTT) services.

So where is TV headed in 2018 and beyond?

OTT Services Will Expand

Among the newest (and still emerging) OTT services, from YouTube TV to Sling to DirecTV NOW, the three core platforms are still leading the way: Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu.

Netflix in particular has plans to spend more than $8 billion on content in 2018 with the hopes of releasing 80+ original movies by year’s end. Netflix wants 50% or more of their library to consist of original content by 2020. With such a significant investment, be on the lookout for new marketing and brand integration opportunities in the near future.

Amazon is also increasing its investment in Prime Video in 2018 (from $4.5 billion+ in 2017). We will see more movie content in particular, which is one of the key reasons consumers gravitate toward Prime Video.

Hulu is best known for providing licensed content from other networks, but it also offers original series and a live TV service, including sports, news and local TV channel content. With Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox (which owns Hulu), the platform is expected to significantly expand its original and licensed content.

New Players Will Enter the Space

Apple hasn’t been overly involved with streaming entertainment in the past, but with a planned budget of over $1 billion in 2018 for original content and scripted TV shows in the works, the tech giant is making an effort to compete with cable companies and other streaming services.

Additionally, Facebook Watch, which launched last year, offers original video content produced by partners who earn 55% of ad revenue. This content is personalized to users based on what their friends are watching or what is most popular. To help boost Facebook Watch adoption, major upgrades are planned for the digital streaming capabilities of the app as well.

Measurement Standardization Will Be a Top Priority

We’ve already seen consortiums such as OpenAP (created by Turner, Fox and Viacom) emerge in an effort to standardize audience TV buying and measurement, which has long been a challenge for marketers in the broadcast space. This year, A & E Networks, Discovery Communications and AMC Networks will be working with the Data Plus Math (or D+M) analytics platform, which uses set-top box data, smart TV data and machine learning methods to determine what viewers do after seeing a commercial. In a space that’s traditionally challenged by a lack of data and sales attribution, this could be a huge step forward for the industry.

Programmatic TV Buying Will Continue to Grow

Programmatic technology—which drives much of the digital media buying space—is already being used to buy TV ad inventory digitally (such as video on-demand or digital linear TV units). Now there’s development in programmatic buying for terrestrial linear TV, which gives buyers access to top-performing TV ad inventory across open exchanges. By using set top box data, such as viewing history and on-demand orders, we will be able to better understand who viewers are, regardless of what they’re watching. This dramatically improves targeting and brings us closer to our ultimate goal as marketers of making impressions on the right person at the right time with the right message. It’s the same process being used today to recommend shows; why not use it to better target our advertising?

It’s an exciting time for TV. Thanks to the significant growth in OTT services, more content, more platform and better targeting, there’s no question the industry is transforming. The real question is, are you ready for the future of TV? Get in touch with us to talk about it.