THOUGHT LEADERSHIP


Siemens’ Jayesh Ranchod and Merlin Naicker on how the Internet killed the video star  

Within a couple hours of Usain Bolt crossing the finish line, more than 100 clips of his IAAF World Championship 100m world record were uploaded to YouTube. In the last month this “coverage” has been viewed a couple of million times at least.

“For an under-appreciated sport like track and field, that’s pretty cool,” says Jayesh Ranchod: Siemens Divisional Director – Services Industry. “It’s also ironic when you consider that the official Berlin IAAF World Championship site didn’t feature the clip.” Even more impressive statistics come from the late king of pop’s moonwalk video (“Michael Jackson – BEST EVER MOONWALK”), which has received over 27,7 million views since it was uploaded two years ago.

We Want What We Want, When We Want It…

Given that these are the statistics for discrete pieces of content delivered in a non-linear manner (unlike television’s traditional linear stream of programming), there are some interesting implications for traditional broadcasters.

According to Siemens Media

Solutions’ Merlin Naicker, Head: Media and Telecommunications, the question traditional media executives are asking themselves behind close doors, is how will traditional broadcasters compete with these “new generation” platforms that get better viewership figures without having to sell advertising or spend the big budgets on production? “The question behind the question is, of course, how can broadcasters protect the revenue streams generated by the advertising that traditionally accompanies the content they send out?”

Naicker says that whether media executives like it or not, the role of the broadcaster is changing. “The media industry’s transformation is being enabled by technology, but driven by the consumer. Increasingly, consumers can access any form of content via any device at the time and place of their choosing. If one content provider doesn’t give consumers the options they want, there is always another that will,” he explains.

From Push To Pull

Ranchod says the plethora of devices in public hands, combined with an explosion in bandwidth, processing power and storage capability, has meant that an increasing proportion of content is not only available to users anywhere and at any time, but is also being generated by users themselves.

“Broadcasting was traditionally a one-to-many medium, with a big brother-type broadcaster deciding what the audience would watch, and when they would watch it. The assumption was that a single, linear stream of content was applicable to the entire audience,” says Ranchod.

“Increased penetration of broadband internet access combined with the arrival of social networks has galvanised the public’s iron will to choose their own content, and the manner and timing of its creation and delivery. In the new, potentially many-to- many broadcast environment, pure push content runs the risk of making too many assumptions about viewer preferences. While there is some argument as to whether the online medium is truly competition for traditional television stations, there is no question that the gap is closing. Five years ago, the question would not even have been asked.”

Social Network Explosion

Either way, the fact is people are consuming new kinds of content, and consuming it in different ways. There is no other explanation for the meteoric rise of social networks: MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Zoopy, Flickr, Twitter, friendfirst, delicious, propeller, simpy – the list is endless.

The question to ask is no longer whether social networks will be a big phenomenon, but simply why they are one.

Naicker says the question Siemens Media Solutions has been deliberating on is what is driving such rapid take up of these social networks and how Siemens can assist its clients in leveraging these social trends and platforms. He believes the reason why social networks are such a big phenomenon comes down to the ability of the average consumer now being provided a platform to express their opinions in a creative manner. ‘The basis of this expression is content that they consume from traditional media platforms and if they think this content can be presented differently they are no longer keeping quiet, they are expressing their opinions on social platforms by creating alternatives.”

In terms of how to leverage the new platforms, Ranchod says broadcasters should not try to lock down their content by increasing their control over publication and broadcast rights. “Rather embrace the new media. Invite consumers into your world and enable them to express themselves on your platform. This way you retain credibility along with the consumer’s loyalty, enabling individual expression and simultaneously maintaining control of advertising rights.”

Naicker points to some of South Africa’s more popular broadcast formats, such as Big Brother and Idols, where traditional media has started to exploit the online environment and involve their viewers. Another case in point is Disney’s High School Musical, where producers even went to the point of asking audiences to suggest alternative plots and submitting their comments and photographs, and opinions.

“The last FIFA World Cup is another prime example of how control of consumer mindshare, credibility and advertising space can effectively be retained,” says Naicker. “FIFA controlled all rights to every piece of content generated at the world cup, but could not realistically have prevented fans from taking pictures with their cameras and cellphones. Instead, FIFA embraced the concept and created a dedicated website where fans could upload their pictures and clips. If they hadn’t, many more clips would have ended up on YouTube, where FIFA would no longer have had any access to advertising revenues. Instead of resisting the trend, FIFA socialised their platform and retained audience share on their network.”

The Natives are Coming

“There is a group of people for whom anytime, anywhere access to whatever content they desire is a given,” Naicker says. “They take it for granted because it’s pretty much all they’ve ever known.

Some call them the ‘millennials’ – but to media owners they are the digital natives, the group aged between 16 and 24. Channel V (Hong Kong) was losing this demographic because of its traditional, linear music content stream,” he states. “To combat the trend, channel executives took the decision to recreate the channel into a wall to wall music video channel as an online/mobile platform by introducing social networking capabilities.” SMS capabilities now enable viewers to send a word (like “hot” or “not”) to a short code number, effectively changing the content rating in real time. The social networking platform also enables viewers to link a particular track to their Facebook/ Zoopy/MySpace/social-network-ofyour- choice page, as an expression of their personalities and preferences.

“This is where Siemens sees the future going from a linear TV perspective,” asserts Naicker. “The arrival of vastly increased broadband capability through a company like Seacom will have a definite impact on the South African media/social networking market. Technologies like IPTV will become a possibility. In the future, users will be able to access a catalogue of content and watch TV on demand.”

Ranchod points out that even advertising in exchange for free access is under threat. “YouTube contradicts the conventional wisdom that users will accept advertising slots if the content is free. Dedicated advertising airtime will increasingly be replaced by product placement within the programming itself. Already, global content distributors are asking local broadcasters, when they buy content, whether they want internet and social network rights to the content in addition to the traditional broadcast channel privileges they buy.”

BBC’s iPlayer: Twenty Million Content Requests Per Month

The BBC’s iPlayer – one of its biggest success stories – receives approximately 600,000 content requests per day, or more than 20 million per month. “It’s the most significant development at the BBC since colour TV,” says Naicker.

Naicker believes that traditional media companies and owners need to accept the inevitable and ride the wave or be dumped by it. Platforms must be socialised if they are to ensure continued and sustained success in a globalised content market. “If you aren’t inviting consumers into your environment then consumers will create their own environments without you. As a media company, you’ll lose credibility, viewership and advertising revenue. The moral of the story: socialise your media platforms or become extinct,” Naicker concludes.

C O N T A C T

Jayesh Ranchod

Siemens Divisional Director, Services Industry: Siemens Media Solutions

Tel: 011 652 2496

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Merlin Naicker

Head, Media and Telecommunications: Siemens Media Solutions

Tel: 011 652 7741

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Website: www.siemens.co.za/mediasolutions