MUMBAI: Most TV companies are unprepared for advanced TV, a research has revealed.
SintecMedia Survey finds that 69 per cent of TV media executives admitted their inability to sell streamlined multichannel advertising, while 59 per cent rely on homegrown technology.
SintecMedia, a leading provider of broadcast and digital management software, has announced the results of a research study of TV media executives and agency media buyers about the future of TV, problems facing media companies, and how media companies plan to manage advanced TV advertising and delivery.
The study includes results from a survey in partnership with MediaPost as well as interviews with executives from market-leading companies including Charter Spectrum Reach, Hulu, Scripps Network, and Turner.
Fifty-nine per cent of TV media companies rely on homegrown technology to sell their inventory, a fact that will make it difficult for companies to adapt as advanced TV forces new technology and process into the advertising organization. The study also finds that the executives believe that their companies are unprepared for changes. Less than one third, 31 per cent believe that their company has what they need to sell digital and linear TV in a single streamlined process.
SintecMedia is also a software partner for brands including NBCU, CBS, ABC, AT&T, STARZ, Star India, Seven Australia and Sky. SintecMedia and MediaPost surveyed TV executives, digital executives and agency media buyers.
TV media executives, the study reveals, are not aligned with media buyers about several key advanced TV elements. While TV executives believe that TV ratings metrics will become the standard for multichannel and advanced TV advertising, agencies believe that the impression will become the significant metric. What's more, TV companies feel confident that the TV department will take on more digital sales while agencies believe that digital will take on more TV sales.
The study finds that demand for advanced TV inventory is founded on fast transactions, easy delivery and big scale. Technical and organizational friction within TV companies creates barriers that could frustrate media buyers looking for easy ways to buy audience-targeted campaigns from TV companies, potentially giving digital companies like Facebook and Google a window of opportunity.
TV companies are, however, in a good position to grab market share in advanced TV if they can overcome technical and operational hurdles quickly.
"TV companies and digital companies are both vying for advanced TV market share, with widely varying business models. The future of TV requires a profitable combination of quality content, multichannel distribution and ad sales built on a flexible, centralized technology stack. This strategy empowers the media company to control their transactions and make decisions quickly," said SintecMedia CEO Lorne Brown.
"Our research shows that many TV executives are facing critical trade-offs to reap small rewards from compromised projects now compared to more ambitions strategic initiatives that ensure that they preserve their control and profitability in the future," Brown added.
