The changing value of content in the digital age

By Jeffrey Soong, CEO of BNS Ltd

“Change” as a word and concept seems to be on everyone’s minds these days. But forgetting the ubiquitous Climate Change for a moment, the reason for this is that change is something that touches all parts of life, some in more obvious and some in more subtle ways. Content is of course no exception and of late has been particularly vulnerable to two major change agents: social change and technology advancements.

Arguing which one has more influence is a little like the chicken and egg question. But it’s undeniable that the recent surge in technology advancements has made content available over an unprecedented number of new platforms and has at the same time given people the means to re-produce it for free (legal or otherwise) and without quality loss - a fact that has been enthusiastically embraced by people from all walks of life around the world.

An example for technology being the enabler is social networking site Bebo whose founders have sold their venture for a cool US$850mn to AOL earlier this year, all on the back of user generated content that the users volunteered for free. So it seems that these days you don’t even have to own content to make money from it.

But does this mean that content has lost its value?

Value…in the eye of the beholder

Value, as they say, lies in the eye of the beholder, but even if we perceive content to be “free” because we can watch it online and don’t have to pay for it, it still has a value, just like anything else. But today it is increasingly the context in which the content is displayed or accessed that defines the value of a particular piece of content.

Media companies and content owners nowadays understand that content distributed over multiple platforms creates more revenue opportunities, mostly well beyond traditional copyright protection - which doesn’t define content value anyway, but merely asserts the right to its value.

These companies also understand that monetising content and giving it value is more about enabling access than restricting access. In other words: the value of content is only as high as the quality of the engine or service managing it.

Is Conduit the real King?

Content owners and regulators may not openly admit it, but behind closed doors it seems that the industry has come to an understanding that fighting piracy with conventional methods of deter and punish is a futile exercise. Content owners understand they must find other avenues to preserve the value of their content assets.

But in a world rife with piracy, content is only as valuable as the service that makes it useful and accessible. The obvious conclusion is that Conduit, not Content may be the true King in creating value for their owners.

Consider the explosive acceleration in program content over the past few years. How will people find what they are looking for, across multiple platforms and in light of the diminishing influence of channel brands, which are the traditional conduit for people to find the content they are after?

Search engines, video portals, social networking sites and the likes are set to be the Conduits of the future for viewers to find the content they want to watch. So for content owners it is paramount to maximise the possibilities of each platform to retain customer loyalty towards their assets.

Smart EPGs will lead the way

This also puts the spotlight on the operator and the importance to create an intuitive user interface. A smart Electronic User Guide (EPG) should be at the heart of every service as the one-stop-shop that guarantees viewers will find the content they are looking for, across platforms and without spending a lot of time searching.

Apple’s iPhone illustrates this perfectly. According to a study conducted shortly after the first generation iPhone was launched last year showed that 95% of iPhone owners regularly surfed the web, even though 30% had never done so prior to owning an iPhone. The obvious conclusion is that the intuitive and easy to use interface played a major role in turning phone users into multimedia users.

But since today we are not only dealing with one or two, but multiple platforms, service providers need to strive for a unified, simple interface on each platform to increase customer usage, satisfaction, loyalty and revenue. This role of platform “blender” can only be performed by powerful backend technology, so service providers need to plan and build their networks from the perspective of services, applications and a great user experience. They need to position their services to be attractive for both end users and content owners to be successful.

Building bridges more important than ever

As I have said many times before, the only way forward for service providers and content owners is to build a bridge across their very diverse industries and become collaborators in order to tackle the challenges of an increasingly fragmented media landscape.

But whereas only a short while ago that catch cry was “Content is King’ it is increasingly obvious that there is a much more level playing field emerging that will pull all parties together to work closely to preserve their assets.

To paraphrase a content owner who spoke at a panel discussion I moderated recently: content alone won’t cut the mustard anymore. We need to be able to offer it in a fun and exciting way to continue to engage people and attract them to our content.

So to conclude, change is not only inevitable, but the stakeholders in the media and communications industries have to understand that their future depends on it. It may not be easy, but with the risk of showing my age, let me leave you with some stuttered wisdom David Bowie parted with some time ago: Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes (turn and face the strain).

******

Jeffrey Soong Chief Executive Officer, BNS Ltd
Jeffrey Soong is the CEO of BNS Ltd, a leading Asia-focused IPTV content and technology provider.

Mr Soong has over 20 years of experience in the fields of entertainment, technology, and international finance, and is a recognized expert on the subject of entertainment and technology convergence.

Prior to co-founding BNS, he was CEO of Vodexa Networks, a U.S. technology company with major Hollywood studio clients. Over the course of his career, he has also held senior management positions with SVP International, a TV program production and distribution company, and CSSV Media Ventures and World Entertainment Network.

Mr Soong holds a BS degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and undertook Ph.D. scholarship studies in Computer Science at Caltech.

BNS Ltd
Headquartered in Hong Kong, BNS provides IPTV-based content and technology solutions for broadband service providers and enterprises interested in maximizing their potential with IP-based solutions, such as Telco IPTV, Internet TV, MDU IPTV, Mobile TV and Enterprise A/V. The company has extensive hands-on experience in all facets of design, implementation and management of broadband networks in Asia and is the preeminent specialist on content across all platforms in the region. www.bnsltd.com