Sports streaming has witnessed a significant rise in popularity, with research indicating that 71% of US fans now prefer to watch live events. This surge presents an enormous monetization opportunity for the media industry.
As the range of platforms for content consumption continues to expand, including Over-The-Top (OTT), digital, and Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV (FAST), media organizations must adopt efficient, cloud-based production, acquisition, and distribution workflows to meet the growing market demand for live sports content.
Kristian Mets has been Head of Sales Business Development at Net Insight since 2017, before his current role he has been at the company since 2008. Kristian has over 30 years of industry experience with a deep pedigree in Broadcast/Telecoms strategy development and implementation.
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Handling the Exponential Increase in Feeds
The demand to distribute sports content has reached unprecedented levels.
Smaller leagues, niche sports, youth leagues, and lower divisions now have the financial incentive to produce and distribute content on a larger scale. However, maintaining high-quality standards is crucial to preserving the value of sports content.
To accommodate this vast number of feeds efficiently, media companies need to approach their live video production and distribution strategically.
The limitations in the availability and scalability of content handling should no longer act as constraints. Leveraging IP technology can empower content owners with user-friendly tools that ensure quality control while simplifying the process.
Empowering Remote and Distributed Production with IP
IP technology has ushered in a new era for media companies, providing them with innovative blueprints to gain crucial capabilities, explore new business models, and achieve cost and resource efficiencies. Remote production, driven by IP, has revolutionized live production workflows across geographical boundaries.
Remote production maximizes time and resources by eliminating complex logistics and enabling production teams to support multiple events in a single day, resulting in increased content output for media companies and more engaging experiences for audiences.
Additionally, IP-driven remote production paves the way for cost-effective advancements like remotely-controlled robotic camera heads, further enhancing the viewing experience.
Cloud technologies have also facilitated distributed production workflows, enabling production facilities and teams to collaborate seamlessly across different locations. This model breaks down barriers of geography and time zones, expanding the pool of talent and resources that media companies can leverage.
Unlocking the Value of Live Video with IP
After live video production, IP tools are crucial in maximizing the content’s value and ensuring its delivery to the right audiences on the appropriate platforms. Traditional acquisition and distribution models that follow a “one for all” approach are transformed by IP technology.
Instead of distributing a single live video feed to all destinations, content distribution should be tailored to the requirements of individual content consumers.
By adopting an audience-centric approach, media companies can scale their high-value content while providing hyper-localized experiences for specific audiences. Customized feeds, localized commentators, and culturally relevant viewing experiences enable media companies to resonate with diverse global audiences, multiplying the value of high-profile sports content.
Content Ownership and Future-Proofing
In an evolving sports streaming landscape with new players from the streaming and tech worlds, securing a competitive advantage is crucial for media organizations.
IP technology is a critical innovation driver that determines the winners in this highly competitive market.
The ability to scale premium content while maintaining ease of use, control of live feeds, and delivering super-high-quality content adapted to diverse markets enables rights owners to monetize consumer demand and ensure long-term business growth.
Conclusion
As sports markets continue to expand, the exponential growth in feeds necessitates efficient handling of live feeds throughout the content value chain from event to consumer.
Embracing IP and cloud technologies empowers media organizations to meet the demands of a diverse range of platforms, capitalize on new revenue streams, and deliver high-quality, tailored content to global audiences.
Combining IP technology and strategic content management ensures that media companies can thrive in the competitive sports streaming landscape and future-proof their businesses.
Kristian Mets
Kristian has been Head of Sales Business Development at Net Insight since 2017, before his current role he has been at the company since 2008. Kristian has over 30 years of industry experience with a deep pedigree in Broadcast/Telecoms strategy development and implementation.
Net Insight (Nasdaq: NETI B) provides the highest performing, most available video transport, and media cloud technology for content providers as the industry standard for flexibility and service across live contribution, distribution, and remote production media workflows.
For over 25 years, the world’s leading content owners, broadcasters, production companies, service providers, and enterprises have trusted Net Insight’s Emmy® Award-winning Nimbra technology to guarantee media delivery. Net Insight partners with hundreds of customers in over 70 countries to ensure media flows across managed and unmanaged IP networks and the cloud – from anywhere to everywhere. It enables customers to get the best from any mix of virtualized, cloud, and IP technology. It is all the major industry standards, protocols, and clouds.
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