Steve Epstein, Head of Innovation and Distinguished Engineer, Synamedia gave his insights on video services prior to the Parks Associates’ Future of Video: OTT, Pay TV, and Digital Media.
Steve will participate at the pre-show workshop session Piracy: A Billion-Dollar Challenge on Monday, December 9 at 4:45 pm. In addition, Christopher Rae, SVP of Global Operations, Verimatrix will join him on this session.
What is the greatest disruption to the entertainment industry?
The greatest disruption to the entertainment industry is, without a doubt, massive modern piracy. Video piracy can take many different forms, including illegal, commercial-grade pirate-operated streaming services which offer over 1,000 illegally-streamed channels to paying viewers who may or may not be aware that the content they are accessing is illegal. One way to nudge viewers toward legal streaming packages is to ensure that the illegitimate options are not so easily accessible. Other forms of piracy also include credentials sharing, credentials fraud and illegal copyrighted offerings on the dark and open web.
How will advanced technology most likely affect video services?
A combination of advanced technology and intelligence is key to enabling security services to locate and disrupt the pirate networks. Today, the scale of piracy, thanks to the Internet’s global reach, is vast. When armed with these tools, video service providers can overcome the evasion tactics pirates employ to avoid detection and disruption.
The next stage of evolution for OTT video services involves honing in on the ability to differentiate between legal streaming services and illegal pirated services, as well as between paying and non-paying subscribers within a legal OTT video service. Many telcos are also OTT providers, and they can leverage their resources to block access to illegal streams.
In the next 2 years, what changes in the user experience will occur?
In the next two years, more options and improvements will be available for viewers, which in turn may create more opportunities for pirates. More content will be delivered via OTT including live content, 4K offerings and early-window movies, creating attractive targets for pirates. OTT packages will have to take into account the alternatives that can be offered to consumers who may be presented with options for pirate packages, whether they realize its illegal or not, such as personalized offerings. With sports, for example, these personalized packages can take the form of access to certain leagues and passes on a weekly or per-game basis.
What is the future of pay TV in the next 12-18 months?
In the next 12-18 months, massive piracy will still exist and eat into the profits and margins of all service providers and streaming operators. This will continue to be a reality until some of the new anti-piracy technologies and services are adopted by the mass industry.
