Broadcasters and Media Organizations Leave Revenue on the Table, According to Global Consumer Study by Avid and Ovum

Burlington, MA, 7/23/2013

37 percent of viewers will pay for high-quality personalized content – whether current or archived; 65 percent identify image and audio quality as a key driver of enjoyment

Avid® (NASDAQ: AVID) today announced new research findings that reveal consumer television viewing trends and preferences in today's multi-screen environment. The independent study, conducted by Ovum and commissioned by Avid, surveyed more than 3,000 consumers globally. The survey revealed that quality content remains the strongest driver of viewer engagement and that there are growing opportunities for profit in archived content.

Sixty-five percent of consumers surveyed identified image and audio quality as the key driver of enjoyment, and 37 percent said they would pay for archived episodes of their favorite shows. However, their willingness to pay is highly dependent not just on their personal preferences, but also on the situational context in which a content offer is being made.

"Producers and content service providers will protect and maximize the value of their media assets when they can dynamically match content with context," said Adrian Drury, lead analyst, Media & Broadcast, Ovum. "At the heart of this challenge is an effective metadata strategy."

Broadcasters say they recognize these untapped monetization opportunities, but are challenged to maximize asset value with their current systems. An earlier Avid and Ovum survey of media executives found that 33 percent of existing content could be monetized to take advantage of those opportunities, but most of that archived material is currently inaccessible.

"Broadcasters and advertisers are under tremendous pressure to simultaneously grow profits and audience share," said W. Sean Ford, vice president of Worldwide Marketing and CMO, Avid. "Our latest research with Ovum convincingly argues that media organizations best poised to win will be those capable of implementing an effective strategy that drives monetization, while incorporating a collaborative, end-to-end production workflow that speeds the development of high-quality content."

Additional conclusions from this research include:

• A multi-platform strategy can drive appointment-based viewing:Giving audiences the opportunity to catch up and discover new shows on-demand can drive appointment-based viewing. Audiences like using multi-platform, Web-video services, whether delivered via subscription video, on-demand or catch-up models, to experiment with new shows at their own convenience.
  • 39 percent of respondents said they discovered new shows through trailers shown on TV, followed by channel surfing at more than 20 percent and recommendations by friends at 17 percent.
  • 14 percent of consumers are testing new shows online, or on tablets or smartphones.
  • 30 percent of consumers who test new shows through online services return to appointment-based viewing once they become fans.
• Second screens create opportunity in mass media events: It is becoming vital for live broadcasters to deliver content to the second screen that can capitalize on the additional engagement potential of these devices.
• Local or national pride and excitement were the biggest reasons viewers watched mass media events such as the Olympics.
• While watching the Olympics on TV, 63 percent of viewers were simultaneously using PCs, tablets or smartphones to gain access to related information.

Survey Methodology and Background

Avid commissioned Ovum to conduct a direct survey of consumers to identify patterns of consumer activity and find associated impacts on monetization models for premium video content. Researchers fielded a Web-based survey of 3,011 consumers across the U.S., U.K., Germany and Brazil. A summary of the findings can be found here.