OTT stands for Over-the-Top and the market for OTT services is growing at a fast pace. People are shifting from traditional TVs to OTT due of flexibility, convenience and ease of accessibility. As per new data from Juniper Research, OTT revenues are projected to grow from $64 billion in 2017 to $120 billion in 2022.
Blockchain technology is a very hot topic these days. And, the reason is its tremendous potential in various fields viz. Finance, Banking, Information Technology, Healthcare, Media, Entertainment industry, Supply chain etc.
Media, Entertainment and Broadcast industry throws huge opportunities for blockchain technology that it can take it to another level of operation. Greater accuracy, transparency, effective targeting, better advertising and content distribution are some of the major goals which media industry can achieve through blockchain technology.
Before moving further, it is necessary to understand what blockchain actually is?
In layman’s lingo, blockchain is a public ledger (database) for maintaining the permanent and tamper-proof record of transactional data. This database is managed by computers belonging to the peer-to-peer network. Blockchain eliminates the need for any central verification authority. It uses cryptography to synchronize and secure transactions.
It is a perfect place to store identities, agreements, value, property, credential, rights etc.
A Blockchain is-
Digital
Reliable and available
Transparent
Immutable
Irrevocable
Blockchain in Media, Entertainment & Broadcast Industry
The concept of blockchain was originally associated with cryptocurrency, which was first introduced in 2008 with the creation of the first decentralized cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. This concept of blockchain gained huge popularity in last one year when Bitcoin surpassed the value of $10000 and after that various countries started accepting this blockchain technology for making their operations more effective and productive, which shows that blockchain now is not just about cryptocurrencies.
Looking forward to the endless possibilities of blockchain technology in future, it can also be used as a foundation for media and entertainment industry.
Recently Intel has joined the list of firms that see blockchain technology as a way to re-imagine digital rights management. It has described the method of using blockchain technology for downloading the rights to digital images in its patent application.
Open Music Initiative (OMI) that includes some of the major players of media industry like Sony, Netflix and Viacom have recently revealed that they are considering blockchain technology as a foundation to modernize the mechanism royalty payments.
Another example is of Grammy winner Imogen Heap, who released the first song on the Ethereum Blockchain.
With the advent of the blockchain, structure of media industry can be changed. Just like the Internet, blockchain is also going to hit hard this Media Industry.
Why Blockchain technology is important for Media industry??
The media industry is one of the fastest growing industries and therefore requires a more advanced, effective and secure technology to grow. Blockchain technology has the potential to solve the various issues that Media Industry faces on a regular basis.
There are some major issues in Media industry that can be solved by blockchain technology-
Royalty Payments:
In this digital world, it is difficult to make fair payments as there is piracy and it is easy to distribute copies. This problem in the distribution of payments can be solved with the help of a distributed ledger i.e. blockchain. Further, on the basis of this data, smart contacts will automate royalty payments. Distribution of royalty will become more transparent and efficient with the use of blockchain in the entertainment industry.
Transparency:
The beauty of blockchain is its public feature. Blockchain will facilitate media industry in addressing all the issues related to the transparency of data by providing a public ledger of all the transactions that can be validated in real time.
Intermediary
Blockchain uses cryptography to secure all the transactions and therefore ledger can be manipulated by every associated account without the interference of any third-party authority. Blockchain will help in validating transactions and eliminating the intermediaries. This will give an opportunity to the companies operating in this industry to interact more and get closer to their customers.
Piracy:
Piracy is one of the major problems that media and entertainment industry encounters most of the time. Friction in legal media mechanism is one of the major causes of piracy in media and entertainment industry. Blockchain here will enable more frictionless monetization of content to avoid piracy. With the use of blockchain technology, piracy and copyright infringements would be nearly impossible.
Digital Rights Management-
In media and entertainment industry, it has been observed that data is soiled by the publishers, record companies, music or movie studios and therefore Digital Rights Management solutions are more complex. Blockchain technology is again an effective solution for Digital Rights Management as it makes the data accessible, transparent and easy to understand for this industry.
It can be concluded that effective use of blockchain technology can lead to a bright future of Media industry by making it fairer, more equitable and more secured.
The digital market has understood the upcoming dependence of media, entertainment and broadcasting sector on the blockchain technology. Let it be the consumer or a performer, the blockchain revolution has established its standards of value for a better digital future for everyone concerned with it.
Technology changes have created a huge competition among various platforms of the entertainment industry. Cable TV industry was facing competition from Internet-based video services and streaming services like YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon instant video etc. But now a new technological innovation, Blockchain, which has created a buzz in the world market, is giving tough competition to the cable industry and also to the associated industries. Blockchain technology has created disruption in the cable industry. Now the pertinent question is whether blockchain technology completely replaces cable TV in future?
Pay TV industry, being subscription-based television service, usually serves the population via analogue & digital cable, satellite television, and by adapting the Internet world through digital terrestrial and internet television. While it is still showing growth in developing markets like Brazil, India, and China, Pay TV is facing stiff competition in the matured region like USA, United Kingdom, France, and Canada from streaming service providers.
À la carte is a French word which means “choose and then sponsor”. It is widely used for picking up cuisines from the menu in a restaurant i.e. ordering food as a separate item. This helps in making a wise choice and not get bundled with a whole set meal as it leads to the proper choice of selection overall. In this digitized world, À La Carte is being used in media and entertainment world i.e. pay TV, OTT etc. Pay TV bundles usually club together similar channels and offer the same to the people, but the problem is they are getting less attractive because it cost more and also needs are not fully satisfied.
The government is striving hard to transfigure India, ‘digitally’. All current mutations are apparently leading to a common goal of achieving DIGITAL INDIA objectives.
The Phase IV digitisation aimed at digitalising around 100 million households that were connected by the Cable TV industry. Digitalising 80 million Cable TV homes were however recorded to be done successfully.
Online applications, content, and services are encompassing all segments of business and in addition society and disturb conventional industries. Customers can utilize online video rather than the traditional television, online communications rather than traditional telephone, and can download the films as well as music that was once given on the physical media.
There is no finishing line in the world of web. Thanks to digitalization and its quadrupling repercussions which never cease to surprise!
The world has witnessed the power of 4G and 4.5G (advanced LTE) and the legacy is thoughtfully taken forward by 5G networks consisting of core systems and management systems in it.
Before discussing the future of Pay TV industry, let me provide you with a short brief about what Pay TV actually is? According to Television Bureau of Advertising, Pay TV is home television programming for which the viewer pays for the program or by the month. It includes both over-the-air transmission (with scrambled signals) and cable transmission (pay cable).