Four Stories of Video Success

How Broadcasters Can Win in OTT

It’s time. In the complex and competitive world of OTT video today, it’s no longer enough for
broadcasters to just think about an online video platform (OVP) solution when planning their
OTT strategy. They must look at the entire video chain as a whole — as the comprehensive
process that guides each video from script to screen.

The demands on traditional OVPs now are too great, as

OTT video encompasses so much more than just manage-
ment and delivery — starting with a spark of a content idea
“rather
and ending with satisfied audiences and revenue to fund
even more great ideas.
Broadcasters are increasingly looking at how technology
can help them at each stage of the OTT video lifecycle.
The right solution can decrease costs and increase efficien-
cies and revenue, all the way from creation and syndication
to analysis and monetization.
Today, savvy broadcasters understand that they need
an interconnected and streamlined way to navigate this
complete content arc.
Now is the time to think about Integrated Video Platform
(IVP) solutions.
Publishing video online today is a
mundane task, but building a
sustainable business model around
online video is a totally different
animal. IVPs, or Integrated Video
Platforms, better reflect the new
demands placed on the traditional
OVP. An Integrated Video Platform
extends traditional OVPs capabilities
to include functionality to meet chal-
lenges spanning production, distribu-
”
tion and monetization.
– Mukul Krishna, Frost & Sullivan
Senior Director
 IVPs are the next generation of OVPs, evolving well beyond
OVP capabilities and feature sets to solve for issues across
the entire video chain. IVPs build and utilize common data
sets to deliver collective insights and inform strategies, con-
necting content with audiences and maximizing revenue.
Ooyala is leading the way towards delivering an IVP that
specifically meets the needs of today’s broadcasters —
with a full suite of sophisticated, data-centric solutions
that traverse the video content creation chain and help
broadcasters fully understand the costs, impact and ROI of
their video content to give them informed control over their
entire video business. All via a single provider.
Read on to learn more about four core focus areas of the
OTT life span today, along with four stories of broadcasters
who are finding success at each stage — harnessing and
integrating technologies at every step to drive improved
media operations and production processes, streamlined
video delivery, greater data insights and more revenue.

MEDIA OPERATIONS
A new Ooyala and Futuresource survey of traditional and
digital media industry executives found that for the majority
of respondents, “the drawing together of the management
and distribution of traditional broadcast and OTT workflows
is a key consideration and future objective.”
Indeed, broadcasters are finding that using advanced,
data-driven technology to streamline, integrate and automate
their linear and OTT content production and media opera-
tions benefits their entire business in unexpected ways.
Media logistics solutions serve to enhance media opera-
tions by automating workflows across disparate systems,
increasing agility and efficiency, reducing costs, and
building greater ROI in video content. These platforms
not only improve processes across production and
distribution stages, but can also positively impact down-
stream activities through data: for example, by helping
broadcasters use metadata to enable personalized video
and ad delivery, or to use audience engagement data to
inform content production or distribution decisions. As
metadata is carried throughout the entire life of a video
asset, media logistics systems can unite production,
publishing and monetization workflows through common
data to provide content providers with greater control and
visibility at every point.
Broadcasters gain ‘single source of truth’ data on each
asset. For example, they can use this data to track an indi-
vidual video from commissioning and production through to
its placement in a finished program’s episode, season and
series broadcasts, and international versioning lifecycle.
In this way, companies can continuously monitor and report

“approach
on a multitude of asset factors such as:
We are trying to take a unified
to metadata but our organic ♦♦ Stage in production process
growth has meant several different ♦♦ Post-production time and staff required
approaches to integrate. We are ♦♦ Key talent involvement for search labeling
continuing to develop as we see ♦♦ Parental guidelines ratings and other business rules
metadata’s importance and the only ♦♦ Specific distributor format requirements
real way to realise the true value ♦♦ Licensing terms
of the asset. .…
”
– Major International Sports Broadcaster
♦♦ Total views and revenue generated

The Lifecycle of Content: From Production to Monetization

Four Stories of Video Success: How Broadcasters Can Win in OTT 2

The Ooyala Flex media logistics platform enables broad-
casters to ingest assets and their associated metadata from
multiple sources and transform those assets into required
formats. It then can also synchronize the metadata and
publish videos directly into the Ooyala video platform or
to third parties with specific rules for cross-device delivery.
That same video metadata can be used in Ooyala’s CMS
to provide more personalized content recommendations
via Ooyala Discovery, which helps drive higher engage-
ment and monetization, and to enable more intelligent ad
delivery via Ooyala Pulse. And Ooyala IQ analytics can
dissect the metadata to help companies understand video
performance across properties to inform future content
production and distribution strategies.
For example, a broadcaster can turn to Ooyala Flex to
expertly manage a special event program for linear and
online broadcast. As the show completes post-production,
the platform will automatically prepare the final broadcast
and online versions while archiving the master. It will also
send the program to the Ooyala video platform for online
playback, where the program can be tracked via Ooyala
IQ against metrics that are important to the broadcaster
— perhaps plays on mobile devices and video completion
rate in a key market — and where similar content can
be placed against it to boost additional video content
plays via Ooyala Discovery.
All of this integrated activity helps broadcasters expertly
hone their creative and business decisions, speed pro-
cesses and OTT content time-to-market, and drive addi-
tional popular content, consumer satisfaction and higher
monetary returns.
Case in Point: Sky
Sky is Europe’s leading entertainment company. Sky UK
has partnered with Ooyala across their Sky Sports and Sky
News broadcast channels, utilizing Ooyala Flex, the Ooyala
online video platform and Ooyala video analytics.
Sky Sports turned to Ooyala Flex as it could quickly adapt
to their needs and technical requirements, rapidly deploy-
ing an integrated solution in time for the beginning of the
Premier League season. Once a notable event occurs
during a live match, a Sky Sports production team is
responsible for quickly creating the clip, inputting metadata
and transferring the file into their cloud storage system.
Once uploaded, Ooyala Flex automatically detects the clip,
ingests it into the system and triggers a series of workflows
that transform the clip into 20 different renditions. Once
final, Ooyala Flex creates and delivers a number of unique
packages, each with a subset of those 20 different rendi-
tions based on the preferences for every partner, including
the corresponding metadata. This process is repeated and
automated every time Sky Sports uploads a clip into
VIDEO DELIVERY
OTT no longer means just VOD delivery.
Live video streaming is becoming a core differentiator for
broadcasters in a crowded OTT arena, within both emerg-
ing and established markets. A Level 3 and Unisphere
Research survey of the OTT video market found that live
linear content was important or somewhat important to
over 80% of broadcaster respondents.
The complexities around live OTT delivery can be
immense, so core factors for success include having a
cloud-based platform that offers:
♦♦ Streamlined and cost-efficient integration with
broadcast workflows
♦♦ Flexibility to pivot quickly in a dynamic environment
♦♦ Smart controls to manage multiple channels, events
and live-to-VOD assets
♦♦ Single, real-time dashboard and multidimensional
analytics
♦♦ Multiple monetization options for supporting a range
of business models
♦♦ Easy distribution across screens
♦♦ System availability, reliability and scalability
♦♦ 24/7 remote monitoring
Ooyala Flex, occurring numerous times per game,
with as many as six to ten games per day, multiple times a
week with some games occurring simultaneously. This is a
process that, if done manually, would require an immense
amount of resources and hands-on work. With Ooyala, Sky
Sports is now able to deliver hundreds of Premier League
in-game clips and highlight packages for online and
linear consumption to more than 40 international licensee
partners, all in a small number of minutes.
In the UK, Sky Sports and Sky News also use the Ooyala
online video platform to deliver adaptive content (such
as short-form VOD and live streams) to their apps and
website. This includes content from the Premier League,
Formula 1, etc. Ooyala Discovery provides personalized
content recommendations at the end of each clip as well as
auto-play after 5 seconds if no selection is made from the
recommendation carousel. And, ad monetization is enabled
across devices. Ooyala IQ analytics has further helped Sky
Sports to understand video consumption on their sites.
Four Stories of Video Success: How Broadcasters Can Win in OTT 3
And, as a joint Ooyala and DPP report has found, live
streaming is among the top production environments
that will see a high business benefit and ROI in moving Case in Point: TVN Media
to IP-based workflows.
TVN Media is one of the three major broadcasters
Ooyala Live answers this need. It’s a data-driven,
in Panama and the leader in the Panamanian digital
self-service platform that enables the delivery of TV
TV market. The company delivers both live and VOD
channels — as well as live ad-hoc and scheduled stream-
content across Panama, with about 60% of it being
ing events — that have live-to-VOD recordings and VOD
live. TVN needed a complete new video platform that
catalogs. Via its integration with Ooyala’s CMS, Ooyala Live
would let them distribute all that content over its web
provides full-circle support for video ingest and delivery,
and mobile apps.
manages live server-side ad insertion (SSAI) for live-TV
playback and dynamic monetization opportunities dur-
After adding Ooyala’s core video platform, TVN Media
ing broadcasts, and integrates with Ooyala IQ to enable
is making more agile releases for its channels and live
360-degree analytics.
events. The change has had a significant impact on its
In practice, broadcasters can integrate analytics and live go-to-market strategy and has helped make the com-
streaming activities for a superior delivery and viewer expe- pany a digital pioneer in Panama, particularly with live
rience. During a live concert streaming event, a production events. With Ooyala’s built-in analytics, the broadcaster
team can identify a peak moment of viewer engagement can better understand how its audience is consuming
through their Ooyala IQ analytics dashboard, create a clip content and insert personalized ad campaigns into
of it with associated metadata, and move that file into their programming. Ooyala Live’s self-service portal helps
cloud storage system in Ooyala’s CMS. In this way, Ooyala the company earn more with well- integrated moneti-
Live can create timely live-to-VOD selections so audiences zation, including server-side insertion for seamless ad
don’t miss a beat. delivery to mobile phones.
In a world of instant news, interactive social video, and
mobile immersion, the ability for broadcasters to imme-
diately capture, analyze, package and distribute live and
live-to-VOD content across screens and around the globe
is now vital.

OOYALA’S INTEGRATED VIDEO PLATFORM (IVP)

Four Stories of Video Success: How Broadcasters Can Win in OTT 4

 Case in Point: Blink Now
Blink Now, a leading premium OTT provider in the Philip-
pines, was looking for greater audience insights to drive
revenue across multiple OTT business models, as it
prepared to expand its extensive VOD library of TV series
and Hollywood films to live event broadcasts.
The company required a sophisticated video technology
provider with a powerful analytics solution to help it under-
stand its audience’s habits across its subscription-based
(SVOD), transaction-based (TVOD) and ad-supported
(AVOD) video services. The company was looking for real-
time and robust analytics specifically around content views,
trends and subscriber engagement, to propel its business
and improve the customer experience and interaction.
Blink Now teamed up with Ooyala for its data-driven
platforms that enable insights throughout the company’s
video business.
Blink Now implemented Ooyala Live for streaming live
events such as the Miss Universe 2017 pageant, and the
DATA INSIGHTS
Hybrid business models are where the smart bets are
being made in OTT today: offering content in the manner
that particular audiences want to consume and subsidize it
with their time or wallets. It could be through subscriptions,
advertising or transactions, but increasingly, it’s a combina-
tion of some or all of these models.
But how can broadcasters gauge this effectively and select
the right mix to maximize revenues from their content busi-
ness? Enter analytics. Real-time, multi-dimensional analytics
can provide data insights on content elements including:
♦♦ Video completion rates, drop-off points and
revenue generation
♦♦ Devices, time of day and day of week used to
watch content
♦♦ Popularity of videos among specific audience
segments, content types and geographies
♦♦ Content that drives the most live, VOD, repeat and
recommended video views
♦♦ Best site placement for video and ads
♦♦ Historical content performance or for a specific
period of time
♦♦ Consumption journeys across multiple OTT channels
Ooyala online video platform for powering its VOD
services. With Ooyala IQ, Blink Now has access to up-to-
the-minute analytics to see what content is trending at any
given time, allowing it to feature well-performing content to
attract even higher viewership. Real-time multi-dimensional
reports give the company granular insights to track engage-
ment over any period of time across all properties or even
individual videos. The data helps ensure that Blink Now
is reinvesting in highly-profitable content for the business
based on its audience’s viewing behaviors. Using Ooyala
Pulse, Blink Now can see how ad-loads affect drop-off
and completion rates against varying content lengths. This
insight allows the company to tailor the right amount of ads
to every piece of content to maximize monetization without
sacrificing user experience.
With Ooyala, Blink Now is maximizing its business
potential across three separate OTT properties with a
single provider — powering ad operations, video delivery,
data-driven insights and live streaming to more than 180,000
users nationwide.
Data is truly the connective tissue that binds video platforms
together for full integration.
Ooyala IQ analytics allows broadcasters to dig more deeply
into data than ever before to harness and interpret the large
(but too often underutilized) reserves of daily information
they collect about their audiences and video content. It
enables them to use data to quickly shift strategies, inform
production and distribution decisions, make more money,
and create better viewing experiences.
A broadcaster with a hybrid AVOD and TVOD model can
use Ooyala IQ to look for traffic spikes that can help it pre-
pare its staff, network and Ooyala video workflows for peak
viewing periods, such as in the days leading up to and fol-
lowing a big PPV event. The provider can prepare to deliver
more content for those periods on its AVOD service, such
as refreshing popular archival interviews featuring event
talent, running more PPV event promos, creating highlight
clips from top event moments, and offering specific social
content for mobile devices. And, analytics can help the
broadcaster determine what triggers audiences to watch
more, such as content recommendations through Ooyala
Discovery — or to watch less, such as quality of service,
poor ad placement or transactional issues.
Analytics ensures that broadcasters can make sense of
their data to refine future offerings and boost ROI.
Four Stories of Video Success: How Broadcasters Can Win in OTT 5
AD MONETIZATION
The last piece of an integrated video platform is
arguably the most important: ensuring that the OTT
content broadcasters create and deliver can be most
effectively monetized.
Advanced video advertising solutions are holistic: they
combine programmatic trading and ad serving into a single,
unified platform for greater control and visibility. The intel-
ligence of a data-driven, holistic video ad-tech platform
can be used to determine the optimal mix of elements that
drive peak revenue and user experience for broadcasters’
ad-supported OTT services, across direct-sold and pro-
grammatic channels, including:
Further, a broadcaster using personalized server-side ad
insertion (SSAI) through Ooyala Live for a live streaming
event can target different ad campaigns to users based on
user data points from Ooyala Pulse, and track user engage-
ment and performance of ad policies.
In all of these scenarios, broadcasters can analyze patterns
to help inform future content offerings and ad campaigns,
and price and package them accordingly. The costs of
guesswork go down and revenues go up in a world of
advanced ad technologies and integrated video platforms.

♦♦ Audience targeting
♦♦ Inventory availability, packaging and fill rates Case in Point:
♦♦ Pricing, eCPMs, and yield
Leading TV Network
♦♦ Campaign forecasting, scheduling, delivery
and effectiveness A European television broadcast network was looking
to boost engagement and revenues for its catch-up
♦♦ Ad load, format, insertion points and length
OTT service. The service includes VOD and live
♦♦ Placement in content and environment channels, and is available to audiences across mobile
and connected TV devices. The network wanted to
♦♦ Video starts, ad viewability and completion rates
increase video content plays and better monetize its
ad inventory.
The Ooyala Pulse sell-side, holistic ad management and
The broadcaster turned to Ooyala for its expertise
programmatic trading platform easily integrates into the
and multiple solutions in these areas, using the
Ooyala video platform to efficiently match up content with
Ooyala video platform to power the OTT service and
targeted ads for playback and monetization. And, joint data
incorporating Ooyala Discovery for content recom-
analysis capabilities between Ooyala IQ and Ooyala Pulse,
mendations across mobile screens. The network
available via Ooyala’s Strategic Media Consulting team,
also implemented Ooyala Pulse and ad re-insertion
help broadcasters connect their siloed data points and
solution Ooyala Unlock to help maximize ad revenue
teams to make informed, timely decisions. They can now
and prevent inventory loss from ad blocking, utilizing
solve the mysteries about which videos are bringing
the Ooyala AdOps team for hands-on training and ad
in the most revenue and which types of ad formats are
campaign management advice.
most successful for particular pieces of content. Ooyala
Unlock ad re-insertion technology can further assist by
preventing inventory revenue loss from the growing menace
of ad blocking.
A broadcaster could look to Ooyala Pulse and Ooyala
IQ analytics to compare how ad formats might affect the CONCLUSION
fill rates and revenue outcomes of two different types of
As the OTT market continues to expand and change,
OTT content. It may find that a new drama show premiere
sophisticated broadcasters realize that it’s time to look at
may be best suited for mid-roll ads, after audiences have
the video lifecycle holistically. The best route to success is
had time to understand the premise and engage with the
by harnessing a fully connected, data-driven and integrated
content. A pre-roll ad may be found to cause viewers to
video platform that moves content from idea to revenue,
drop off of the video before even sampling the program.
and back again.
Conversely, an established comedy series with passionate
viewers may see strong ad completion rates with a pre-roll
ad, mid-roll ads during the show, and a post-roll ad leading
into the next episode on the playlist or into other content
recommended via Ooyala Discovery.

Four Stories of Video Success: How Broadcasters Can Win in OTT 6

Ooyala is leading the way towards delivering a fully
Integrated Video Platform (IVP) specifically to meet the
needs of today’s modern media content owners and producers.
To learn more, contact sales@ooyala.com

www.ooyala.com sales@ooyala.com

Ooyala is a leading provider of software and services that simplify the complexity of producing, streaming and monetizing video. Ooyala’s comprehensive suite of offerings
includes one of the world’s largest premium video platforms, a leading ad decisioning platform and media logistics solution that improves video production workflows. Built
with superior analytics capabilities for advanced business intelligence, Ooyala’s solutions help broadcasters, operators, media and production companies get content to
market faster, build more engaging and personalized experiences across every screen, and maximize return for any video business. Vudu, Star India, Sky Sports (U.K.),
ITV Studios (U.K.), RTL Group (Germany), TV4 (Sweden), Mediaset (Spain), America Television (Peru), and Media Prima (Malaysia): these are just a few of the hundreds of
broadcasters and media companies who choose Ooyala. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Ooyala has offices in Chennai, Cologne, Dallas, Guadalajara, London, Madrid,
New York, Paris, Singapore, Stockholm, Sydney, Tokyo, and sales operations in many other countries across the globe.