Broadcasting and streaming are increasingly blending into a single, unified user experience to support this hybrid approach. User interfaces based on Connected TV (CTV) and operator apps will be key, replacing traditional electronic programme guides for content discovery and navigation. As a result, a converged security solution with layered protection will become the industry norm.
“Broadcast TV executives and streaming media professionals share a common goal of attracting and retaining subscribers to drive ROI,” said Tim Siglin, Founding Executive Director of the Help Me Stream Research Foundation and the survey report’s author. “Our research shows that the convergence of streaming and linear broadcast media delivery has evolved to the point that consumers primarily care about what and where they watch, not whose OTT or pay-TV service that they are using.”
The 2022 Secure Streaming & Broadcast Workflows Report found that, despite dire industry warnings, respondents — 63 per cent of whom work in the streaming industry — indicated live-linear and broadcast TV isn’t going away anytime soon. Responding to a question about their vision of TV’s future, 42 per cent of respondents see significant value in converged services that use both streaming and broadcast delivery via standards such as hbbTV and ATSC 3.0.
While almost half of respondents consider anti-piracy services as a means to retain revenue, digital rights management (DRM) was selected as the primary approach (22 per cent) to combat piracy, followed by geo-blocking (18 per cent), content monitoring (16 per cent), forensic watermarking (10 per cent), and application shielding (10 per cent). The results indicate that a layered approach including these methods will best address market needs.
“Our latest collaboration with Intertrust shows that as these two transmission methods merge, content security is still vital,” said Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen, Vice President and Editor of Streaming Media. “The industry recognises that using strong anti-piracy services is essential to both stop piracy and attract new subscribers.”
Key trends from the report:
- Broadcast TV will evolve to a hybrid approach, in which linear broadcasts coexist alongside VoD and live streaming services.
- User interfaces, most likely refined EPGs and operator apps (OpApps) on CTVs, will be key to this hybrid approach.
- Converged media consumption (broadcast and streaming) requires converged security solutions.
- Rights management solutions remain fragmented, highlighting the need for a multi-DRM approach.
- A complementary, layered security approach should include geo-blocking and DRM, as well as proactive application shielding and content monitoring.
“We conducted the survey alongside Streaming Media to uncover secure streaming and broadcast trends and their role within the anti-piracy workflow. The report indicates not only the need for a multi-DRM approach to protect premium content, but that a comprehensive, layered anti-piracy solution is also vital to protect service providers’ revenue,” said Manas Mati, Managing Director, Intertrust ExpressPlay.
The Report was conducted in Q4 2021 by Streaming Media, Intertrust, and the Help Me Stream Research Foundation, and surveyed 227 leading content creators, broadcasters and distributors within the media and entertainment industry.
Source: advanced-television.com
