Today consumers expect online video to be a central element of a company¹s communications strategy. Cisco has estimated that video will increase from 30% of Internet traffic in 2010 to 90% by 2013. Video is evolving - don't get left behind! We have looked into the crystal ball and gathered five trends we believe will take the Web TV stage next year.
1. Multi-screen delivery
We will see an explosion of devices and screen sizes. This means a steady increase in the complexity of delivery of WebTV. Add to that the need for content control and protection through the variety of DRM systems, and you have extra complexity. For 2012 this complexity will remain. Fortunately, there are indicators that a consolidation is happening, particular in terms of the adopting of HTML5 video. Be aware, that the multiscreen delivery will not only be a technical issue of video codecs, bitrates and player frameworks. It is just as much an issue of designing your online video solution to look good and function on a widening spectrum of screen sizes.
2. Live content
Live content and especially internal live content will become of increasing importance to many organizations. Live content is most often the most readily available resource of content for many organizations and corporations. Imagine the huge number of presentations that are given every day. For many of these recording a video, indexing and thus creating an on-demand version for viewing by colleagues unable to attend, would be very simple. Instead of thinking about online video as produced content with scripts, video editing etc. many can find communication streams within their organization already, that could benefit from using online video.
3. Premium content monetization
We will see an increase of online video monetization of premium content from TV and film. It’s a unique opportunity for content owners to sell directly to consumers. We have already seen a growth of VOD solutions in the mobile market, and the end users have embraced the new technology. At the same time surveys from the US indicate that legal paid services drive down piracy as the users main focus is convenience and instant playback. 10 years ago the music industry experienced similar challenges and it showed that technology can’t be stopped by restrictions. So the message to all content owners is: See the possibilities in streaming solutions or get left behind.
4. Social and intelligent video
We will see an increase of online video monetization of premium content from TV and film. It’s a unique opportunity for content owners to sell directly to consumers. We have already seen a growth of VOD solutions in the mobile market, and the end users have embraced the new technology. At the same time surveys from the US indicate that legal paid services drive down piracy as the users main focus is convenience and instant playback. 10 years ago the music industry experienced similar challenges and it showed that technology can’t be stopped by restrictions. So the message to all content owners is: See the possibilities in streaming solutions or get left behind.
5. E-commerce video content
Already 73% of online retailers use video on product pages worldwide (source: Online Video Insiders). We will see a more consistent use of video in online product presentations with measurable actions integrated in or around the video player. It will be possible to track precisely what action makes the user press the purchase button in a video presentation and not just how many video views, there have been.