The payTV industry is changing. Cable operators have long relied on TV as their primary source of revenue. Yet many are incurring subscriber losses quarter over quarter as consumers, always ready to switch providers, choose more affordable, anytime/anywhere TV access. Many of these cable companies have switched their strategic focus to fiber-based broadband services or to wireless services.

For these traditional Pay TV operators, TV has become a secondary service and that’s changing the way they look at the delivery of TV services. At the same time that traditional PayTV operators are making strategic decisions about the role of TV in their service bundle, Broadband-first companies – those that have never offered TV services before are finding greater penetration and more incremental revenue increases by offering TV with their broadband bundle. For example, penetration rates for broadband first providers who bundle TV has risen significantly, from 30% to 50%.

For all providers TV remains an attractive and sticky service for consumers but it is critical that it doesn’t distract from operators’ focus on rolling out new broadband or mobility services.

Instead of incurring costs and risk associated with adopting new TV technology solutions, operators can choose an experienced TVaaS (TV-as-a-Service) provider to provide the payTV services, enabling them to focus on broadband or wireless and still offer TV to retain current subscribers and attract new customers.

The power of TVaaS

TVaaS offers a white label, multi-tenant solution that provides the full technology stack for TV services. It enables providers to onboard payTV quickly, with low overhead and predictable costs. It ensures that bundling payTV with broadband represents a no-risk deployment in which TV is not distracting their resources. Instead, it’s about achieving successful penetration levels for broadband and mobility services and maintaining satisfied customers.

TVaaS handles the technology associated with TV delivery meaning that the operator focuses on marketing and selling the offer. The TVaaS solution ensures a rich TV offer is provided very simply for the operator by handling all the complexity of the TV solution on their behalf. Moreover, TVaaS leverages the immediacy of cloud with low risk, pre-integrated solutions deployable at a scale and cost that makes sense for the operator. Being cloud based then it avoids supply chain issues or technology problems that might otherwise slow deployments.

TVaaS removes the burden of building and operating a standalone payTV solution, allowing operators to focus on other important strategic projects at hand. If the payTV service grows faster or more slowly than expected the operator is responsible only for the resources they used—they don’t have to invest in building and operating a payTV infrastructure based on accurate future projections. And if technology or consumer expectations change, then the TVaaS provider will take care of that.

TVaaS: Key elements to consider

Amid a changing payTV industry, TVaaS solves multiple technology problems. One non-technical challenge is securing content rights. In both Canadian and U.S. markets, access to industry associations helps providers onboard and lock in content agreements. TVaaS providers also work closely with broadband operators and industry associations to streamline the agreement process. These typically involve technical write-ups of how an operator will protect owners’ copyrights and provide feature-rich TV services to their customers.

Although they can be broadly deployed, not all TVaaS solutions are the same. Broadband providers need to ensure that certain elements are in place:

Simplicity

The solution needs to make deployment of a modern TV solution as simple as possible. Operators want to bundle payTV simply without concerns about costs, complexity, and risk. TV not only offers new revenue streams, it reduces customer churn and adds penetration for broadband or mobile services.

Flexibility

Operators need the ability to tailor services for their market. The ability to target regions, demographics and bulk / commercial customers with compelling offers is key to success.

Reach

The ability to reach the broadest customer base through access to the widest range of residential consumers as well as bulk and commercial ventures, such as universities, entertainment venues, hotels and IT campuses.

Impact

Ensure TV services are attractive and sticky for consumers using unique UX designs that are easy to navigate and appeal to customers.

Conclusion

For both traditional payTV providers and broadband only providers, choosing TVaaS provides a way to offer payTV without overthinking the technology deployment process or taking on long-term risk. Operators don’t have to build expensive, one-off solutions based on future scaling that don’t meet projected goals. Through predictable costs and by leveraging TVaaS capabilities, providers can focus on their primary business—offering broadband and mobility services while providing feature-rich TV services to customers. Enghouse, the global telecommunications provider can ensure rapid TVaaS deployment at a low startup cost. For more information Visit: Enghouse Networks.com

Sponsored by Enghouse Networks