[Satellite News 10-20-09] SatStream business development director, Craig Moehl believes satellite companies and broadcasters will suffer if they do not embrace new streaming technologies for delivering content over the Internet.

            “I think that satellite companies who refuse to enter the Internet streaming world will be left behind,” Moehl told Satellite News at Streaming Media Europe in London. “By embracing change and innovating, they are more likely to be able to provide their customers with a wider breadth of services that extend to Internet services.”

            SatStream hopes to play a key role for satellite companies and broadcasters wanting to implement a more information technology-based approach alongside the traditional broadcast approach. SatStream is a bespoke broadcast-standards facility specifically designed for content acquisition from satellite,and then to broadcast by streaming via the Internet. Moehl is also managing director of Groovy Gecko, an Internet streaming operation also based in the United Kingdom.

            Moehl says broadcasters ignore the Internet world at their peril. “Content is being consumed more and more on the Internet. There is no way around that. For example, we are seeing Internet advertising superceding broadcast advertizing in the U.K. Satellite players should really be taking steps to understanding Internet broadcasting and how it differs from their current reference points. They need to find out what those nuances are so they can assess how to add value to their proposition. In short, understanding the convergence of pure satellite and the Internet will give them the ability to offer the best of both worlds,” he said.

            With the demand for niche content growing, communities of interest can now find creative ways of accessing content which does not have enough demand to make it onto conventional electronic program guides. This can involve both Internet and satellite technologies. “For example, you might have a community in the United Kingdom that wants to see a badminton final, but there is no EPG listing, as the event simply doesn’t have the demand for broadcast and therefore the associated broadcast budget,” Moehl said. “But there is clearly a great following in the sport and therefore a demand from this niche community. So there could be, say, 6,000 people who want to see that game. By nichecasting this event over the Internet, the community can meet the demand.

            The Oct. 10 World Cup qualifying game between the Ukraine and England was streamed live over the Internet and not available live on broadcast platforms. “The implications are quite frightening for a lot of broadcasters. Here you have a premium game that doesn’t even make a satellite or a cable platform EPG. If that does not scare satellite providers and the broadcasters, they are not awake. Many people under 25 nowadays don’t even watch TV. They consume their video over the Internet, when, how and where they want to. I think the content owners have to be quite careful. The Ukraine-England game had around 500,000 views, which in broadcast terms is not very high but in Internet terms is very substantial. It is only a matter of time for the shift to become more pronounced,” Moehl said.

            SatStream already works with Premier League clubs such as Liverpool FC and Manchester City to try and bring a more interactive game experience to customers using the best of satellite and Internet technologies. “Broadcast is a lean-back experience. The Internet is a lean-forward experience,” Moehl said. “It is intimate, engaging and interactive. You can foster community engagement and growth by offering a chat facility running alongside a game. Manchester City’s BlueMoon Fan site have been doing this with great effect. You can also expand the experience to a particular niche by making it more personal. If my preferred language commentary is Spanish, why should I not be able to get that? On the Internet that is a very feasible option. You can get people watching and engaging on the game at the same time, and fostering that community.”

            With this interactivity comes the opportunity to find out more about your user base, and consequently become much more appealing to advertisers. “The business models for live Internet events are still being sorted out, however, if I know the demographics, I can target ads specifically to that audiences and then the [cost per thousand impressions] go through the roof. Premium content with targeted ad insertion could be the saviour of the advertising industry. Sponsorship is an even better way to monetize the events especially in a niche demographic,” Moehl said.

            However, despite the threats to traditional broadcast models, Moehl believes this is an exciting time for satellite players to get involved in this relatively new medium. “The Internet is not going to replace television, but it is certainly going to change it. The content and rights owners have to continue to think about repurposing their content to drive different channels and additional revenue streams. They can only do that in the Internet world as the EPG is finite. This is a very exciting time for rights owners and people in the satellite industry. Hopefully, we will be able to embrace change, be brave and marry both of these worlds together,” he said.