Data, Content, and Harnessing the Media Evolution

quotWe have to prepare for a different marketplace with streaming cordcutting and much more dataquot said Jon Steinlauf chief US advertising sales officer at Discovery This often requires creating internal teams focused strictly on the future quotWe have a team within Discovery that is further along than we are to position us better for the futurequot he notedFor Lisa Heimann executive vice president corporate research and strategy at NBCUniversal the key question to ask about data is quotWhich data is good at answering what questions No one data source is good for everythingquot In some cases for example a census data set might provide the needed insight in other cases it might be panel data Often a mix of several data sources is the best option quotThe key is how we are looking at and using that dataquot she added quotSometimes we look at specific sources and other times we rely on our data science group using machine learning and AIquotAnd with today39s overabundance of data there needs to be a strategy around getting the most out of that data quotWe have more data than we know what to do with We have 10 times the amount of data than we had 10 years agoquot said Courtney Thomasma executive director BBC America at AMC Networks quotThere is the danger of getting lost in the noise and quantity of dataquot So she advises ensuring that there39s a plan for who can access which data and how to best fuse it Her own solution is to appoint quotmore experienced research minds to strategize the dataquot which I heartily supportOf course no discussion on data is complete without covering measurement One of the key issues in that area is transparency In fact advertisers are demanding it from content providers from the highest levels quotTransparency of data for crossplatform measurement and the creation of compelling content amp8212 these are CEOlevel questionsquot said Adam Rattner executive vice president managing director Samsung at Starcom quotUntil we get great measurement it will be hard to monetize contentquotThe ability to measure across platforms at all is still a significant industry challenge quotClients want singlesource measurement to capture viewers across all screensquot said Sam Armando senior vice president national video intelligence and investment at Spark Foundry quotWe have a lot more pieces of data than ever but the pieces don39t fit togetherquotThere is one area of measurement where considerable work is being done to track and quantify how people discover and sample shows We39re learning quothow they catch up which programs they stick with and which ones they don39tquot noted NBCUniversal39s Heimannamp160 quotContent is forever now How can we optimize it Sometimes it is more down the roadquotAnd with all of the content options available today and all the time viewers spend with that varied content the numbers don39t have to be big for a show to be considered a success Passion for a show counts which requires a quotholistic sense of who our audiences are and weighting which audiences are most valuable for usquot AMC Networks39 Thomasma said Using research insights from one passionate show can often lead to the next That approach helped BBC America determine that Killing Eve was a good replacement when Orphan Black with its passionate fan base ended its runKnowing what fans are passionate about comes back to data of course Content producers need to understand what will captivate today39s audiences Donna D39Alessandro senior vice president programming and strategy insights for Discovery said the challenge is the quotneed to look fresh and real in speaking to a consumer right nowquot because programmers only have a short window to engage the viewer quotIf a viewer turns it on and thinks it39s not for me they will turn it off and never come backquot she saidRobert Weisbord chief revenue officer of Sinclair Broadcast Group echoed that sentiment quotThere has to be something unique about the offeringquotFortunately content producers aren39t going it alone Researchers are stepping up to meet advertiser needs Tom Ziangas senior vice president research at AMC Networks is committed to working closely with agency partners to address this challenge as well as close the loop in the consumer journey quotIt is all about collaborationquot he said quotWe must figure it out together amp8212 what are the best practices and are we learning from our mistakesquotDon Robert executive vice president at AE Networks confirmed that approach quotWe take a consultative approach to try and figure it out We are very committed and believe in the power of TVquotWith all of the challenges and opportunities in this Brave New World of Media Ziangas summed it up rather succinctly quotWe are a lot smarter and a lot dumberquot he quipped That rings true to me For all of the data acumen and insights we harvest sometimes it seems as if we have more questions than answers And that perhaps is the biggest challenge of allClick the social buttons to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT | BECOME A THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CONTRIBUTOR

Data, Content, and Harnessing the Media Evolution

Author

Publish date

Channel

Charlene Weisler

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT | BECOME A THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CONTRIBUTOR

Data, Content, and Harnessing the Media Evolution

Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love

Charlene Weisler

Cookies