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How will digital production and marketing shape up in 2019?

2019 promises to be an exciting year for the digital media industry. Shifting consumption habits present both challenges and opportunities for broadcasters, rights holders and content creators competing to capture digital audiences in a crowded media landscape.

Consumer-driven innovation by new players in the OTT streaming and media rights market, coupled with advances in technology and emerging commercial opportunities in digital media, signal a big year ahead.

Innovation is key

The potential of AI to revolutionize content management and digital media production is well-documented, but this year we expect to see moves towards more holistic technology solutions.

Video production workflows are one of the key areas that will benefit from AI, as long as technology supports, rather than replaces, human editors and creatives. Using machine learning, editors will be able to take better control of their content libraries, using computer vision to index and extract metadata to make the most of their archives. Video quality control can also become autonomous, once machines are able to recognize and react to human-defined control parameters. The same is true for encoding – Netflix and YouTube are already using deep learning technology to ensure machines do the heavy lifting and react in real-time to various media inputs – we expect this to become common practice over time.

It is hard to envision fully automated content creation coming to the fore in 2019. Automated video clipping is well established in sports broadcasting, where definable triggers, such as goals, can be captured. But AI still lacks a deeper contextual understanding, which means it will fail to recognize the moments that give meaning and insight to stories across most types of video. The best content evokes an emotive response, whether news, sports, entertainment or music. Without this, content is not likely to cut through the noise.

Every cloud…

Media organizations are now embracing cloud solutions as a robust backbone for scaling and innovating their offerings. Cloud-based video production is helping businesses to maximize their resources by reducing the limitations of traditional broadcast infrastructures and replacing legacy systems.

Coupled with the upcoming network upgrades for 5G, remote production and collaborative working will free content creators from these restraints. EE and BT Sport’s 5G-based production of the Wembley Cup in 2018 highlighted what’s possible – the footage was shot using mobile camera units in backpacks and carried by 5G to be remotely produced from across the city in London.

We will see many major events adopt this process once 5G is widely available. The challenges of bringing together multiple events or stories from various locations will be reduced and producers will have the freedom to be more creative and ambitious with content.

Video content is still king

As consumers gain access to 5G networks, latency and buffering will become less of a concern and video content consumption will continue its sharp increase across devices, both at home and on-the-go.

Live streaming will reach new heights of popularity in 2019 and more publishers will react by adopting it into their strategies. 80% of consumers already prefer to watch a live video stream than read a blog – this rises to 82% who prefer live over social posts. Video is also 79% more effective than photos and images for engaging consumers on social media. Video is not just a content proposition but a highly impactful medium for marketing and storytelling.

The community-based nature of live social video drives higher engagement which results in longer watch times and audience loyalty – content creators are already tapping into this trend by producing interactive live video with polls, displaying real-time comments and Q&As. Social audiences are looking for more choice and more participative experiences, which live video must offer in 2019.

We are able to reach engaged digital audiences on a number of devices and platforms with greater ease than ever before. Consumers are watching video on more devices and with an increase in connected TVs, tablets and larger smartphones on the market, this shows no sign of slowing through 2019 and beyond.

Where is the market going?

The direct-to-consumer OTT market will be interesting to watch this year as Disney enters the fore with a brand-new service (Disney+) to compete with Netflix and Amazon Prime, both of whom have planned sizeable content budgets for the year ahead. The new Disney+ service is in addition to ESPN+ which launched in 2018 and already has more than 1m US-based subscribers paying $4.99 a month for live sports.

Social media platforms are expanding long-form content offerings too. Facebook’s new streaming platform, Facebook Watch, has begun licensing content from 21st Century Fox and is encouraging publishers to publish a broader range content to the platform. The capture of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer back catalogue is redolent of this shift in focus and the move towards content formats that are better suited to an older, 30yrs+ user demographic. Snap is also striking partnerships to bring long-form shows to its app.

As the competition for OTT subscribers heats up, we will see these platforms bolster their marketing strategies using social video – one of the most effective tactics in converting viewers to paying customers. By offering premium content on social media for free, organizations are able to raise awareness of their services while driving traffic to their own channels and platforms and driving key intent-to-purchase and conversion metrics.

Social media will be a key battleground on which audiences will be won and lost – expect to see much more short-form content published to these platforms. Quality should not make way for quantity, but it remains to be seen if digital teams have the right tools to compete in a such a fast-paced, consumer-centric media market.

2019 will be a year of efficiencies and focus. Producers will change processes and technologies to ensure workflows are optimized for digital production, and distribution teams can create and manage content efficiently. Modern consumers demand relevant content at the right time, so the winners will have to consistently innovate products and offerings to stand out from the crowd.

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International Champions Cup partners with Grabyo to meet the demands of its global audience

The International Champions Cup (ICC) has partnered with Grabyo to provide its global media teams with the tools to share in-play video highlights, whilst activating campaigns for sponsors and brand partners during this summer’s Tournament.

Now in its sixth edition, the ICC, owned and operated by Relevent, is a key event in the global soccer calendar. The ICC has teamed up with Grabyo to increase the amount of content shared through its social and digital channels, including the creation of new, digital-first live programming using Grabyo Producer.

ICC’s digital teams in the United States, Singapore, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain and Austria will use Grabyo to amplify distribution of live streams and real-time highlights across social platforms.

The partnership will allow the ICC to work with sponsors and brand partners during the competition to provide new revenue streams and engagement through social video distribution. Grabyo provides a streamlined workflow for sharing branded content to Facebook, monetizing clips with in-stream Twitter ads and through YouTube Content ID. The ICC will be able to monetize clips in seconds from anywhere in the world.

Using Grabyo we can leverage each social platform to create new live experiences for our global audience, while also integrating sponsorship in a meaningful way. – Max McGongile

This year, the ICC will also be creating exclusive live content in and around the matches. This will include pre and post-game shows broadcast live on social channels to further drive engagement around the competition. With engagement peaking during live games, these ancillary broadcasts will be another chance to distribute ICC content globally, further expanding its audience.

“We are excited to be partnering with Grabyo for the ICC this year, it’s important for 18 of the best clubs in the world playing 27 matches across the United States, Europe and Singapore, to have the best available tools for publishing video content in real-time,” stated Max McGonigle, Manager of Marketing Solutions at Relevent. “This year the ICC is looking to drive more engaging, fan-first content, in and around each match. Using Grabyo we can leverage each social platform to create new live experiences for our global audience, while also integrating sponsorship in a meaningful way.”

The ICC will also using Grabyo to automatically clip highlights from the matches using sports data feeds. The ICC can trigger automated video clips from key events such as a goal, save, penalty decision or red card. Grabyo uses Opta Sports data to find these moments and then automatically clips the content, in real-time, for distribution to a range of digital platforms.

In support of this growing partnership, Grabyo has added new features to its platform, bringing the best possible experience to its audience. Recent updates include the addition of live social comment moderation, GIFs, image capture and live graphics authoring for digital broadcasts. For more information on Grabyo or to get access to a demo account, please contact us here. 

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Turner Sports amplifies real-time video highlights and sponsor activation with Grabyo

Ahead of the 2017/18 NBA season, Turner Sports joined forces with Grabyo to amplify the amount of real-time video highlights shared to its social platforms and to generate new revenue streams through branded content and sponsored posts.

Using Grabyo’s live clipping and editing tools the Turner Sports social team was able to maximize the amount of real-time content shared to Facebook, Twitter, Periscope and Instagram for the @NBATV and @NBAonTNT handles. During the Playoffs, more than 2,000 clips were shared from Grabyo to these social pages by the Turner Sports social team.

The NBA is one of the most popular sports on social media. Millions of fans engage with more real-time clips and highlights every day. With Grabyo, Turner delivered every big moment from the NBA Playoffs as they happened, resulting in increased distribution, engagement and views.

Grabyo has increased the speed at which the social team can publish content and the potential to activate commercial partnerships through branded video content and sponsorships. Grabyo’s browser-based video editor enables the digital teams to quickly edit the NBA feed into square and vertical highlights, which are optimized for distribution and viewing on social platforms including Twitter and Instagram.

Clips can have approved sponsor branding, attribution and post-roll bumpers added seamlessly for multiple sponsors. Turner has leveraged this capability by creating sponsorship campaigns on Twitter and Instagram for global partners including Cisco, EA Sports, Gatorade, Mountain Dew, Jordan, Boost Mobile and Verizon go90. By using Grabyo and the social platforms, Turner can deliver an engaging branded content experience for its sponsors.

Turner also worked with Grabyo to expand its live social video and branded content offering around the 2018 NBA All-Star. Throughout the weekend, Turner delivered 15 live broadcasts, directly to its social pages on Facebook, YouTube, Periscope.

Using Grabyo, Turner created numerous new live experiences for fans across NBA All-Star weekend including an exclusive YouTube stream directly after the Taco Bell Skills Competition. The stream featured Grammy- winning artist Kendrick Lamar and was sponsored by American Express to create an exclusive social first partnership between the two.

To find out how Grabyo can assist in helping you distribute and share key moments from live events, contact us today.

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The 2018 Grabyo Sport & Social Summit – What we learned?

Over 80 guests from the sports, broadcast and media industries joined Grabyo and Little Dot Studios for our 2018 Sport & Social Summit.

Hosted at the beautiful Kia Oval, the event looked at the growing need to create new broadcast types and content formats that reach and engage more connected and mobile audiences – especially across social and OTT platforms.

Joining us for the day were senior representatives from FC Barcelona, Manchester United, ITV, BT Sport, WWE, The FA, Facebook, Twitter, Premiership Rugby, Formula E, MotoGP, Eurosport, Southampton FC, IMG and many more.

Making the most of the fine weather, the afternoon started with a networking lunch overlooking the Kia Oval before delegates headed to their seats for the first of five insightful discussions.

The first session was a spirited discussion between Eric Serra (FC Barcelona), Damien Cullen (The English FA) and Neil Smythe (Hashtag United) about producing ‘social first’ broadcasts for sports audiences.

Much of the conversation centered around live content. The FA has been working with Grabyo to create a daily live show exclusively for fans across social platforms from the World Cup. ‘The Lions Den‘ is a digital-first broadcast that is filmed in Russia but remotely produced by a team in London. The 30-minute show is hosted by TV presenter Craig Mitch, who interviews players, management staff and fans. Fans are encouraged to send in questions during the broadcast and vote in live polls, run through Grabyo Producer.

“It’s about an authentic connection between the team and fans” – D Cullen

This was followed by a presentation by Grabyo partner ABB Formula E, who explained the strategy behind growing its social viewing numbers from 50m to 500m in just 12 months. This provided a fantastic insight delivered by Adam Kemp (ABB Formula E) and Rich Payne (Little Dot Studios) into how each social platform works, where the audience is and maximizing the life of specific content types and formats. Formula E delivers specific content to each platform, notably using Instagram Stories to bring an authentic race weekend experience to fans who cannot attend the race.

“Our Instagram Stories are the next best thing for fans who cannot be at the race” – R Payne

As new buyers for media and rights packages appear, Dave Gibbs (Sky Sports & News), Tracey Keenan (WWE), Phil Lynch (Manchester United) and Alex Gough (PSA/Squash) discussed how social video and OTT viewing is going to impact future business models for media rights and TV. For the panel, it was about working to understand what the customer wants and where they want to consume media. There is a balance between pushing out content to social platforms and providing exclusivity and offering premium content on their owned and operated channels. For Manchester United this means super-serving fans across each region with the content they want to watch on the platforms they want to watch it.

“You need to know where your audiences are and how ready they are to consume your content” – T Keenan

After a brief coffee and networking break, the topic of ‘meaningful social interactions’ was tackled by Leigh Walsh (AELTC Wimbledon), Jaine Sykes (ITV) and Nick Pearce (BT Sport). For AELTC Wimbledon and BT Sport, social platforms provide a medium to engage audiences outside of the live content. This year BT Sport rolled out a ‘no filter’ content series which is based around the stories and events that sit outside the live action; the series has been incredibly successful at finding ways to engage and reach fans whilst making the most of the available rights packages that BT Sport has.

“We measure our success based on reach, revenue and reputation” – J Sykes

Before a final wrap-up from Grabyo CEO Gareth Capon and networking drinks on the KIA Oval terrace, Wayne Davison (Little Dot Studios) broke down the best strategy for ensuring optimal content discovery on YouTube and how to use the platform to push traffic to your website, apps and OTT platforms.

A huge thank you to everyone who participated and to all who attended. Grabyo was delighted to be able to bring together so many industry experts and put on an event to showcase the very best and latest innovations across social and digital video.

Grabyo delivered more than 200,000 clips and 17,000 live events across the Facebook platform in 2017. If you are looking for strategic support and ideas to enhance your social video production output and maximize engagement, please get in touch with our team at hello@grabyo.com.

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Why Russia 2018 will be the most connected, engaged World Cup ever – both on and off the field.

Once every four years, football/soccer fans worldwide gather in union to watch the FIFA World Cup. With the tournament now just a few days away, fans can look forward to accessing more content than ever before as we head towards the first truly connected, digital World Cup.

Since Brazil in 2014, there has been a rapid shift in the way sports content, particularly football, is discovered, watched and shared. Linear TV continues to struggle to attract new, younger fans and advancements in technology and production has dramatically increased the speed at which premium content can be shared across a variety of platforms – resulting in a far more connected fan and a different level of engagement.

The World Cup drives conversation at a global scale. Twitter reported over 700 million tweets during the 2014 World Cup, and over 280 million people watch a game on a mobile or connected device. The Final was watched by over one billion fans worldwide, and while record viewing numbers for live games are expected – China alone is expected to break the one billion viewer mark for the 2018 final – we can expect those engagement numbers to significantly raise, as each federation, broadcaster, brands, teams and players turns to digital and social platforms to provide more content, more access and a more authentic fan experience.

For fans, this means an explosion of World Cup-related content on every platform, and device whenever and wherever they are. At any point during the World Cup fans will be able to pick up their mobile phone and see goals, highlights and reactions in real time. Twitter is looking to cement its place as the go-to destination for World Cup content with partnerships for live shows and clips across: Australia, Brazil, France, Indonesia, Mexico, Spain, Taiwan, the UK and the US. This includes new monetisation opportunities for broadcasters leveraging digital clip rights for Twitter’s sponsored video advertising programme (previously known as Amplify).

However, the most significant change will be the amount of content produced outside of the 90 minutes, with individual federations and broadcasters looking to create viewing experiences that go far beyond on-field highlights. Expect to see plenty of behind-the-scenes training content, fan-driven interviews, analysis, GIFs and memes, as well as player syndicated content and sponsor activations.

The shift in content strategy comes from the growing understanding amongst publishers that the modern football fan consumes sports in a much different way. Outside of live coverage, modern fans spend 44% of their time watching ancillary content such as football documentaries or challenge videos on digital platforms (Source: Copa 90 – 2018). This represents a considerable opportunity for federations, broadcasters and brand partners involved in the World Cup to generate their own engagement, to control the narrative and to bring fans closer to the game than ever before.

Many formats and brand activations will focus on video storytelling away from the live games. The content will sit outside the existing media rights agreements which is why it’s attractive to brands, teams and digital publishers. This content, which is made for digital platforms provides fans with an opportunity to create the most engaged and accessible World Cup in history.

The English FA has started to explore using direct to social distribution as a way to bring fans closer to the England team during World Cup 2018. Ahead of preparation fixtures against Nigeria and Costa Rica, the FA has been using YouTube to deliver exclusive content centered around the England camp. Hosted by YouTube star Craig Mitch, the FA is aiming to bring authentic and unfettered access to players, the manager and coaching staff – as well as regular prompts for fans to interact with the team and Mitch, primarily through live streaming, a format that will continue on a daily basis heading into Russia.

As social platforms continue to become the latest place for ‘appointment to view’ television, this type of live daily recap show is expected to be widely available across territories and platforms. In the United States, FOX Sports holds the broadcast rights to the World Cup and has struck a deal with Twitter to bring real-time highlights to the platform and original live content. The new live streaming format is a daily, episodic (27 shows) live show called “FIFA World Cup Now.” The exclusive social broadcast will feature match previews, recaps, guest appearances and, reactions from the world of Twitter. The platform has also penned a similar deal with Australian broadcaster SBS for 23 live shows and with British broadcaster ITV to distribute real-time highlights with Twitter in-stream advertising.

This is going to be a record-breaking World Cup on Twitter and across social and digital platforms; fans will be delivered a first-class experience, accessible anywhere at anytime with more access and interaction than ever before, as we all experience the first truly, connected, digital World Cup. A billion live videos streamed on mobile? That’s something worth tweeting about.

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