We are in a connected world and globalization is hitting every little niche of our being. No wonder the TV content market is now as global and international as never before. More though: now is probably the best time in a long period to think about international expansion. We are looking at a massive, unique window of opportunity to expand your TV business into new markets. What is even better: this is not only the case for the ‘traditional’ and typical global players that hail from USA, it is particularly true for business from other parts of the world.
Never has there been more demand for content than now
The world demands content at massive scale. The need for fresh, original content is almost endless. New TV platforms and services have mushroomed across the planet within the past couple of years like never before. The pandemic had almost a kind of “fertiliser” effect on the industry as more people turned to streaming service and to TV at large. Hence, lots of services launched and provide now TV content to the millions of people. All these services compete for eyeballs, budgets, attention and customer loyalty. Content is the glue to bind subscribers. And this glue better works and makes them stick.
The platforms look for new content everywhere. They are more open now to consider foreign content and content that might serve certain niches only. As so often, Netflix set the benchmark. With their strategy to exploit local content internationally they opened the door widely into a market for great local productions to travel around the world. Examples like Squidgame, House of Money, Dark and many more illustrate that fact perfectly. Now other streaming services and platforms follow that lead and look for their international content partners. You should not miss them.
New international players needed to crack Hollywood dominance
Another development is helping to switch the attention towards independent international offers. The content market saw an increased tendency towards mergers. How Discovery is eating up the market is only the tip of the iceberg of that development. The large global players became bigger and bigger. They have such a clout and market power now that they can dictate the terms to almost anyone who deals with them. Even well-established, large cable operators or telcos are at the mercy of conceding to the demand of Disney, Paramount and any other player in that league. While services like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Sky and so forth feel the need to bundle up with infrastructure providers to grow their sub base, they still have the upper hand in negotiations. Because they have great content! Remember: they have the glue !
But this is exactly also why platforms look for smaller, independent, new players and providers. Whenever you have an oligarchy, you also have the opportunity for new, smart, fast and flexible smaller market participants. You can become that participant if you have a track record of success in your home market and can bring your content to them. You can help to crack the Hollywood dominance more open and make the market a truly global one.
FAST TV opens up the market for everyone
The good news is: there are some new ways of monetising content that allow for content experimentation and opening up the market. Especially, the FAST TV model is enabling both content platforms and content providers to bring more, diverse and targeted content to the audiences around the world. While a platform in the past had to think more than twice if they should select a specific pay tv channel, they can do so now more easily if it is a FAST TV channel. If the content owner is willing to take the risk with his platform partners to bank on advertising / revenue share, almost all is possible now. The end user pays the bill through consumption and her eyeballs. In other words: if the content is relevant and resonates with the target audience, it will pay its distribution itself.
We are only at the beginning of the FAST TV wave. It has gotten tremendous traction in the US market and will now come quickly into other markets around the world. With it comes even more demand for all types of content. A demand, that the dominant US studios cannot and will not satisfy alone – and we shouldn’t let them. A more global, diverse content market is a good thing and will be your chance to exploit it now.
Of course, we know how tricky it is to navigate the international TV content market. Yet, we can help you to find your path in it. With a combined knowledge of more than 250 years in international TV distribution and aggregation, we are your perfect partner in case you want to dip into the international waters. Contact us to learn more on how we can assist.
