How Will Access to Viewership Data Change the Distribution Industry?
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APEX Insight: Until recently, airlines had to trust their judgement when it came to choosing in-flight entertainment content. The availability of viewership data is starting to change things, but how will this affect the other parties in the IFE supply chain?
Neal Rothman, president of Entertainment in Motion, believes one of the biggest upcoming changes for distributors of in-flight entertainment content will be a result of airlines having increased access to viewership data.
“In the past, airlines have come up with a content strategy based on market research and anecdotal evidence, but not from any comprehensive source of information,” Rothman explains. He notes that current systems are not providing airlines with figures on anywhere near 100% of their routes, but the advent of new analytics platforms are changing this.
Viewership data will certainly be beneficial when it comes to native digital content, which Rothman says lacks any “traditional markers” in terms of how popular it will be, such as which television network it originally aired on, for example.
Being able to prove the value of certain native digital content could also lead to increased revenues for this type of programming – which is currently much cheaper than traditional content – as it becomes more relevant to a growing number of passengers. “This content is increasingly popular among younger consumers, who might not yet be the prime target for airlines in terms of their most profitable passengers, but at some point will be,” highlights Rothman.
“If content service providers and airlines selectively use this data as a negotiating tactic with distributors then I think there are going to be some issues.” – Neal Rothman, Entertainment in Motion
The benefits also come with potential challenges. “If content service providers and airlines selectively use this data as a negotiating tactic with distributors then I think there are going to be some issues,” states Rothman. “However, if the industry can come together in full transparency, then of course we’ll be impacted, but we’ll be able to come up with appropriate licensing models.”
The good news is that according to Rothman, distributors are well placed to embrace any new complexity, as they have been doing more and more for the past two decades. “There’s been a proliferation of systems,” he says. “You’re not just talking about AVOD or streaming on planes, you’re talking about airlines having different appetites for content on different routes because certain planes have bigger servers than others.”
With this in mind, Rothman is hopeful that the content order and delivery processes will become more heavily automated in the near future, but acknowledges that implementing this will require a collaborative effort from multiple industry stakeholders.