IBC '16: Google Tells Broadcasters to Wake Up to Mobile

Streaming Media 

The biggest disruption yet is the mobile revolution, and its impact is being under-estimated by broadcasters," warned Benjamin Faes, MD partner business solutions for Google.

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Speaking at the IBC Conference in Amsterdam, Faes encouraged broadcasters to work with the internet giant to get to grips with mobile.

"We believe TV is anything but dead," he declared. "What TV does best, which is to inform and entertain has not changed. What is changing is the way it is delivered and consumed. But this technology disruption is nothing new to a industry that moved to colour and switched from analogue to digital. Mobile is the biggest revolution broadcasters have faced, it is happening now, and we still do not see a huge, pressing desire to take advantage of this revolution among the broadcast industry."

He cited the fact that last year 1.5 million Android devices were activated every day and that consumer's spend 177 minutes on their phones every day.

"We want to help broadcasters create amazing content, distribute it, and find a sustainable business model for it," he claimed.

He noted that YouTube had struck a deal with Fox News around the Republican presidential debates. "We integrated the live Google feeds during the debate so that viewers could see the immediate response. You could, for instance, watch live comments on the candidates."

Google is also helping audiences find content by launching a product called Watch Action. This allows people to click directly on a legitimate source of content on Google search. An example of this is the deal YouTube signed with 16 broadcasters covering 60 territories during the Olympics. "We completely integrated the viewing experience of the Olympics into Google search, which means that if you are searching for highlights of the games you will get directly get the images of the broadcaster of the market you are in."

Another way Google says it can help broadcasters monetize multiscreen delivery is its new Doubleclick dynamic ad insertion product. This was first rolled out commercially at French broadcaster TF1 during Euro 2016, live in all 21 games with peak concurrent viewers of 700,000.

Google has just signed a similar partnership with BT Sport, which will see the broadcasters serve targeted ads across its online sports coverage which includes UEFA Champions League. Google solution works in step with the linear channel schedule, enabling clickable dynamic online ads to mirror broadcast ad breaks.