TV and video platforms thrive on content and channels. Historically, carriage agreements for cable and satellite operators involved substantial licensing deals worth millions, with technical delivery fees being a minor part of the deal. Today, however, streaming TV and broadcast media face a stark contrast: ad-funded monetization now consists of 90% technology fees and only 10% revenue for content sources. So, what went wrong?
View TV Studios, acting as a content investor, content library agent, and linear broadcaster, delved into the dark side of content monetization model of FAST. The earnings from FAST are insufficient to greenlight future content and support the digital transformation of existing broadcasters, but why, the gross revenues are substantial and documented everywhere.
The core issue lies in the AdTech, which acts as the intermediary between advertisers and content owners. Adtech functions like a freelance salesperson, securing advertising buyers and bringing revenue back to content owners for each ad space per viewer, thousands of times every hour. The problem is the lack of blockchain and transparency regarding the original ad sales value and the deductions made before the content owner or broadcaster receives their share.
In a programmatic structure, advertisers bid for ad placements targeting specific demographics. For example, a car brand advertiser aims to reach potential car buyers or a demographic suited for its vehicles, such as men of a certain age range in specific locations with high disposable income. This data exchange allows advertisers to bid against each other, with the highest bidder winning the ad placement.
The flaw in this system is the unregulated programmatic process, which lacks transparency about the numerous intermediaries and technology fees involved in filling an ad spot. View TV Studios’ investigation revealed shocking results: YouTube, as a regulated walled garden, delivers 4-5 times the revenue of programmatic streaming (FAST channels). This makes the FAST monetization model obsolete for content studios and broadcasters. However, YouTube’s model, while more lucrative, does not fully appreciate premium invested content, making it unsuitable for studios and traditional broadcasters transitioning to streaming.
The greed and lack of regulation in adtech have rendered their model unviable for premium content brands. YouTube’s model shows that podcasts and influencer content creators earn more than major broadcasters and content studios, highlighting the flawed and now outdated model.
View TV Studios decided to reorganize and introduce regulation into the streaming content and linear broadcaster solutions industry, replacing multiple SSPs with it proprietary AI. They added headline regulation across major stakeholders and provided an affordable suite of technology tools to address the top five problems identified with FAST as a content monetization model.
View TV Studios launched COMO (Content Oriented Monetization Omniscience) and the supporting process Streaming Playbook with its sister company View TV. They offer a suite of technology SaaS tools collectively named View TV Cloud, a dynamic technology solution that provides a full or selective ecosystem for linear TV channel monetization or content studio library monetization. This sustainable revenue model helps monetize and forecast returns on greenlighting new and future projects.
The diagram below illustrates the success of the model, which allocates two-thirds of the gross revenues back to the content owner or broadcaster, while the remaining third is divided fairly among the audience platform, technology fees, and ad-sales aspects of the ecosystem.
This solution offers more than twice the revenue of YouTube and over ten times what legacy FAST provided. View TV COMO, via the Streaming Playbook supported by View TV Cloud, offers the most efficient way to monetize content without requiring every studio to build an independent consumer app. All parties are fairly rewarded for their value in the monetization supply chain.
Although this move is a game-changer for content libraries, studios, and linear broadcasters, there is a fear that the minimal revenues they currently receive might dry up if they oppose the existing infrastructure. In reality, content partners have nothing to lose by changing, as the existing FAST structure is unsustainable for anyone investing in content.
View TV Studios CEO Jamie Branson states that this model not only provides a sustainable revenue stream for their content partners but also enables them to engage in Streaming First productions. The resistance to change stems from the control existing intermediaries have, who were taking 20-30% of revenues while adding little value. These intermediaries are made redundant by COMO and the processes defined within the Streaming Playbook.
Jamie Branson and his team at View TV spent over 14 months analysing the existing process and creating the COMO approach, supported by the Streaming Playbook. They ensured that all value-adding parties, such as advertising agencies, audience platforms, and technology providers, are rewarded higher than FAST. Although terms like CTV Audience platforms (e.g., Samsung Plus, Tubi, Kapang) accepting 15-20% of gross revenues instead of the existing 50/50 of net revenues might seem less favourable, they will actually receive more than double the revenue compared to the FAST model.
View TV Cloud allows Audience and CTV Platforms the new SSP’s, we allow the OTT Platforms to service their content and linear channel partners with the revenues they deserve.
As audience platforms, advertisers, and advertising agencies adopt the COMO model, they will appreciate the higher quality of broadcasters and content studios. This will sustain existing providers and foster growth for niche, hyper-local, live sports, and direct-to-streaming theatre campaigns by reverting to a more sustainable business model.
All audience platforms, content providers, broadcasters, and advertising agencies can interface with the well-funded View TV Cloud using proprietary technology with minimal changes to their existing workflows and a significant reduction in technology fees, providing the perfect solution for all stakeholders in the ad-funded content studios globally.
Check out https://viewtvx.com/view-tv-cloud/
Discover more from Rathergood TV
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.