Digital TV Group (DTG)

Welcome back to another episode! And guess what? This one is extra special for two reasons. First, we’ve hit a milestone - it’s our 50th episode! 🎉 Secondly, we’re bringing you the amazing session that Maureen Kerr and Claire Tavernier gave at the #DTGSummit on 8th May in London. Join us for a quick 20-minute dive into the latest in TV, streaming, and AI. Expect some Baby Yoda references, and stick around to see if Maureen and Claire can ever agree on anything. Plus, you’ll still get to hear Oliver Turnbull's introduction to the recording. A big shoutout to the Digital TV Group (DTG), Jaisica Lapsiwala and Will Parsons for making this possible. And as always, please like, comment, and share... we love hearing from you! Let us know what you think! https://lnkd.in/ev65e_Dd

How television is consumed, distributed - and even created - is changing. From streaming services to smart TVs, from dynamic ad insertion to generative AI, technology is at the centre of the medium’s transformation - yet, remaining laser focused to ensure humans stay at its heart must be one of the industry's big challenges. It was a real privilege to host the Digital TV Group (DTG) Summit in London last week; amid all the excitement around innovative new technologies and business models, it was also reassuring to hear that viewers still top the consideration list. DTG’s CEO Richard Lindsay-Davies' opening remarks set the tone, urging that “no one gets left behind” - a call to ensure television services remain accessible to all parts of society; meanwhile, Media Minister Julia Lopez MP unvealed a commitment to digital terrestrial television until 2034. 🤖 “Generative AI is 80% noise at the moment.” I moderated an insightful panel into how AI is being employed in broadcast, featuring BBC R&D Director Jatin Aythora, Google UK’s Anshul Kapoor, and Channel 4 Technology Director Grace Boswood who, when reviewing new technologies, assesses them with a simple test: “Will it make me money or save me money?” 🛜 Streaming services were inevitably a major topic of conversation, and in our panel focused on this next era of television, BritBox International's Kerry Ball reflected upon how the channel is almost through its “puberty” phase, while SkyShowtime CEO Monty Sarhan told me “there are no streaming wars - there is space for us all”. There were many more great conversations besides, covering everything from immersive and next-gen viewer experiences (yes, there were Apple Vision Pro’s headsets to try), to regulation challenges in what has become a fragmented and inconsistent broadcast landscape, featuring an update on the initial findings of a call for evidence report to the government from Ofcom's Yih-Choung Teh. Thank you Richard Lindsay-Davies, Will Parsons and the DTG team for inviting me to host the day, to Chalk+Chilli's Jaisica Lapsiwala for expertly crafting the event programme, and to all of the contributors who shared their expertise in the panels and fireside chats. #DTGSummit #BiggerPicture #Broadcast #presenter #television

Some very interesting changes to how the data is viewed and what it means below...

We had a fantastic time at last week's Digital TV Group (DTG) Summit held at Kings Place, London - and we were proud to be an Event Supporter this year 🤝 It was a great opportunity to hear the latest news and views from leaders in broadcasting and digital TV - a huge thank you to everyone that met with us! Kevin Zemrowsky #DTGSummit #broadcasting #digital #TV #ImaginaryPictures #London

Latest #DTGSummit round up from Melissa Kasule at Digital TV Europe here 👇 https://lnkd.in/eFxGC8v7 #BiggerPicture #Insight

Earlier this week at the Digital TV Group (DTG) Summit "TV: The Bigger Picture", I discussed AI and how as an industry we make content, access information and use data for great insights and content.   My message to the room was that as Channel 4 considers AI or any new technology, we ask one key question: how can we be ruthless about how new technologies can enhance our business? It’s a simple equation – but often these conversations can get complicated and theoretical. So our overarching theme for 2024 is we will experiment – we will absolutely look at new tech – but we will innovate with purpose. For organisations like Channel 4, we need practical solutions that solve business problems. We need to focus not on the ‘tech’, but also practically what that tech enables.   This will be key as we deliver our Fast Forward strategy this year, delivering some exciting new innovation projects (stay tuned) or transforming Channel 4’s streaming platform through technology that delivers a step-change in the user experience for viewers and advertisers. Watch this space. Thankyou Jatin Aythora Anshul Kapoor Digital TV Group (DTG) David McClelland for a great event.

Loving these 6 key #DTGSummit takeaways from our partner Simplestream. Check out their round up and some of the exclusive speaker interviews they captured below 👇 #BiggerPicture

Earlier this week at the Digital TV Group (DTG) Summit "TV: The Bigger Picture", I had the privilege of discussing the issue of content discoverability in a sea of streaming choice with Julie Mitchelmore and Oliver Davies, moderated by Jonathan Broughton.   Top of my mind was how responsible curation, a trusted tone of voice and quality content remain vital to help viewers decide what to watch. Yes, we need to enrich viewing experiences through data and UI enhancements, but we are equally clear that we need to retain our voice as a trusted curator. With so much noise in the market, retaining that voice is even more important.   Crucial to our "philosophy" is upholding our editorial integrity and brand reputation, whilst embracing new technologies. Data is incredibly important. But as a PSB, our approach is to try and not only persuade a viewer to watch something, but build their trust in the service, by continuously improving the quality of those recommendations, encouraging viewers to feed their recommendations through 'learned actions' (the more you watch the better they become) and using clear signposting. Ultimately, our goal is to weave our content priorities and editorial strategy into the algorithm in what we term ‘smart curation.’   In an ever more algorithmic world, how do we do that? Is it possible to embrace Al and personalisation without losing our PSB point of difference? Very often it can feel binary, like it's ‘robots’ vs humans. AI vs creator. I believe the reality is more subtle: We can teach AI what our priorities are, and key to success in this space is working with our internal stakeholders and partners to ensure our brand values and content strategy are reflected within the recommendations, metadata and platform Uls.   Our ambition around curation is to strike a balance, to bring the viewer with us and earn that trust. When a viewer lands on the Channel 4 homepage, we want to show them a wide range of content that they expect to see there – without overwhelming them. Think of it like at trust funnel. The more they engage and browse, and the deeper they go into our app – the more licence we have to curate. In short, the more you show us you need our help to decide what to watch, the more we can dial up our curation, recommendations and tone of voice.   In a streaming world, persuasion and trust are both important. Personalisation is a crucial, growing tool in our editorial armour, but central to our strategy is to build viewers' trust and meet their expectations of what Channel 4 represents, whether that’s through editorial curation, social currency and word of mouth, or algorithmic recommendations that feel relevant to you. As we accelerate our transformation into a public service streamer and dive into the next iteration of content discoverability, Channel 4 must remain distinctive yet relevant. Can we truly do both? I believe we can. #DTGSummit #BiggerPicture #VOD #TV #Personalisation #Channel4 #Streaming #Curation

As predicted in our Arthur D. Little Media Report, bundles will play a major role in offsetting churn. Disney and Warner Bros Discovery will bundle their Disney+, Hulu and Max streaming services similar to traditional cable TV packages. The bundle is expected to be out this summer and will be offered as both an ad and ad free plan. No news on price. Disney will serve as the distributor collecting membership payments from customers and giving Warner Brothers a cut. #streaming #Disney #Media

Yesterday, our CEO Monty Sarhan was part of the panel: The Next Era of Television: Unveiling The Streaming Future for this year’s Digital TV Group (DTG). Joining other executives from the streaming industry, Monty spoke to the exciting and dynamic future for streamers and what’s next for SkyShowtime. #streaming #DTGSummit