The Race To Win The Fan Experience

In our Meet The Team piece this week Pete Dunits, iSportConnect’s Broadcast Consultant, looks at how the traditional world of broadcasting is having to evolve in order to keep its head above water amongst a wave a new technologies.

It is an exciting and confusing time to be a sports fan.

After a period of unique challenges and behavioural adaptations live sport and its fans are back!

Now, more than ever, fans want to feel connected to the content with authentic and immersive storytelling for the live appointment to view “I was there” moment. 

“The once dominant commercial linear Pay TV model is now being challenged by digital D2C OTT offerings.”

Over the past few years the broadcast industry has changed beyond recognition. The once dominant commercial linear Pay TV model is now being challenged by digital D2C OTT offerings. Rights holders have now become media companies and want to know more about their customers and fans via first party data. Nowadays the need to be different, personalised and interactive is imperative. The battle to win the fan’s attention and their money is on! 

One positive result from the ongoing Covid pandemic has been the accelerated adoption of REMI production. More than ever before mobile, digital and OTT platforms are well situated to start delivering on the promise to deliver more personalised and interactive experiences that go far beyond those on linear broadcast platforms.

“96% of UK soccer fans want personalised TV channels” – Quantum Market Research, 2019 – https://offthepitch.com/a/ninety-six-cent-football-fans-uk-want-personalised-tv-channels

“Nowadays the need to be different, personalised and interactive is imperative.”

We know consumption patterns have changed and trend towards mobile and digital. Video is the dominant medium of story-telling. Linear still remains one dimensional with the one-size-fits-all model and is slow to embrace change. Pay-TV’s dominance is being threatened by direct to consumer digital offerings, while the social media platforms and partnerships offer limited first party data and insights.

With the emergence of OTT,  the video streaming landscape has become fiercely competitive, with new services constantly being launched. This fierce competition has created a demand for innovative ideas and solutions to drive consumer choice.

Choice brings challenges to traditional commercial models threatening subscriptions, advertising and sponsorship. To win the competition for the leisure hour, live sports rights holders need to bring communities together in a fun & more social way. New technologies present opportunities for broadcasters, rights holders and brands to engage with new audiences in compelling and relevant ways – in a language, community or setting that the fan understands.

BT Sport to launch raft of new features for award-winning app – including real-time data insight with Manager Mode and fun for all the family with Hype Mode – See more here: https://www.bt.com/sport/features/bt-sport-app-new-features-ways-to-watch

“Rights holders should now place equivalent emphasis on evolving the viewer experience and providing hyper-personalised experiences”

Any service that wants to attract and retain subscribers must differentiate their offering in the competition for the fans money and attention span. Rights holders should now place equivalent emphasis on evolving the viewer experience and providing hyper-personalised experiences tailored to individuals that become naturally differentiating. As a result, personalisation can help broadcasters maximise viewer engagement and minimise churn.

The quest to find new customers has to be authentic, intelligent, engaging and relevant. To win the viewership fight, sport broadcasters and rights holders need to take advantage of the innovative technologies that are available to create high-quality, immersive, and engaging viewing experiences that enable the capture of first party data to drive commercial partnerships while ultimately entertaining and engaging the fan!