How pay-TV can keep viewers on their platform, away from YouTube

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Super-aggregation is mission-critical to pay-TV operators and, according to Roland Sars, CEO and co-founder of Media Distillery, this will make 2025 “the year of content discovery”.

In this interview, Sars notes that once TV platforms have the content deals to satisfy customers, they must surface that content, and quickly, to drive viewer engagement and make sure their huge investment in content rights is not wasted.

He also explains how key performance indicators like time on platform and time to content can be improved with innovative content discovery tools.

Find out more about a proof of concept with a T1 European cable operator to create a fanzone within the user experience, where viewers select their favourite sports clubs and athletes, with this page then populated with live event programming and “shoulder” content such as coach interviews and post-match analysis.

The impact of this fanzone was impressive and Sars reveals the statistics on viewers who said they stayed on the platform for content they would normally seek somewhere else, like on YouTube.

He then considers how platform owners can win attention from YouTube more generally by improving their understanding of which subjects and people are contained within the content so that it is better matched to viewing interests.

Watch the full interview