Graduate Blog: Monetising the Viewstream

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Monetising the Viewstream

Posted At : March 15, 2009 2:59 PM by Alan McQuat

Graduate Program: Technology

Two things got me thinking recently...

1. As broadband TV/internet TV/IPTV, whichever name is the flavour of the month, becomes increasingly popular it is evident that commercial TV companies are struggling to find a model that will generate revenue from their made for the tube shows online.

2. Recent advances by Google and Phorm in Behavioural Targeting or Online Behavioural Advertising (OBA) and the announcement of new best practice guidelines from the IAB are driving a new model that aims to monetise the clickstream even further by tailoring the internet experience to the users interests.

Advertisers focus on traditional TVs BARB figures to give an indication of how many people they are reaching with each broadcast of an ad. They feel that they have identified the demographic watching each show and can target them accordingly.

No similarly mature system for determining viewing figures exists on the web, this is one of the biggest hurdles standing in the way of monetising advertising associated with online TV. Could the same methods of monitoring user habits assist commercial television companies with their current advertising dilemma?

If these methods were implemented there would be added value for TV companies, they would be able to identify the interests of the users, track their individual viewing habits and sell advertising space that would be more attractive to advertising companies due to the specific user profiles associated with it. On top of this TV companies would be able to tailor the actual shows to the viewer, not just the ads, making content more compelling and at the same time develop content driven communities.

This is all possible but it hangs on three threads.

First is the willingness of commercial TV companies to step into this space, someone will have to go first and potentially face a public backlash.

The second thread is the choice made by the viewer, the OBA models being implemented by Google and Phorm will test the waters, if users decide they will receive value by allowing their usage to be tracked they will ultimately be successful.

Finally the TV companies will have to demonstrate similar value to the user if they were to implement a Behavioural Targeting approach. If the service isn’t up to scratch viewers will opt out putting the TV companies back to square 1.