Broadcast Media 2024: This Year’s Key Shifts, Trends and Opportunities
By Phil Hodgetts, Strategic Account Manager
Alright, brace yourselves. After the annual predictions avalanche, I thought I’d let the dust settle before telling you all what I think - unfashionably late and, hopefully, a somewhat fresh perspective on this year’s trends.
In this article, I’m covering five topics I ‘think’ are big enough to impact our wonderful industry in 2024. Whether they’re old news to you or I’ve managed to surprise the veterans among us, chime in with your thoughts!
Trends we’ll be exploring:
The Playout Resurgence
Cloud Technologies Coming of Age
Cybersecurity: The Invisible War
The AI Revenue Riddle
Bridging the Skills Gaps
The Playout Resurgence
Is it a reboot or a sequel? Who knows?
(Or maybe it’s a terrible title for a new Netflix Sci-fi series…)
Visiting IBC in September last year, I witnessed two massive multi-billion-pound revenue companies, BT and Comcast, to be specific – unveiling Broadcast Playout Platforms in the Cloud, with flexibility and speed right up there (in terms of what they offer).
Now, I don’t know about you but genuinely, I thought that Playout was something which died a death thanks to multiple vendor acquisitions and technology companies desperately trying to remain relevant. However, following IBC, if you’re a broadcaster requiring linear television services, FAST services, OTT, Live playout, etc, there’s now not just another player to take seriously but at least two service providers to bring into your RFPs.
In my humble opinion, this is one of the most tangible shifts forward the industry has made in recent years. Yes, there are some serious broadcasters out there with large playout services contracts coming to an end (inevitably a key commercial driver for BT and CTS). But this shift has breathed life into quite a traditional segment of the broadcast market – which previously was at risk of wandering aimlessly towards the technology scrapheap.
Cloud Technologies Coming of Age
Cloud in 2024… wow. It’s made it through those testing early years, ditched the training wheels, survived (if a bit battered and bruised) from that awkward adolescence phase and now its stepping into early adulthood, with plenty still to learn and achieve - but as a technology with strong foundations.
I’m a little unsure ‘really’ what makes it mature though. The cynic in me says that because we’ve been talking about it for so long now, there’s no choice but to call it mature. Speaking to multiple senior technologists across my network, I think it’s fairer to say maturity comes from the fact businesses are now genuinely comfortable with the technology, along with efficiencies they can drive moving forward and having a strategy that’s Cloud focused.
It is complicated, of course, that of which I have no doubt, but from the outside, it appears to take companies an age to action, not to mention the continued ploughing of budgets and resources into keeping the wheels greased on older tech. I’ll often hear, “Ah yes – we have racks of equipment that are ‘end of life’, not supported by the supplier any longer and sucking the life out of my engineering team. But… we must keep them switched on because they work, and they’re keeping the channels on air”.
My reaction is always, “What?! Really?”. It appears that, even though Cloud has matured in our industry, all the old ‘stuff’ is still on. Beyond that, in many cases it’s still the main way content gets out the building! Surely though, 2024, is Cloud’s year. Think of it as a 23-year-old, hitting the world to make their stamp on it - loved, learned, and leaned-on by others; finally ready to stand on its own two Site Reliability Engineers.
Cybersecurity: The Invisible War
Toward the end of 2023, I went to a cybersecurity talk held by RTS. It was genuinely insightful but also pretty scary if I’m being honest. Last year, 41 Media companies reported serious hacks – not to mention those that didn’t make their hack known in the public domain. A key takeaway from the RTS talk is that hackers can get into broadcasters surprisingly easily, and there are a number of things to blame:
Increased connectivity – everything is connected to IP.
Remote working, companies not originally built for this.
Supply chain.
We’re in a world where your greatest security risk could be as obscure as your ‘smart’ new vending machine, both updating the supplier when the Snickers are low and creating an easy-in vulnerability to your network! Getting the basics right is entirely achievable. Test it until it breaks, have a cyber security plan, etc… but I can’t help but wonder how many victims we’ll see in 2024 as we go further down the connectivity wormhole.
Hopefully, over time, that number will shrink. In speaking with a senior stakeholder contact at a large global telco on this, they shared a plan to focus on education through honest storytelling this year. I think he’s absolutely spot on. The more people across all departments are aware of how easily cybercriminals can infiltrate the workplace and hold the employer ransom (or worse, get hold of the employee’s personal information) – the better.
Also, and a bit of a tangent off from Cyber Security, I’m really pleased, as a multi-subscriber customer, that the industry is making waves in cracking down on streaming piracy. Silly me, I did (very, very briefly) start to think a cracked firestick could be a way to view the content… then I quickly reminded myself not only is it illegal and funding exploitative criminal gangs, but it poses a serious threat to my livelihood, yours, and everyone who works in our industry - oooh, look at me all righteous.
The AI Revenue Riddle - how can “Artificial Intelligence” create revenue for broadcasters?
A little like the Cloud and the Convergence of IP in Media (notice I didn’t have IP convergence as a trend, given it’s been ‘trending’ every year for the last decade) – artificial technology has gained great attention in the last 12 months. Technology, when it comes to data, is developing quickly, and that is really exciting.
It seems clear AI can really supercharge decision-making, and I think that is a good thing, but…
How exactly AI will help broadcast businesses create revenue is something I really don’t know the answer to. It feels a little threatening; technology bosses are being encouraged to investigate AI to minimize overheads (like reducing the number of staff) and automate more and more processes. I kind of get that, but surely the real interest should be where AI can be used in order to enhance the resource power companies already have. In training, learning and development, perhaps? Could it be utilised to look out for threats?
One thing’s for certain: this year, I’ll be investing in learning about this subject myself in more detail and taking more opportunities to ask the market questions. AI, I’m watching you closely in 2024.
What impact does all of this have on companies experiencing skills gaps?
Glass half-full
It’ll bring in new, fresh ideas from other industries, enhance diversity within businesses and give more options for young, bright and talented people to expand their technical knowledge at the forefront of innovation.
Companies will be enabled to push investment in the right skills – learning, training and development, to further enhance their future existence.
Glass half empty
It could hold back businesses who define their future technology strategy around embracing new technologies.
There’s the potential to pause or completely drive new innovative projects into the ground.
The broadcast technology sector could become isolated, creating a larger deficit in new skills and diversity.
There’s a risk of driving away fresh ideas and talent, stifling any development around automation.
The skills gap is being fuelled by innovation. We need to turn this on its head and look at the issue, for what it is. The broadcast industry will always do things on its own terms and that’s ok - it’s what makes it such an interesting industry to be around. However, without significant investment from someone, somewhere (in summertime?! – Simple Minds…), it concerns me that the industry runs the risk of, in fact, alienating itself from attracting new talent. I see it countless times – from unrealistic job descriptions, with a shopping list of multiple skills which would never exist in one human being, through to (some) completely misguided D&I polices, which cause more harm than good.
Finally, there is hope…
Rise has been seriously impactful in widening the pool of talent and driving inclusivity to somewhere near the top of the agenda when businesses are looking to grow - and long may that continue. Plus, people like Carrie Wootten with the Global Talent Manifesto keep driving home the message that the skills gap problem is not disappearing without action, now; these voices are crucial in our industry!
We’re getting there. Slowly, but we’re getting there. It’s a volatile landscape in the technology market currently and the recent socio-economic carnage which we’ve been caught up in for the last 5 years (or so) has had a global impact. Who would think in our lifetimes we would witness wars (let alone one in Europe), a global pandemic, what feels like regular financial rollercoasters, terrorism… the list goes on and on. Yet, even through all of that – we’re getting there.
I also wanted to call out the recent ITV drama holding the British Government to account over the Post Office Scandal. What an incredible slice of television – although a terrible miscarriage of justice and absolutely horrific example of the misuse of power by a state-owned organisation supposedly in a democratic society. That drama averaged nearly 10 million viewers across its four episodes (information published by ITV in a press release dated 18/01/2024 – to read in full click here). With all of the streaming services available, linear television is still relevant. As long as broadcasters are putting out captivating content, both thematic and live, it’s still clearly worth the investment.
So there you have it, my rundown for 2024. Here’s to a year of surmounting challenges and seizing opportunities – I can’t wait to see what we accomplish together.
Do you agree with my take on the evolving broadcast landscape as we step into 2024? I’m turning the mic over to you. Which of these trends do you see making the biggest waves in your corner of the industry? Or better yet, what's on your radar that I might have missed? Drop your insights, predictions, or even your wildest guesses to me at phil.hodgetts@caspianone.com
