New report: big data transformation and analysis ‘will unlock the future of TV’

A new paper from GfK, entitled ‘Big Questions, Big Answers: Will harnessing smart data for audience analytics save the broadcast industry?’, explores the benefits of big data for broadcast and outlines the future it has for the TV industry. Key decision-makers and executives from 14 media groups were interviewed, drawn from companies that serve over 70 million subscribers and deliver content that reaches nearly a billion people every day.

“The potential offered by Big Data is immense. Currently, everybody is engaged in data experimentation and there is a lot to fight for,” said Niko Waesche, global lead of the Media and Entertainment Industry at GfK. “There are some key questions and challenges around the use of Big Data, especially within a rapidly evolving TV consumption model. Our latest paper looks at how Big Data is being used in the real world specifically in our industry, and where Big Data will be headed in years to come.”

With insights from Astro, Channel 4, Digicel, Genius Digital, GfK, Liberty Global International (LBI), Magine TV, maxdome, Orange France, OSN, Sky IQ, UFA, Verizon and Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN), key findings from the GfK report include:

– The type of data we need today is changing. A diverse and increasingly demanding TV audience has forced operators to move away from asset-based data to more powerful behavioral analysis to better understand and respond to the needs of content curators and advertisers.

– Behavioural data is key. Behavioural data unlocks new insights by capturing the who, what and when of the viewer, and places it in context alongside more traditional asset based data such as plays and subscribers.

– Transforming and interpreting Big Data adds value. Large amounts of behavioural and asset based data only becomes valuable through intelligent transformation and interpretation, enabling a better understanding of the audience and emerging trends.

Tom Weiss, CEO of Genius Digital, a partner company of GfK, adds: “Capturing and acting on behavioural data requires different capabilities and analytics from a purely asset-based approach. Broadcasters and cable providers should assess their capabilities now if they seek to remain competitive.”

The GfK report, ‘Big Questions, Big Answers: Will harnessing smart data for audience analytics save the broadcast industry?’, is available to download here: https://www.gfk.com/Documents/whitepaper/GfK_WhitePaper_Big%20Data_2015.pdf