Q&A: Gabriel Cosgrave, Xperi on the evolution of streaming

Gabriel Cosgrave, General Manager, EMEA, Australia & New Zealand at Xperi, talks about the evolution of streaming, his company’s acquisition of Vewd and the need for alternatives to big tech walled garden platforms.

Why does Xperi’s acquisition of Vewd make sense, and what impact will it have on your presence in the market for streaming technology?

Xperi and Vewd share a common objective: to bring a suite of products and services to market that simplify streaming complexity by replacing the sea of apps on smart TVs and offer a more intuitive, personalised search function while uniting the entire value chain – from content owners to device makers and SoC partners. Combining Xperi’s product offerings with Vewd’s suite of media platform solutions accelerates the success of our strategy of offering personalised discovery product

Our products have been integrated and market-tested for many years via Vewd’s long-standing partnership with TiVo, which is part of Xperi. This acquisition ensures we are well positioned to pursue various growth opportunities in a rapidly transforming industry and to invest in new products and capabilities. We are excited about the next phase.

What do you see as the key priorities for streaming providers currently and how does your set of solutions address these?

With so many video entertainment services available to choose from and more content becoming available for free, a vast majority of consumers are ad tolerant. This paradigm shift is likely to continue, with more services offering free or lower priced options with ads to help consumers manage costs in such a saturated market. For example, TiVo’s solutions ensure there is less scrolling and more watching, making the experience more enjoyable and engaging for subscribers.

Unlike other platforms, Powered by TiVo smart TVs allow user choice and control, enable subscriber acquisition and retention for content services, and provide recurring revenue for partners. This differentiates TiVo OS from big tech platforms that are aggressively working to protect “walled gardens” to extract all economic value from end user data and drive content engagement that benefits them instead of the consumers who are looking to reduce the complexity of their viewing experience.

What are the key challenges faced by existing video service providers and what do they need to do to stay relevant in the streaming age?

Acquiring and retaining new subscribers are key challenges, TiVo Discovery Solutions delivers personalised recommendations, natural voice recognition, and insights for a superior entertainment experience, enabling service providers to maximise engagement and minimise churn.

When it comes to personalisation technology, MVPDs and OTT service providers have a choice: they can develop recommendation engines and other elements of personalisation in-house, or they can turn to a third-party provider. Either way, the most significant driver of revenue is deploying new services with a fast time to market, bringing relevant content to viewers, and reducing subscriber churn.

How big a part will content discovery play in how service providers market and differentiate their offerings and what do they need to do to deliver a discovery experience that really sets them apart?

In today’s media landscape, with video streaming at an all-time high, consumers are faced with an unprecedented number of options for media and entertainment services. According to the 2022 Q2 TiVo Video Trends Report, which will be released later in September, as the number of available streaming services continues to grow, content discovery is the number one concern for consumers. Nearly 30% of respondents use a companion app to track and discover content across different sources.

To win the battle for viewers, service providers need to make content easy to find and ensure an outstanding QoE for their subscribers. TiVo Discovery Solutions enable providers to attract and retain subscribers by making content easy to find and ensuring an outstanding QoE.

As streaming and traditional TV providers face up to changing consumer dynamics and macroeconomic challenges, how can technology of the type that Xperi specialises in help them improve monetisation of their content assets?

Xperi’s TiVo solutions make it easy for people to find, watch, and enjoy what they love in one integrated, extraordinary video experience that brings entertainment together, driving loyalty and engagement.  Powered by TiVo™ smart TVs offer a global video service and monetisation platform fully aligned with the business objectives of TV OEMs and content providers, allowing them to control the TV experience. Powered by TiVo Smart TVs ensure global and local CSP availability, pre-integration with end-to-end TV ecosystems, and an aggregated platform ad inventory to maximise revenue. Monetisation occurs through multiple channels including advertising sales, viewership data, and lower-cost content offerings for viewers who balance subscription costs with watching ads. TiVo’s independent media platform allows user choice and control, enabling subscriber acquisition and retention for content services.

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