Together TV chief predicts a “swing back towards aggregation”

Alex Kann

Together TV chief Alex Kann has predicted that there will be a “swing back towards aggregation at a local level.”

Speaking at the DTG Summit in London today, at a session called The great streaming evolution: Engagement, retention, growth & beyond, the chief executive of Together TV said in in five years or more there will be a rise in aggregation with Pay TV taking hit due to SVODs working independently.

He also voiced, “PSBs will still be in fine form. There will still be a demand for public service that locally tailored and offers locally relevant content. Whether it’s delivered over linear services or though streaming devices in various ways.”

Kann added that Together TV which is available on Sky Glass an d Sky Stream is looking at other operators in the UK.

“We have an older linear audience who still love live telly and they’ll still want to watch a form of live TV. Our priority at the moment is actually how do we access more of that live viewing audience through the main TV sets,” he said.

Rufus Radcliffe, MD, streaming, interactive & data, ITV, added “Live has a robust feature…and has been put front and centre on ITVX” since ITV’s broadcast of the World Cup.

The overall panel highlighted the importance of delivering niche programming and content to service providers, where the “the big streamers can’t be something to everybody” said Dan Finch CCO & co-founder, Simplestream.

Tom Price, director of content distribution, Roku UK said “I think the, great thing about streaming is that It’s lowered the barrier,entry and it’s allowed  a more diverse range of people to make television content and make it widely available so you can find the service that you want.”

However, he notes the challenge is getting attention of viewers to the services and is about accurately targeting right content to the right people.

“Viewers are hard task masters but if you bring them into the oganisation and co-develop with them it can be successful,” added Radcliffe.