“The main challenge today at media companies is to modernize their monetization models”, says the CTO of Globo

The CTO of Globo, Raymundo Barros, will be the moderator on the panel Industry Challenges at the SET Breakfast @NAB Show, which takes place in Las Vegas on April 19.

He will be accompanied by representatives of the international entities IBC, ATSC and IABM to debate how traditional media industries will face up to the transformations of monetization models.

“The relevance of content hasn’t changed, but the monetization models involving content are undergoing an in-depth transformation”, says Barros.

Check out the full interview below:

SET: The panel will focus on the challenges of the industry. Can you give us a heads-up as to what those challenges are and how they will be dealt with?

Raymundo Barros: Where traditional media companies, especially broadcasters, are concerned, the main challenge at the present moment is how to position themselves in this deep digital transformation setting in which the media industry finds itself.

Historically, there has been a major fortress, namely content. This fortress is still standing, in spite of this transformation The relevance of content hasn’t changed, but the monetization models involving content are undergoing an in-depth transformation. Thus, in the panel I intend to deal with the manner in which traditional media industries will take up this challenge of transformation of monetization models.

What is under discussion is: how can advertising inventories on all platforms be operationalized today using the very metrics and models of the digital economy?

The traditional model – built on the advertising space sales force – is undergoing transformation, and today’s advertisers don’t want to purchase just media. They want a partnership relationship with the media companies as a solution of their business problems.

SET: In your assessment, how should media companies prepare to take up these challenges?

RB: [The dilemma is] How can a company that stops selling advertising space become a business solution for its advertisers?

There is a need, firstly, to become increasingly familiar with the audience that consumes the content of media companies and which is exposed to advertising messages and, secondly, the manner in which we can build attribution and performance models in this advertising value chain.

Another extremely important aspect on the issue of advertising are the sales processes which, nowadays, are no longer able to reach an increasingly fragmented economy using the traditional sales force model.

SET: How does one change this situation?

RB: Several approaches are being tested, such as new relationship models, for example, integrated into auction settings for more controlled program models and long-tail relationship models where you can display your inventory and import what advertisers can consume. Therefore, the main challenge today at media companies is to modernize their monetization models.

SET: The panel consists of professionals from major international entities. What is the importance of bringing these entities and SET together at a NAB Show event?  Why should Brazilian professionals watch this panel?

RB: The panel will discuss how the media companies’ technology partners are cooperating in building this new ecosystem

The Advanced Television System Committee (ATSC), for example, has been fostering the evolution of the ATSC 3.0 standard. Although ATSC 3.0 improves the quality of the consumer experience in the 4K function, immersive audio etc., what is more important is to know how this standard integrates with the digital economy. How, through the convergence of offerings of broadcast content  and the integration of devices in the broadband environment, it enables personalized content and advertising to be provided to consumers.

One of the fundamental pillars of the development of ATSC 3.0 is the insertion of broadcasting in the digital economy. This is an aspect it is intended to adopt.

SET: Are there other aspects worth highlighting?

RB: Another fundamental point in the transformation of the media industry is that many traditional companies around the world are becoming companies that are abandoning the traditional model – from a B2B relationship with the providers, advertising agencies and the major subscriber TV operators who distribute our content on multiple channels – to a relationship in which they now provide their content directly to the final consumer using Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) models.

So, in this session, where Disney is the major player in this transformation, I am going to discuss with the representatives of the IABM, ATSC and IBC how traditional technology partners are positioning themselves to support the companies during this strategic transition.

SET: As a member of the SET board, which issues should Brazilian professionals be attentive to? How could these issues influence the future of the industry?

RB: SET plays a fundamental role in supporting broadcasting in Brazil, presenting the evolution of the technology framework of a media company. Thus, companies are ceasing to be exclusively dedicated traditional models of content production and distribution, to become media companies with technologies that support monetization processes.

It is this change of mindset that a media technology professional in Brazil needs to have. To understand that the traditional monetization models are undergoing a deep disruption, and that this disruption arises from major technology platforms, and that we in broadcasting, in traditional media companies, need to build a new technology platform  that supports their organizations in this process of transformation.

In the case of SET, through its leadership and companies actively engaged in the discussions within the entity, it is essential to have models for inserting the community in this digital economy.

The professionals comprising SET stay up to date and have the tools for evolving and staying in touch with all these changes in the industry.