Bob Bakish, president and CEO of entertainment giant Viacom International Media Networks, has a sense of déjà vu.

The pay-TV industry has embraced mobile and tablet apps, new digital interfaces that are becoming more prominent in deals between content providers and distributors, while simultaneously opening up direct consumer access.

However, no-one seems quite sure how it’s going to end up.

“There’s been a rush to produce apps,” Bakish said. “In many respects, it reminds me of the early days of dotcom, when people produced a website for everything.

“Then we had website overload, and people started focusing and thinking more about consolidation.”

The end game isn’t clear, Bakish mused, speaking at the recent Asia Pacific Operators Summit (APOS) in Bali, hosted by Media Partners Asia, the publisher of Media Business Asia.

Apps as a whole have only taken off in the last two to three years, while video-specific apps are even younger than that, he pointed out.

Dedicated apps make sense for fans of particular brands – be they channels such as MTV or Nickelodeon, or particular properties within those channels.

Usually developed by content owners and authenticated for subscribers, these apps can shore up loyalty by bringing communities together with social media tools, as well as providing more convenient ways to consume content.

More aggregated apps on the other hand, most likely created by pay-TV platforms, can meet different needs, sometimes for the same person as well as a broader audience.

Both kinds can grow, but there remains a limit on how many individuals will actively use.

“At the end of the day, this is not about digital, this is about consumer control,” Bakish said.

“All digital has done has allowed consumers to take more control of their experience… more personalized, more on-demand, more on-the-go. The apps will sit in that universe.”

Avenues for advertising and licensing

Apps present challenges around monetizing multiscreen viewing through advertising, as well as opportunities to license content for standalone mobile services.

Those can be nice businesses, but a bigger opportunity comes from authenticated multiscreen services, known in the industry as TV Everywhere, remarked Disney Media Networks’ president of global distribution Ben Pyne.

Research conducted by Disney placed more mobile services at the top of subscriber wish lists. “What was surprising to us, was that people wanted to pay for it,” Pyne added.

At the turn of the year, Disney concluded a landmark deal with cable major Comcast in the US, which saw the launch of Disney’s suite of TV Everywhere apps, called Watch, as well as a range of new on-demand products.

Those apps are becoming integral to more deals in the US, and Pyne wants to see similar levels of collaboration worldwide too.

In return, he’s seeking broad distribution around key brands.

“Broad distribution helps unlock all the investment we put into the brands that we’re bringing to the market,” Pyne said.

“By unlocking all of that, we can create more local opportunities.”

These deals work particularly well for Disney and Viacom, both producing content for younger demographics more likely to adopt new forms of viewing, while nurturing consumer products businesses that benefit from brand exposure.

Nonetheless, the importance of distinct brands to help consumers navigate a fast-fragmenting media landscape was one of the key themes during this year’s APOS.

In Asia however, it is becoming increasingly tough for international channels to secure broad reach, as leading operators become choosier about which content to carry.

Nonetheless, Disney scored a major success last year, securing a slot for Disney XD on Astro’s much sought-after basic tier in Malaysia last year.

Wider reach can justify increased investment in content, Pyne said, recalling Disney’s transition from a premium pay-TV tier to the broader basic tier around a decade ago in the US. 

“The investment in programming has improved the quality of the channel but has also unlocked the power of that brand and all the ancillary product, whether it’s SVOD, VOD, TV Everywhere, it just builds,” Pyne noted.

“The broader base you have to work with, the more you can bring to the consumer and to the platform.”