The cloud has quickly become a powerful tool in many industries. Broadcast media has been slow to embrace it though. The problem is that this technology is still murky on how it can benefit the industry, so broadcasters aren’t willing to dive all the way in at this point.
One of the problems is the daunting task of converting the different video formats into one that is usable on the cloud. This process will also require broadcasters to use extensive amounts of bandwidth and there is a need for additional storage. This can quickly increase operation costs, without any proven benefit. Additional bandwidth is then consumed each time someone pulls the video and streams it. So on demand customers further consume bandwidth and this further increases operating costs. While pay services and other options are available, there is a need to explore other options.
Companies then have the concern about the rights that are in place. When a person alters the files of digital items, complex rights issues come into play. That means the content on the cloud may need additional permissions and fee schedules associated with it, before a broadcast company can allow access to it.
Different content providers will also have different requirements in place for the cloud. In order for a company to offer their content in a digital format, they might need to adjust settings and that means they may need to cater to multiple requirements in order to have the content listed. This further increases the associated costs for the broadcaster, in a market where there is already some over saturation of feed based services.
Compatible software then needs to be provided. Companies need to prepare an application for multiple platforms and ensure that all their users can have a decent speed when they access the information that is stored. This must be done at high speed transmissions and that means additional bandwidth is again an area of concern. So they’ll need new, faster servers to handle different types of traffic.
Eventually, the entire process becomes more of a financial concern for broadcasters. After all, advertisers are more focused on putting their ads on broadcast television where anyone can see it, rather than those who are sitting in front of an app and just streaming content. This means that collecting advertising revenue would also need to change and that means further red tape for the broadcaster to deal with.
While it is true the cloud has some benefits, broadcasters are slowly coming on board with the process of using it. It’s important that any company that wants to stand out in the sea of competition and to succeed in the future get on-board with the cloud early on. That way, they can be innovative in how things are handled and to ultimately become someone who is seen as a pioneer in the industry. Doing it now also means a company will pay far less than those who embrace the cloud later on, as they’ll already have technology in place and the additional funds that will offset the expenses. So there really is no reason to not embrace the cloud today.