What Will the TV Everywhere Market Look Like in 2015?

Throughout 2014, we kept our finger on the pulse of all things TV Everywhere. After all, broadband providers need to stay educated on what many of them view as their answer to over-the-top (OTT) content.

While TV Everywhere hasn’t yet been perfected—the technology still suffers from problems stemming from lack of awareness to problems with authentication, among other things—broadband providers will almost certainly increasingly embrace it next year. According to recent research by FreeWheel, in 2014, authenticated ad viewing jumped 368 percent from the prior year. The majority of those commercials were viewed on long-form content behind pay walls, the research says.

It looks like the numbers are finally supporting what we’ve long since suspected: Broadband providers will eventually figure out how to successfully monetize TV Everywhere. And as even more consumers find out about the technology, it appears as though the popularity of the services will increase correspondingly.

To keep up with that demand, content providers are gearing up to double down on their TV Everywhere efforts. NBC, for example, recently announced its plans to offer live linear streaming of its television programming early in 2015.

Similarly, Viacom’s CEO recently said that his company’s networks need to invest in offering more TV Everywhere options to younger viewers.

According to a recent report, 14 percent of adults who pay for broadband don’t pay for legacy television. That figure represents a sizeable 5-percent bump from 2011. As customers grow to expect personalized experiences in every transaction—and as a la carte pricing becomes a reality—broadband providers must get with the times and supply robust TV Everywhere offerings.

As such, we expect that we’ll see more TV Everywhere products next year. That expansion will result in even more eyeballs on more content—and more advertising revenue—than we’ve seen the service pull in so far.