Smart Curation Beats Original Content for OTT Success: Video
Troy Dreier: Hi, this is Troy Dreier, coming to you from Streaming Media East, 2016, New York City, where I'm talking with some of the leaders of the online video space. Joining me right now is Bharat Krish, CEO of a new company called Takt, which is spelled T-A-K-T, formerly of HBO. You just left and started your own company. Congratulations.
Bharat Krish: Thank you.
Troy Dreier: What does Takt provide?
Bharat Krish: Takt helps companies build steaming media strategies. What that means is providing technology solutions, integration of various technologies, and also go to market strategies with their streaming media solution.
Troy Dreier: So one of the things you do is help people deal with the technical challenges of streaming?
Bharat Krish: It leads from the content to how does technology apply to their business, as opposed to providing readymade technology. What is the need for the business? And then applying the right technology to that need.
Troy Dreier: You're working with major media clients, right? Like your previous employer.
Bharat Krish: Yes. So HBO is one of my clients. So are, a few cable clients as well. Cable companies.
Troy Dreier: These are companies that are very big in the linear space, but don't know live so much? What do they need help with?
Bharat Krish: They are very big in the linear space. They are either linear content generators, or they are cable companies that provide cable to home. They are very strong in the linear space, but may not have as much expertise in the digital space.
Troy Dreier: What do they need to know?
Bharat Krish: One of the things they need is, be able to provide a technology end-to-end solution for delivering their content to multiple consumer devices, and be able to do that with really good quality, and also what the customer is expecting from them. Part of the problem is, which technology suits their needs. That's where I come in, and my company comes in, to figure out what technologies are in the market that can suit their needs.
Some of those technologies are actually in this show as well, that I am speaking to and building partners with.
Troy Dreier: You're on a panel about OTT subscription services—changing gears a little bit—and what it takes to succeed in OTT subscriptions. A lot of companies, including HBO, have done well with original content. Is that the key to succeeding in OTT, with subscription services?
Bharat Krish: Having original content is a huge bonus, but companies don't really need to have original content to succeed. They need to have a strategy for having really good content, and also a great catalog that can be dynamic, vibrant, and also being able to showcase that content to their customers in a more curated fashion.
Troy Dreier: Do you have a sense of how many OTT subscriptions people will tolerate, before it's too many?
Bharat Krish: It's difficult to say. I would say there is a need for a particular channel, for a particular person. It all depends on the tastes and needs for the person. Somebody who's interested in dance would love to have a subscription for a dance-only OTT service. What's important is having quality channels, not substandard OTT services cluttering the market. But having quality OTT services that are providing to the niche audience.
Troy Dreier: Sounds like you see a lot of room for growth.
Bharat Krish: Oh, absolutely.
Troy Dreier: Well thank you Bharat. This is Troy Dreier coming to you from Streaming Media East.
Related Articles
While new over-the-top services appear weekly, they all follow the same model. Shouldn't there be more diversity in the streaming space? Or maybe there already is.
10 Jun 2016
The streaming video marketplace is getting crowded, but there are plenty of additional services still to come. To find viewers, says Epix, choose a partner with scale.
26 May 2016
Just in time for the Game of Thrones and Silicon Valley premieres, Sling TV will offer an HBO add-on pack to subscribers.
01 Apr 2015
TV viewers soon won't need a pay TV subscription to access HBO content; a streaming-only option will launch next month exclusively on Apple TV and iOS devices
05 Mar 2015