The World Teleport Association (WTA) has released Finding Growth in Media Services, a new research report that explores the challenges teleport executives and vendors face, the opportunities they have seized, and how their companies have changed to meet the needs of the next generation of media and entertainment. “The headline story in our business is that media contribution and distribution is in unstoppable decline,” said executive director and report editor Robert Bell. “That decline is certainly taking place in space segment, and satellite operators are working hard to adapt to that reality. But media consumption is growing fast, and teleport operators are finding creative ways to help their customers in media and entertainment seize the opportunities.” WTA members can access the report by signing in to their accounts on the WTA website. The report is free for WTA Members and available for purchase by others. Members may directly download the report by following this link. [if !supportLineBreakNewLine] Since HBO, Turner and PBS put their program distribution on satellite in the 1970s, the media and entertainment business has been a major satellite customer for both distribution and contribution. Until now. On-demand streaming of video and audio content got its start in 2005. Today, it is growing at an explosive rate.
This change has had massive impact on media and entertainment companies, and on the transmission vendors that serve them. Ground-based service providers have consolidated, video fill rates for satellites have plummeted and pricing has followed. Yet there are still growth opportunities in the market for companies that have been forward-looking and agile enough to stay one step ahead of market demand.
Today’s media customers still have major needs that teleport operators can service – they are just different needs than in the past. Legacy programmers need to continue extracting the maximum revenue and profit from their existing business of distribution to network affiliates, cable headends and homes. They also need help with the complex migration of their distribution to OTT and other new markets.