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Issue link: https://digital.macdirectory.com/i/1256627
Streaming back in theaters as well as keep their supply chain healthy. "It would take time, patience and a long-term view rather than front-end loading to recover past lost income," McLennan emphasized, "but it could be just the solution the M&E industry needs to reverse the downward trend of ticket sales in recent years." Okay, so that's a logical roadmap for all of the services but let's get back to the growth of OTT. The big problem/issue today is if people are willing to put up with juggling all of the service costs and the search hassle of three to eight different streamers when all folks really want is a couple of services, especially a couple of yours, and … Yes, there's still those boxes, apps, sites that dangle those huge libraries of free stuff – content and surprises. "Through these so called 'streaming wars' there will probably be a strong uptick produced in digital piracy," McLennan ventured. "The easiest option is always going to win out. It's not that people don't want to pay for their entertainment," he continued. "They simply want it as fast and easy as possible – have all of their subscriptions in one location so they only have to log in once, input their username/password and pick the content they want. "We aren't at that point in our streaming evolution yet, so piracy will probably continue- -sadly until people have downloaded enough malware and been hacked enough. Then, they may become believers and/or the industry progresses to a personalized single portal solution," he added. "Then, piracy could level off and hopefully decrease, significantly," he emphasized. To "help" consumers do the right thing, whether the content is streamed by ad-supported or subscription services, content owners/distributors will have to be more diligent in using today's more advanced stuff we used in the "old" DVD days … DRM (digital rights management) and content security solutions. Products and services from firms such as NAGRA, Brightcove and others vary from company to company, product to product; but the key is they need to protect the content and still be invisible to the authorized user. "The subscriber or authorized user should be able to pick up his/her TV remote or device, search for a movie/show, click on it and be entertained," McLennan said. "Anything that gets in the customers way won't be tolerated and they will turn to a fast, easy-to-use content outlet; even if it isn't legal," he emphasized. "There is just too much, great content out there and too many ways they can access and consume it at their convenience," he noted. That's true! The streamer and content owner should remember that all they need to do is license the best content that they can, package it properly and aggressively promote it to the consumer so the content can be consumed as quickly as possible to lessen the pirates' window. Then, watch the subscriptions and/or ad revenues come in--as long as they keep in mind the fine print Adrian's attorney from the Invisible Man added when he said, "Contingent of course on the fine print. You can't be ruled to be mentally incompetent."