The Solutions & Technology For Effective Video Monetization

It’s been over 80 years since the first-ever televised sporting event, and there are now thousands of live games being fed through an ever-growing number of channels, consumed by a huge global audience.

Every country has its own cluster of networks that provide on-the-spot coverage of the week’s biggest events. From global giants like the World Cup and the Olympics to emerging forms like mixed martial arts, our TVs continue to act as the gateway to hours of entertainment.

It’s not just sports that pull in the big crowds, either. Broadcasters have expanded on their coverage of non-sporting events by venturing into fields like music, film, and politics while ensuring they can be enjoyed on a range of different platforms.

Indeed, while linear TV often represents the start of a live event’s journey, the use of mobile devices and social networks has been a game-changer in terms of their viewership and monetization.

The latest figures show that online video attracted over 2 billion viewers in 2017 – accounting for 62% of the world’s internet users – and it’s been fascinating to see how content owners have responded to what many believe could be the future of live broadcasting.

Through the connected world, these professionals have been handed the opportunity to explore new distribution channels, boost their audiences and generate even more revenue from their existing assets.

As we explore the potential of online video for the monetization of live events, let’s take a look at some of the approaches that broadcasters are currently adopting.

Methods of monetizing live video content

A good place to start with video monetization is advertising. For broadcasters that already produce hours of live content, the practice of repurposing footage allows them to expand on their reach while satisfying sponsorship agreements via online ads.

For the benefit of anyone involved in video content marketing, the main ad options are:

• Pre-roll: Embedded within a clip and often coming in at around 5-15 seconds, pre-roll ads are positioned before the video can start and will often require the user to view them before their content can begin. Thus, they are highly effective at promoting sponsors and any advertiser that wants to elevate their brand.
• Mid-roll: Situated in the middle of a clip, mid-roll ads are similar to pre-roll in that they often require the user to view them before the clip can resume.
• Post-roll: Post-roll ads are positioned after the clip, sometimes with a call to action, and will target audiences that are highly interested in what they’re viewing.
• Dynamic overlays: With dynamic overlays, graphics are positioned on top of a clip that is already running. This creates something of a piggyback effect between the brand and the content.

Serving online ads used to be complicated, but modern video editing technology allows any content owner to create galleries of graphical assets in order to generate templates in advance. It’s then up to them to hit “apply” and feed their branded clip to the masses.

Given the lifespan of live content and pressure of capturing an audience “in the moment”, it’s no wonder this increased speed of delivery has been well-received.

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