Broadcasters need to know what content they have and where they have it, and also what it’s worth. Also, what rights do you have for each item? For how long? What platforms can you use it on? How do you get it to those platforms? Once content is out there, are you getting as much value from it as possible? Are users engaged in the channels they watch? How do you know if your strategy is successful? Confused yet?

Monetizing content requires change

Content monetization is a complex process, and the solutions often reach deep into the heart of a company. Obviously monetization content requires the investment in new technical systems. But successful organizations also understand the need for change management and workflow optimization. The process requires more than just ‘adding another box’ to the workflow.

While technology must be a part of the solution, it’s not the only part of total requirement. The most important precondition is the company’s readiness to commit money, and the time and effort to making the needed changes.

Current workflows and practices are typically embedded by tradition—“That’s the way we do it”. That kind of thinking, while comfortable, will prevent the broadcaster from taking advantage of newer processes. No one said change would be easy. This means everyone involved, management, operations and engineering must embrace process optimization as well as a new IT infrastructure.

While the elements of each broadcaster’s journey will vary, these are some of the steps that most can expect to take along the way.

Know your rights

Once you are committed to making the necessary changes, first know your rights. Intellectual property management is next step in building bridges to the future. You will need a reliable rights management system to keep track of VoD content— one that can handle both linear and non-linear content across multiple platforms.

These systems enable broadcasters to manage both scheduling and licensing rights, and can be interfaced with MAM and automation systems. Rights compliance should be simple to check with single click. Effective intellectual property management also helps with contracts and proposals and the management of rates and terms.

Master your content

The Media Asset Management (MAM) system is the backbone of a media enterprise and is the central content repository. Engineering and production departments have traditionally been responsible for selecting the MAM, and it certainly is a highly technical decision.

But the choice of MAM is also absolutely critical to the ability of an organization to monetize their content. The right MAM is first of all, one that can integrate with an IP rights system while handling content spread over many locations, both local and cloud-based. The MAM must work with a constantly increasing and changing range of outputs and formats (anywhere, anytime, any device) - all while maintaining the highest levels of security.

Make your assets work for you

The goal is to integrate advertising into core workflows across all platforms.

This is not an easy process. In practice one must:

• number of impressions on the Web-site, and a number of pre-rolls on VoD.
• Allow the system to make suggestions, by entering objectives such as the number of rating points, preferences or exclusions.

• Book orders and generate unified or media-specific invoices.

Inspire and engage your audience

New channels mean that contact between the brand and the viewer is more direct, more frequent, and more personal.

Innovative marketing technologies help broadcaster access the full potential of their data, media assets and product information, turning their advertising into relevant marketing campaigns. As a result, viewers will become customers, and customers will become loyal fans.

Know your facts

Once the new broadcast channels are in place and the advertising spots are now smart and relevant and working across all media, what’s next? The broadcaster needs to know who is watching, when and for how long.

Any content monetization solution must include an analysis tool for television audience measurement. Media analysis should provide not just real-time channel ratings, it also must be able to display audience “switching patterns”, showing how and when audiences switch between channels. This feedback on audience activities and habits enable broadcasters to constantly refine and retune their broadcast strategies to continuously maximize the value of their content.

Effectively monetizing content is one of those easy-to-say technical phrases, but in practice, it’s actually hard to do without the proper help. arvato Systems can help by providing a complete range of modular solutions; from media asset management through media analysis, all of which can help broadcasters turn content assets into money.