Brazil. "Streaming is already bigger than subscription TV." The headline that circulates on the Internet, in addition to drawing attention to this phenomenon of content model, raises doubts about the future of open television. Naturally, the question that revolves around this question is: does streaming also compete with free-to-air TV in Brazil? What will video content consumption look like in the coming years?
It is worth clarifying, first of all, that free-to-air TV and streaming are complementary services and do not compete with each other, mainly because they serve different audiences. "Open television has a reach that streaming services do not have, since it depends on an internet connection with good speed, which a good part of the population does not have access to," explained José Marcelo Amaral, president of the Forum of the Brazilian Digital Terrestrial TV System (SBTVD Forum).
However, it is true that platforms such as Netflix have taken more and more space in the consumption habits of viewers. And the trend is that they grow even more from the popularization of smart devices and the current need for increasingly segmented products, services and content, as the executive explained.
"There is a trend of segmentation in the offer of services for consumers. Thus, the market adapts to meet specific demands. For example, there are several fast food options, organic restaurants, typical cuisine, etc. This also happens in the search for content. Who uses the streaming service, looks for segmented content, "he analyzed.
On the other hand, free-to-air television offers content that satisfies the vast majority of the population with newsreels, coverage of major events, urgent information, etc. It is practically impossible for the consumer to be left without the open TV signal, since it has a back-up system for eventual failures. This technology is critical for live broadcasts and breaking news.
To prove that free-to-air TV and streaming are complementary services, the SBTVD Forum created the DTV Play, technically known as Ginga's D profile, which allows the integration of content via broadcast with content via broadband. "DTV Play aims to unite the two worlds so that the viewer has a more contextualized and fluid experience," he said. "In practice, the viewer will be able to watch a report on TV and receive a documentary suggestion on the same topic on the streaming platform available on their smart device. Thus, he will be able to migrate / intersperse between the two worlds: free-to-air TV programming and content via the Internet."
For those who are not yet convinced that TV is not in danger of extinction (if it continues to evolve) based on the high cost of production compared to streaming, José Marcelo explains that the investments for the production of content in both may be the same, but the cost of distribution of this content is infinitely higher for open television, since it depends on a robust structure to carry the signal to the most remote localities of the country.
"The investment for free-to-air television is much greater when it comes to distribution, since that content reaches the majority of the national population. In streaming, the one who pays that bill, most of the time, is the consumer himself. Free-to-air television offers high-definition content at no cost to the population," he concluded.
