Dataxis developed yesterday a new virtual panel, based on “OTT combined monetization models: subscription and advertising”, sponsored by Brightcove. The speaker’s panel was made up of important industry executives, such as Adrian Garelik, CEO at Flixxo; Cristian Andres Hernandez Rodriguez, Digital Media Manager at Canal 13 (Chile); Jose Fernando Hernandez Garcia, Digital Manager at America TV de Peru; and Carlos de Aguinaga, Product Manager at Brightcove. The event was moderated by Maria Lucia Hernandez Frieri,  International Sales Director at RCN Televisión.

‘It is definitely possible to combine the AVOD and SVOD models’, Hernandez said. ‘Today it is no longer the platform that has control. Control is part of the user. What we have to try today is to give him all the possible options, and for him to decide which model he follows and what content he consumes’, he said. In addition, he added that 60% of America TV de Perú’s subscribers are abroad and, for them, Peruvian subscribers consume more catch-up content. But for those who live abroad, it has much more value. According to Galerick, ‘there are different types of content for different types of monetization. In the case of Flixxo in particular, as it is a platform aimed at a young audience in Latin America, we are talking about people who are not used to paying for content. Then, tools are given, such as rewarded advertising, which are tools that they are used to using in video games, and they begin to feel it organically’, said the executive, adding that Flixxo offers microseries or short-format series, that they can be monetized through advertising. Regarding the collection of the catch up without advertising, Cristian Hernandez pointed that ‘depending on each product, we have to decide how attractive it is to charge for that product’.

Regarding the drop in advertising revenues during the pandemic, de Aguinaga said that ‘we try to have an environment that allows us to jump from one model to the other. Ultimately, the monetization we are looking for is subscription, but we believe in an organic path and, when reacting to trends, we try to move towards advertising and legal local monetization methods, to help our clients move from one side to the other’. Also, Jose Hernandez said that ‘there is no single model, but we decided to go to a model in which you pay for VOD and not for live TV, to simplify monetization. There are different models, but the best way to test it is the trial-and-error method’.

‘This path requires constant attempts, but for all of us the change that Pluto TV is going to make, which will change our axis, will be very important. We have transculturality in Latin America, and we must reach a transversality of content that allows us to captivate various audiences, with flexible models to the reality of each country’, said Cristiqn Hernqndez. In relation to the challenges of an OTT platform for monetization, de Aguinaga highlighted legal and local currency issues, as well as payment methods. ‘A market like India has a different way of paying, based on mobile systems, so having that flexibility to integrate with different entities is also key to being able to leave our own country and be present elsewhere’.

‘It would be good to create a single currency for the payment of revenues’, said Garelik. ‘On our platform, users are rewarded with cryptocurrencies, which they use to consume content. We work for revenue share, and creators charge immediately according to the reproductions they have’, explained the executive. ‘What this allows is a much greater transparency and immediacy that is not allowed in other means of payment, and would add a lot of dynamism to any industry’, he concluded.