• Interviews with Broadcasters, pay-TV operators, Telcos and streaming services in US reveal better customer experience is a major strategic priority
  • Majority agree that analytics are vital to understanding subscribers and ensuring a positive customer experience, but are still at beginning of analytics journey
  • All c-level executives interviewed said they plan to increase use of customer analytics throughout the customer journey over the next 12-18 months

London, 03, April, 2019 – Singula Decisions, the subscriber intelligence specialist, has announced that a new study of major US broadcasters, pay-TV operators, Telcos and over-the-top (OTT) service providers reveals that none are currently making the most of their data to more effectively engage customers and prospects, and most are near the beginning of their analytics journey. Yet the research also reveals, across the board, that providers see customer experience as crucial for timely subscriber engagement and rank it as a top strategic priority for their business.

The research, based on a series of in-depth interviews with C-level executives, shows US standalone online video platforms are leading the way in the deployment of analytics and are more advanced in their use of sophisticated techniques – but still aim to make further progress – while Telcos struggle most to utilise customer data to build their video businesses. The study, which follows a report on the European market released last October, also found that service providers in the US are ahead of those in Europe in their level of analytics adoption but still have far to go.

Bhavesh Vaghela, Singula Decisions’ Chief Executive, says: “It is a common misconception in the media industry that customer engagement is all about content recommendations. There is such a huge focus on content consumption, however this is only one part of the entire customer journey a consumer experiences when engaging with a TV service. It’s clear that US pay-TV providers are still struggling to use subscriber data to understand their customers’ needs and drive action throughout the customer lifecycle – such as highly targeted offers and precisely-timed communications. What really struck home was the fact that most are admittedly unable to do that, so there remains a large gap between where operators are and where they want to be.”

The new report, entitled Customer analytics in the post-OTT age: Insights from US service providers, reveals that most operators fail to even consider using data analysis to increase revenue from existing customers and few are employing analytics to improve billing accuracy – which previous Singula Decisions’ research has shown to be a major annoyance for customers.

Ben Keen, an independent technology and media analyst and the author of the commissioned research report, notes: “Overall, US operators think that applying analytics to predict churn and win back lost subscribers has the most positive impact on their overall business performance, but the findings make clear that they need to be more aware of the positive effect using data insights can have to improve customer experience at every stage of the customer journey.”

The research report identified the full range of crucial Decision Moments in the customer journey when analytics can be used to determine the right action at the right time. These key points include: acquiring new customers; tracking content consumption for recommendations and offers; upselling and cross-selling to boost average revenue per user; churn prediction and reduction; ensuring accurate billing; and winning back lost subscribers.

Vaghela adds: “As competition between the growing number of TV and video service providers becomes increasingly intense, customer experience has emerged as a key competitive differentiator that’s critical to operators gaining a competitive advantage. The research demonstrates strongly that data insight and analytics help to improve customer engagement, marketing and communications throughout the entire customer lifecycle.”

Key insights voiced directly by the executives interviewed for the report include:

  • “We’re in a whole new world and actually it is very important for us to understand for ourselves who the customer is, who our prospects are, who the targets are, because as the industry transitions to digital, the nature of how the relationships get formed with the end consumer are shifting too.”  – TV channel group
  • “We understand the importance of analytics and it is a fundamental pillar of what we’re thinking about building and what we’re trying to build. And if we can get out of our own way, we will make great use of it.” – Telco video service provider
  • You’re not going to build a competitive future unless you have really deep understanding of consumer behaviour. That’s the key thing.” – US broadcaster
  • “The key is – very simply – single dashboard reporting. I think the tools are too varied and too many. All the various tools sit on their own and are not integrated.” – Online video service provider
  • “We have purchased X and Y and merged everything into common data with common definitions. That does take some time. I think we’re nearing the end of a lot of that, but for the first year or so, there were a lot of differences in terms of how things were used.” – Telco
  • “The lesson we need to learn is that video is no longer in the telecom world. Video is now in the tech world, and tech companies fail quickly, and are able to launch, change, a board project quickly. We need to pick up the speed in terms of product development to match that.”  – Telco

The release of the research comes ahead of the Singula® Subscriber Intelligence US market debut at NAB Show 2019 in Las Vegas April 6-11. The platform provides subscriber intelligence and ‘next best actions’ that empower pay-TV and OTT providers to take a more informed, data-driven approach to customer engagement. Singula® Subscriber Intelligence leverages AI and machine learning to proactively build subscriber loyalty, grow revenues and win new customers. The platform has already been trialled by a number of leading broadcasters, including Ireland’s eir Sport, the UK’s Racing TV and ITV Box Office, the pay-per-view live events arm of Britain’s leading commercial broadcaster.

Singula Decisions will be showcasing Singula® Subscriber Intelligence at NAB Show on the Microsoft stand (SL6716) in the Las Vegas Convention Centre. Companies interested in seeing a demo can book an appointment by clicking here.

To download a free copy of Customer analytics in the post-OTT age: insights from U.S service providers, click here.

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Privacy Policy

Updated 28th April 2020

This Privacy Policy sets out how Singula Decisions Limited (“Singula Decisions”) uses and protects any information that you may provide to us when you use our website, products and services.

We respect your rights and privacy; we are committed to ensuring that any information gathered on our website, and/or via our products and services, is kept confidential and is only used in the ways which you have consented to.

Should we ask you to provide certain information, by which you can be identified when using our website, products and services, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy policy and in line with the EU General Data Protection Regulations (“GDPR”).

We will not store data for longer than necessary and use it only for the purpose that it was gathered.

You should check the Privacy Policy to ensure that you are happy with the terms. If you are not happy with the terms, please do not enter any personal data.

Singula Decisions will regularly review this Privacy Policy and make changes when necessary. If we make any significant changes to this Privacy Policy, we will communicate these to you, as applicable.

WHAT DATA WE COLLECT

Information is captured via our website contact form or marketing campaign landing pages, as well as via our relevant products and services. This data is provided by you voluntarily.

We may collect and store the following information, as applicable:

Name (e.g. first name and surname);
Contact information (e.g. e-mail address and telephone number(s));
Demographic information (e.g. country, preferences and interests);
Business metrics (e.g. subscriber numbers, churn rate, average revenue per user, etc.); and
IP address and web activity (e.g. web pages visited, time spent on the website, etc.).

WHAT WE DO WITH THE INFORMATION WE GATHER

Singula Decisions requires the information to understand your needs and to provide you with the relevant service. We use the information for the following reasons:

Internal record keeping;
To improve relevant products and services;
To periodically send promotional communications (electronic and telephone) about new products and services, thought leadership or other information which we think you may find interesting based on the information that you have provided;
To contact you for market research purposes; and
To customise our website based on the interests you have indicated.

We may share relevant information with trusted third parties. We do not share data outside of the European Economic Area (“EEA”) unless a specific arrangement is in place to do so between the relevant parties.

WHERE IS DATA STORED?

We use a third-party provider, HubSpot, to capture and store data. This is done securely and in line with the requirements of the GDPR.

SECURITY

Singula Decisions is committed to ensuring that the information you provide is secure. To prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have implemented suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect and store.

PURPOSE OF PROCESSING YOUR DATA

Personal information provided by you is used to promote our products and services. We also promote items that may be of interest (e.g. company announcements, thought leadership, case studies, new partnerships, and events we are attending).

We can segment our promotional communications based on a range of factors (e.g. your consented preferences and the information you have provided).

In general, marketing campaigns are promoted by e-mail and from time-to-time by telephone.

CONSENT

With effect from the 25th May 2018, we provide a mechanism to facilitate consent to receiving relevant communications from us.

When you complete any website form or marketing campaign landing page on our website you will be asked to check two boxes to provide your consent:

To receiving marketing communications from us; and

That you have read and accept this Privacy Policy.

You can withdraw your consent at any time by sending an email to info@singuladecisions.com or by clicking the “unsubscribe” link in any e-mail received from Singula Decisions.

CONTROLLING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

You may choose to restrict the collection or use of your personal information in the following ways:

Whenever you are asked to fill in a form on our website; identify the marketing consent statement allowing you to select the box to indicate that you accept or reject your information to be used for direct marketing purposes; and

If you have previously agreed to us using your personal data for direct marketing purposes, you may change your mind at any time by withdrawing your consent as detailed above.

Singula Decisions will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties unless we have your express permission or are required by law to do so. We may use your personal data to send you promotional information about selected third parties if you have selected that you are happy to receive marketing communications.

You may request details of personal information that we hold about you by contacting us in writing (FAO Data Protection Officer, Singula Decisions Limited, Cluny Court, John Smith Business Park, Kirkcaldy, Fife KY2 6QJ) or by emailing dpo@singuladecisions.com.

If you believe that any information that we are holding on you is incorrect or incomplete, please contact us in writing or by email as soon as possible. We will promptly correct any information found to be incorrect.

Data Subject Rights

Singula Decisions has a nominated Data Protection Officer (“DPO”), with responsibility for managing Singula Decisions’ policies, procedures and practices in relation to data protection. Contact, for any purposes (e.g. to complain, to request details of information held, etc.) can be made to the DPO in writing using the Singula Decisions address above or by emailing dpo@singuladecisions.com.

In compliance with the GDPR, you can contact us to:

Right to Subject Access Request (Article 15) – to request a report of the data that we hold on you;
Right to Rectification (Article 16) – to request us to update inaccurate/incomplete data that we hold on you;
Right to Erasure (Article 17) – to request us to remove your data from our systems (NB: in this instance, we will likely anonymise your data);
Right to Restriction of Processes (Article 18) – to request that we do not process incorrect data or where you have withdrawn consent for use;
Right to Receive Personal Data (Article 201) – to request that your data is provided to you to allow you to pass it to another company (this will be in a commonly used, machine-readable, format); and
Right to Object (Article 21) – to allow you to object to us holding your data where you believe we have no reason to hold it.

You may also contact our DPO if you wish to make a complaint. Contact can be made in writing, to the address set out above, or by email to dpo@singuladecisions.com.

LINKS TO OTHER WEB SITES

The Singula Decisions website may contain links to other websites of interest. Please note that if you use these links to leave our site that we have no control over the other website, therefore cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and we recommend that you review their separate privacy notices, as applicable.

HOW WE USE COOKIES

A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on your computer’s hard-drive. Once you agree, the file is added and the cookie helps to analyse web traffic and when you have visited a particular site.

Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual based on your interactions. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.

Overall, cookies help us to provide you with a better website experience, by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not.

A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us. You can choose to accept or decline cookies.

Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser settings to decline cookies. However, if you decline cookies, this may prevent you from taking full advantage of our website, products and services.

Please read our Cookie Policy for more information by clicking this link.

This Privacy Policy is effective from 28th April 2020.