Now the impact of piracy has been well established, the latest in a series of reports released by Ampere Analysis and Synamedia focuses on the positive impact of campaigns directed toward consumers toward reducing that impact.
The report responds to the question: “Where would consumers go if pirate sources were ended?,” and finds that anti-piracy efforts could have direct results.
Rather than treating all consumers as a monolithic bloc, the report says that focusing mainly on those taking other legal video services is more likely to redirect illegal consumption toward legal channels. Â The report identifies segments who are most likely to be positively influenced.
Some highlights
- 44% of pay TV consumers and 30% of OTT consumers taking illegal services could be willing to convert if a legal alternative was the only option (e.g. if the pirate service was shut down)
- The value of that 74% is $28.3 Billion (every 10% reduction in illegal viewing was estimated to be worth $2.8B).
- 93% of those who are willing to convert are already taking pay TV services – which says that marketing campaigns promoting sports programming packages could be effective
- The greatest trigger to seek pirate sources was the lack of availability through legitimate providers. Only a small minority of them are motivated to consume from pirate sources for financial reasons.
- 40% of those who convert to legal services would prefer streaming (19% of gained revenue potential); the other 60% preferring pay TV (81% of potential gain). Â But, rather than ignoring OTT’s potential in favor of the bigger gain for pay TV, operators should view them as complementary to one another.
The remaining 26% is deemed to have no potential to be converted to legal services, and therefore not worth the effort in trying.
Methodology
The report is the result of a survey of 6,000 sports fans aged 16-64 in 10 countries, who identified as taking at least some illegal sports streaming services. Â The survey was taken in March 2020; prior to the COVID lockdown. Â It used a formal statistical analysis to arrive at its conclusions.
Access the report (signup form): “Fighting Piracy: The Value of Action” by Ampere Analysis and Synamedia
Why it matters
A wealth of reporting by many sources brings ample evidence that piracy is rampant and remains so today. It’s comforting to see studies that go beyond a ‘the sky is falling’ message, to focus on what can be done about it; especially when it isn’t about shouldering technology investments.
Parks Associates published the report Video Piracy: Ecosystem, Risks and Impact, written by myself in early 2020; which estimated that the value of pirated services accessed by pay TV and non pay TV subscribers (all content genres) would exceed $67B worldwide by 2023.
Consumer education is part an ecosystem approach against piracy. Â Other components of an effectivel anti-piracy initiative include the effective application of technology to recognize, measure and counteract the problem; and collaboration among rights holders, distributors, law enforcement and regulators.
(Updated March 16 to add comments made by Synamedia executives during a Synamedia call with industry media)
