Kent Steffen

When CSG first made its foray into the digital content monetization space, it was Steffen who forged the company’s first relationship with a major Hollywood studio, and elevated CSG’s presence as one of the first technology companies within the Ultraviolet consortium. His efforts caught the eye of Comcast, which chose CSG to help it reach young consumers by offering Xfinity services on campus. The best way to stay informed is to engage with innovation as a consumer, Steffen says. “Try out each of the new services, gadgets and offerings to get a real understanding of the innovation and how it could be attractive to consumers,” he says.

What does the multiscreen experience look like in 3 years?

There will certainly be a dramatic evolution in the quality and the ubiquity of the multiscreen experience over the next three years. We will see the effects of 4K across all devices with greater quality including High Dynamic Range (HDR), better sound, simultaneous multi-stream and immersive virtual reality (VR). Additionally, expanding content licensing rights across all platforms combined with the era of “cloud” identity – recommendation profiles, entitlements, presence and device management – will come together to usher in the era of Personalized Mobile Entertainment (PME), where the user will be at the heart of the action instead of their device. The consumer’s entertainment choices, entitlements and recommendations will be in the cloud and users will be able to project those rights on the highest quality experience available at the time, whether it be VR headsets, immersive flat panels, holographic displays, and/or high quality mobile devices.  Entertainment rights and suggestions will follow the user, instead of the user tuning into the entertainment.

How do you keep yourself and your team engaged and informed on the changing multiscreen

universe?

The best way to stay informed is to engage with the innovations as consumers. Try out each of the new services, gadgets and offerings to get a real understanding of the innovation and how it could be attractive to consumers. Half the time you get to “no big deal,” or “interesting gen 1,” but every once in a while you get an “aha” moment that challenges and evolves your thinking about what is possible.

What degree will measurement factor into multiscreen monetization in 2016?

Measurement has evolved rapidly over the last five years, and will continue to evolve as a primary metric that brands use to monetize their content. IP addressability has allowed us to rapidly move from sample and demographic groups of the past, to consistent, cross-platform analytics in a very short time – although some might say not fast enough. The constant feedback loop around what people are viewing, what devices, what quality, where, and when has dramatically impacted the business of entertainment across the supply chain from production through distribution. Balancing consumer privacy with data collection will continue to be a delicate balance, and content brands will likely trade for increased knowledge and engagement.