Graeme Hutcheson – is Head of Sky AdSmart, Sky’s revolutionary new platform that serves different ads to different Sky households watching the same programme based on a variety of targeting attributes. From May to August last year, Sky claims that channel switching during ‘AdSmart’ ads was 33% lower than the norm, and those figures are likely to only have progressed further since.
He is presenting the Case Study: How to Use Big Data at TVLS 2016
What are you most looking forward to about TVLS 2016?
Other than Aside from Dubrovnik, a place I’ve always wanted to visit, I’m looking forward to hearing about where other operators and broadcasters are in their “data journey”.
It is widely thought that television has lagged behind in the implementation of big data. Do you think it has finally caught up with other industries or is there work still to do?
We are in a very exciting phase, with data being used in numerous ways across the TV ecosystem. As with other industries, I suspect we’re only at the very beginning of a long data adventure which has been enabled by the rapid technological progress of recent years
What is the most important data to mine in relation to TV services?
It depends on what question you are trying to answer, but for commercial TV the ability to treat viewers as bespoke audiences rather than a few broad demographics is of paramount importance
Data cannot work in a vacuum. What technology needs to work in concert with data analytics to really take things to the next level?
A flexible data management platform is key.
Several industry commentators have suggested we will soon see the rise of the canny consumer: ones who know exactly how valuable their information is and demand a price for sharing it. Do you genuinely see this happening and, if so, when?
Many consumers are aware that information about them has intrinsic value. Ultimately though, consumers will remain happy as long as they benefit from the use of data.
An associated issue is privacy. What safeguards does the consumer have that all this knowledge about them will be used in a benign manner?
Data regulation is always a hot topic and particularly now with the GDPR. It is crucial that we fully understand and abide by the laws that data regulators put in place to protect consumers.
What are the limitations? Is big data a cure for all industry ills?
You can have all the data in the world but if you don’t have the technology and intelligence to use it well, a good relationship with your customer and strong content, it’s not worth having.
