REPURPOSING TRADITIONAL CONTENT FOR A DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT - A REVIEW OF THE SUCCESS STORIES
Sid Wahi, CEO CNBCAfrica.com
About Me
Vice President of CMA Investment Holdings, a family investment holding
company that is the Founding shareholder of the ABN Group: including
CNBC Africa, Forbes Africa, ABN Productions, ABN Training Institute and
ABN Pictures. CMA Investment Holdings is also the founding shareholder
of Murdoch University Dubai, Trans National Education Africa, Tech One
Global and Ananya Farms.
In May 2010, set up the Forbes franchise for Africa. I was involved with
the planning, set up and implementation of the magazine and serves as
Project Director of ABN Publishing
In Jan 2012, I was appointed the CEO of CNBCAfrica.com, the online
business of the ABN Group, and was tasked with the planning and rollout
of all the Group Companies into the online space across Africa.
Software architect behind the CNBCAfrica.com platform
CNBC Africa – Channel Background
CNBC Africa was established in 2006, to highlight the
narrative of African growth & opportunity, & to usher in a
paradigm shift in the way the continent was being viewed
by the outside world
CNBC is part of NBC Universal of the Comcast
Corporation, & is the recognized world leader in business
news, providing real-time market coverage across the
globe
CNBC Africa – Channel Background
CNBC Africa is the only African news channel with the
scale & capacity to produce local content across the
continent
CNBC Africa is the continent’s only 24-hour business
channel which crosses over to every major African stock
market
Our viewers have incorporated channel insights into
business & academic practices – the channel is
particularly valuable owing to its in depth focus on Africa
Second screen
Over The Top Platforms
Reduced Barriers to entry
Cord cutters and cord Nevers
Broadband and Internet Penetration
Fragmentation of content and channels
Trends
TV consumption in the 1960’s
TV consumption today
The continued attraction of TV content and the demand from new consumers will
ensure that the pay-TV industry continues to grow despite concerns about over-the-top
(OTT) services and piracy.
Insights from PWC’s M&E Outlook 2013-2017
The value of the television sector reached $2.74 billion in 2012.
“We expect television sector spend to reach the $3 billion mark in 2014, before pushing on past
$3.5 billion in 2017, a CAGR increase of 5.5% over the forecast period of 2013 to 2017.”
Insights from PWC’s M&E Outlook 2013-2017
South Africa's status as a fast-growing market means its total TV revenue is
growing in importance in regional terms.
By 2017, it will account for 4.4% of total EMEA television revenues, up from 3.7% in
2012.
Insights from PWC’s M&E Outlook 2013-2017
Satellite operator MultiChoice remains the dominant player in pay-TV.
However, rival TopTV is now backed by the Chinese operation StarTimes, and is aiming
to challenge MultiChoice.
Various new market entrants have recently indicated their intentions to launch satellite
television services.
Insights from PWC’s M&E Outlook 2013-2017
Advertising is expected to experience consistent growth in South Africa between
2013 and 2017, with net television advertising revenues growing at an
estimated CAGR of 5.8% to reach $1.51 billion in 2017.
Insights from PWC’s M&E Outlook 2013-2017
The rollout of digital terrestrial TV (DTT) will increase competition in the broadcast
sector. However indecision over the choice of technology standard and, more recently, a legal challenge by e.tv have delayed the
launch of DTT several times.
Insights from PWC’s M&E Outlook 2013-2017
The Kenyan pay-TV market is still in its infancy, with penetration of 8% in 2012.
However, as competition increases, this will rise to an estimated 15% by 2017.
The total of 232 000 pay-TV households at the end of 2012 is expected to more than
double to reach 531 000 by the end of 2017.
Insights from PWC’s M&E Outlook 2013-2017
Media: the Shifting Landscape
55
+
22%
45-54
54% 49%
33%
35-44
37% 44%
25-34
31%
54%
18-
24
27%
60%
TV
Online
Not only do young people prefer online, but a significant proportion are abandoning TV completely
Social media is increasingly being seen as a source of news
To assess the value of different sources of media, we should look to 3 different dimensions:
1. Speed
2. Accuracy
3. Analysis
Under-35s consider online best on all 3 dimensions
Consumers can no longer be considered ‘the audience’ – they are simultaneously readers, editors, &
marketers, especially the younger demographics
Exhibit 1: Main sources of news by age; source: Digital News Report 2015, Reuters Institute
Challenges Faced by Media Cos. Today
Continuity
Addressability
Measurability
Interactivity
Context
From To
Broad Micro
Nielsen Ratings Impressions
One-way messaging Return Path
Ad message
disjointed from
adjacent context
Message tightly
coupled with
adjacent content
Single platform Multi-platform
Gra
nu
lari
ty
Inte
gra
tio
n
Increased choice has got content producers and platforms alike fighting for consumer interest
Business Model Evolution
RoI-driven advertising
Traditional advertising
Consumer-centric marketing
Cross-platform reach
Insights
Impressions
Single platform Integrated cross-platform
Direct digital messaging to micro
level
Granular audience profiling,
targeting, & measurement
Legacy processes, brand
Transactional structures
Siloed sales & delivery
Traditional measurement
Integrated broad portfolio of mktg.
& advertising assets
Enhanced consumer engagement
Breaks through traditional clutter
Integrated, contextual campaigns
Bridges advertising & mktg. formats
Enables addressability,
measurement, interactivity for
desired consumer
Business Model’s can overlap
From Traditional to Emerging Models
Traditional Media Models Emerging Media Models
Content
Sources
Limited number of sources: commercial &
institutional producers, including professional
producers, journalists, & authors Unlimited: amateurs producing film & audio
using digital equipment; wide range of authors,
citizen journalists, & crowdsourcing voices,
enabled by social media; YouTube celebrities
Storage Analog Digital
Technology Dedicated, purpose-built hardware Cloud computing & generic hardware, with value
moved to the software layer
Production Manual editing & design processes Technology-enabled processes using tools like
Avid
Distribution
Limited number of distribution channels, with
publishers, distributors, TV cable companies, &
other intermediaries Infinite number of global distribution channels
through internet & satellite links
Platforms Few Platforms Many platforms: an evolving array of
increasingly interconnected displays, tablets,
computers, mobile devices, & more
Content Management Systems (CMS)
CMS: software used to create, edit, manage, & publish content in a consistently organized
fashion
Standardized mechanism for handling content from draft to publish
Collaborative editing
Curating media around a piece of content
Flexible Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to enable innovation
CMS is NOT a single piece of software
Importance of process & workflow
Apply technical resources to string existing tools together to meet the needs of the
newsroom at an organizational level
Custom or generic CMS?
Example of the Digital Publishing Ecosystem
Disqus Tweetreach Hootsuite Storify
Amazon Web Services
Flickr
YouTube
Media & Content Management
Content Delivery Networks (CDN’s)
Social Media & Content Marketing
Monitoring & Analytics
Microsoft Azure
Umbraco WordPress Joomla Drupal
Brightcove
Limelight Akamai Cloudflare
Google Analytics Chartbeat
Reconfiguring the Workplace – Integrated Newsroom
Open office spaces, news hubs & integrated newsrooms for continuous breaking-
news operation: hub-spoke model
Institutional legacy: does symbolic space matter?
Newsrooms must do more with less; multi-skilled content producers (not
journalists)
Reorienting physical space is one way of responding to a more digital
environment
Creating newsrooms that prioritize speed
Importance of right medium for right content
NYTimes.com Case Study
NYTimes.com team repurposed newspaper content for the internet
Altering headlines, adding hyperlinks
Features with real-time news: Cyber Times, Presidential Elections, Bosnia,
Debt Ceiling, etc.
Discussion areas
Registration information allowed the site to serve advertisements to targeted
audiences
Initially not organized as an independent operating unit that reported directly to
corporate executives
Although NYTimes.com’s budget was integrated, it had its own P&L – the company
was taking too timid an approach to capturing a strong position on the internet
Employees referred to their software as ‘shovelware’
By early 1999, internet valuations were rising dramatically & it encouraged the
company to take its internet operations public
New York Times Digital (NYTD) – siloed internet operations
NYTimes.com Case Study (contd.)
NYTD Executives expected that wrapping all the Company’s websites into a
single organization would promote exchange of information & learning
New plan called for extensive hiring from outside the Company
Until NYTD separated from the newspaper, most staffers were internal
transfers
Stock options, pension plan eliminated
Heavy investment in IT infrastructure
Bottom-up approach to budgeting: seeking new content & feature ideas
from across the organization
Review of usage data
Capacity for hiring & training constrained ability to work on ideas in the
pipeline
Continuous News Desk – breaking news on digital first
Audience tracking, integrating partnered content, & much smaller staff
complement
6 10 14
NYTimes.com Case Study (contd.)
Business model: subscriptions or advertising
End of the internet boom & beginning of downsizing, layoffs, & pressure to approach
profitability
NYTD’s distinctiveness creating an ‘us vs. them’ culture
Cannibalizing newspaper circulation
Not enough collaboration between newspaper & NYTD sales employees
Positive Impacts
Expanding geographical reach
Readers could sample content before subscribing to newspaper
“It’s just good business to be friends with your cousins.”
Crowdsourcing & News Blogs
How do we define the media industry today?
With increased freedom (of newsmakers, advertisers, & consumers), the space has
become incoherent
Andy Carvin’s work at NPR during the Arab Spring
Kickstarter
Crowdsourced information platforms
1. Operation Neptune Spear
2. Fukushima
SCOTUSblog vs. CNN
Digital migration thwarted by traditional processes & workflows
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
45K
35K
60
30K
50K
55K
40K 54K
42K 41K 47K
56K 56K 55K 53K
38K 37K 33K
55K
2001
55K 54K
42K
54K 54K
2002 2000 1999
YouTube Celebrities
Survey by Variety magazine showed YouTube stars are
more popular than mainstream celebrities
YouTube stars score significantly higher than traditional
celebrities across a range of characteristics considered to
have the highest correlation to influencing purchases
among teenagers
Become
YouTube
Partner
Drive
Traffic
Revenue
share on
target
ads
BuzzFeed Case Study
BuzzFeed’s staff has figured out how to write headlines & organize stories in ways that
resonate with readers
Content ranges from entertainment style to serious reporting
Relies on native advertising not banner ads
Average ad rates ~2x what most publishers demand
CMS ferrets out posts showing viral potential
Technology ensures that sponsored posts receive a social lift – sharing as endorsement
Future prospects?
$500M offer spurned!
50M
150M
100M
200M
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1
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2008 2009 201
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Mobile
Online
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Private and Confidential 31
For more information please contact:
Sid Wahi
+27834077467
+971552892896
This document is confidential and private.
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