It is commonly held that the authentication process is so cumbersome for TV Everywhere that it is retarding the growth of TVE services. TDG says that’s simply not true.
The Diffusion Group (TDG) has been saying for some time that the major factor inhibiting the growth of TVE services is the inexplicable failure of service providers to market them (or market them effectively).
The company decided to investigate one of the more prominent reasons cited for the slow growth thus far of TV-E – that customers are put off by the difficulty of the authentication process – by polling people about what they think of the authentication process.
According to the results, the excuse doesn’t really hold much weight. TDG found that only 7 percent of TVE users view the process of authentication negatively, with less than 1 percent ranking the process as “very difficult.”
“From a consumer’s perspective, this is simply ‘logging in,’ like they do several times a day for a variety of web services. It is a commonplace activity which we consider a normal part of using the Internet,” notes Michael Greeson, TDG president and director of research. “Unfortunately, authentication has been demonized by industry executives as a key reason TVE use is not more widespread. Unfortunately, pointing to authentication as the cause of slow TVE uptake is a red herring, distracting attention from the real culprits: poor marketing and the inconsistent availability of the newest shows.”
Greeson notes that even among former and would-be TVE users, having to authenticate in order to view their home TV programs online is not viewed negatively. Only 11 percent of former TVE users point to authentication-related factors as the reason they stopped using the service, while 9 percent of non-users said similar factors have kept them from engaging TVE.
So what is the problem with TVE?
Non-users are more likely to cite a lack of interest in viewing TV programs on small screens, TDG said. Also, there’s a perception that viewing TVE is not compelling; and there’s a poor understanding of the availability and benefits of the services.
“These are marketing challenges, not technical challenges,” Greeson said.
Not to say that automating authentication would go unnoticed. Just the opposite is the case, the company said, after finding that 82 percent of tablet and smartphone TVE users see automatic authentication (no longer having to enter a user name and password to access video content) as an enhancement to the service.
“While logging in to access home TV content is rarely viewed as a hassle, eliminating this step altogether is viewed as an important improvement,” says Greeson. “For those looking to differentiate their TVE services — be it an operator or a pay-TV network — fully automating authentication is a step in the right direction.”
These insights are the product of TDG’s most recent multi-client quantitative analysis of US adult broadband users, the addressable market for TV Everywhere services.
