Content demand continues on the rise, with viewers’ hunger not slowing down anytime soon. TV and video services know this well and look into super-aggregation to future-proof their offering and bring the hottest content to their subscribers.

For the past months, Mirada in collaboration with Digital TV Europe has collected the views of 200 industry executives from all over the world, telling in their own words how they approach super-aggregation.

Most of the respondents have their eyes set on super-aggregation, with 32% already developing their own strategies and 50% having one in the making.

Here we will lay out the bumps industry executives find on the road there and most importantly, what to do to bring TV and video services to the next level.

According to the vast majority of respondents, integrating big-name services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ is key to success. But a third of them also agrees that it is not easy for everyone to sit at Netflix’s table to negotiate.

Premium content providers require a minimum number of subscribers to compensate for the technical efforts of an integration – leaving out smaller operators.

One way to turn barriers into bridges is to unlock the strength in numbers. Take the example of Mirada’s client Zapi. Its story begins when Spanish operator PTV looked into upgrading their TV service and joined efforts with operators associations to overcome the complex integration process with premium content platforms, and the high investment required to launch and maintain a quality service.

The resulting joint venture Plataforma Multimedia de Operadores (PMO) launched Zapi, a shared OTT platform leveraging their individual strengths to compete at the level of Tier I operators and telcos, boasting a collective purchasing power and content negotiation capacity – all while maintaining its advantage of subscriber proximity.

Zapi was launched in 2020 and is set to become Spain’s fourth-largest OTT platform. Their subscriber base is growing steadily, aiming to reach 600,000 subscribers, which has allowed Zapi to close negotiations with premium content providers AXN and AMC, with more on the way.

As more and more digital TV services jump into super-aggregation, it becomes increasingly difficult to stay ahead of competitors and keep users hooked.

Respondents agreed on opting for local content as an effective differentiator allowing them to offer exclusive content that better resonates with their viewers.

Covering regional events like local festivities or sports games creates a close bond with your audience and improves loyalty. However, ever-growing catalogues risk alienating viewers, who become frustrated by too many choices, all at the expensive cost of relying on acquiring new titles to remain fresh.

To overcome content overkill, catalogue owners worldwide are turning to editorial curation to complement their algorithm recommendations. With Editorial Services, a team of local editorial experts can help maximise your ROI by bridging your catalogue with the socioeconomic, cultural and political events happening in your subscribers’ region, crafting a unique content offer that leverages your content investment.

The key is to provide subscribers with the most relevant content, when and wherever they want it. This strategy has proved to be highly effective for our customers, including one case in which content consumption skyrocketed by more than 50% after repackaging long-tail content from their catalogue into an attractive new special.

The last obstacle respondents face is the difficulty of integrating multiple apps in a compelling experience. More than ever, choosing the right tech provider is key to becoming the one entertainment hub for your subscribers.

Mirada has long placed super-aggregation of content at the forefront of our proposal to future-proof our client’s services worldwide.

Our Iris solution is integrated with +30 content providers, including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and HBO Max, and bridges digital TV services with the best entertainment in one single user experience.

With our deep integration, millions of viewers worldwide now enjoy the most sought-after features, such as seamless metadata and video exchange, unified content discovery, universal search across catalogues and much more.

Access all the data you need to boost your super-aggregation strategy in our Industry Report