Imagine Aviator: The challenge of digital/linear convergence

Posted on Feb 4, 2023 by FEED Staff

Sponsored editorial

To maximise revenue, you need to be ready to manage every type of channel

he differences between traditional linear channels and digital-first services are narrowing. Audiences want the premium values of linear, with the ability to view content when and where they like; the two are starting to converge.

This has implications in three areas. First, in business. Today, 70% of revenues – subscriptions and advertising – are spent in linear television. Forecasts suggest that by the end of this decade, the split will be 50/50, but only because the total addressable market will grow. Linear television revenues are eroding very slowly, remaining almost flat, while digital services are expected to grow at a pace of 15% annually.

The second consideration is technology, where the direction of change is toward common standards, video over IP, data-driven decision engines – or the cloud for elastic deployments. That translates into services like dynamic ad insertion, providing a more targeted offering. Content owners want to give a personalised experience to their viewers and guarantee loyalty.

Finally, operations are affected. Media businesses recognise that audiences are fragmented and their viewing habits unpredictable. The natural choice is to have a unified platform that can reach out to all of them. The current silos for both digital and linear look increasingly outdated.

Enter Imagine Aviator, an origination and monetisation platform introduced by Imagine Communications. Aviator is a cloud-native system providing all the functionality needed by broadcasters, MVPDs and digital-first providers to plan, make and monetise their offerings – delivering multiplatform, premium video services from a single system.

Aviator brings Imagine’s experience in channel playout, campaign and content management, plus advertising sales all together in an end-to-end offering. The software is modular, allowing users to build the exact functionality they need, and facilitates integration with third-party systems.

Aviator can be divided into three key pillars: Plan TV, Make TV and Monetize TV.

Plan TV allows media companies to manage rights and schedule channels, including controlling the many variants needed for different delivery formats, as well as regional and localised services. Programme content, commercials and station branding are combined into a single, frame-accurate playlist.

Make TV allows production of sophisticated linear channels across all platforms and device types from a unified origination system. The software allows channels to be established and populated at lightning speed, so new FAST channels can slot into market opportunities, or pop-up channels can serve immediate needs.

Monetize TV combines cross-platform campaign management and sales with ad placement and ad serving in a single intelligent system. It ensures campaign targets are achieved with optimum use of advert inventory across all outputs, ensuring maximum revenue opportunities.

With this combination of features, Aviator answers the challenges of convergence – supplying powerful, intuitive tools to increase revenue, while providing superior viewing and advertiser experiences respectively to both brands and audiences.