“Dutch channels have to work together to survive”
NLZIET is a Dutch streaming service that allows you to watch live TV, replay programs and watch series on demand. The growth of major international streaming services could pose a threat to Dutch channels, NLZIET said in an interview with Androidworld.
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NLSEE
In recent years, major international streaming services have gained a lot of ground in linear viewing. That is watching television through the traditional programming of TV channels. Now that we have spent more time at home during the corona crisis, that switch has only accelerated, as evidenced by the growing number of subscribers that Netflix can present. In the first quarter of 2020 alone, when the pandemic broke out, Netflix was able to convince 100,000 families.
NLZIET has been in existence since 2013, a collaboration of 36 Dutch television channels that combine their offerings in one platform. You watch live, there is replay television and on-demand TV in a subscription of 7.95 euros. The app is also available for all platforms: from smart TVs to phones and computers. NLZiet calls on Dutch channels to work better together in response to the growth of streaming services.
“The competition is becoming so fierce and fierce, and that is why in the long term it can only be that the cooperation between channels will go even further. They will in fact be forced to do so,” says Niels Baas, who has been the is managing director of NLZIET.
Major Dutch collaboration
AW: In what way can channels better arm themselves against international streaming services?
“At the moment, with NLZIET, we are first and foremost a cord cutter-solution. By that I mean that we want to offer an alternative to cable TV and the expensive all-in-one subscriptions that telecom providers offer. About half of our subscribers choose NLZIET as an alternative to a cable subscription.
Nevertheless, in the future we will have to become even more of a platform in which Dutch channels bring all their on-demand content together. One strong Dutch platform, because with local content we can best distinguish ourselves from the major streaming services.
But it is important: we are only the distributor of the content of Dutch channels. Ultimately, it is they who determine the strategy, but from my point of view it is crystal clear that they must work together to survive.”
AW: You say that bundling Dutch content can be an asset, but we have recently seen that large American services are focusing on that local content. Are you concerned about that?
“That is indeed a great danger, because that’s how they eventually end up on our property, and that with their huge budgets. Look, for example, at Amazon, which bought the Anne Frank film for a lot of money. They also take care of worldwide distribution, and that’s why it’s interesting to work with such an international player.”
On the other hand, there is a disadvantage, because the series or film must then of course be attractive in different countries. Then actors from different countries are brought together and it still gets a kind of internationalized sauce.”
Fragmentation of streaming services
AW: In recent years, streaming services around the world have continued to be added, and content is being taken away from one and ended up at another. Do you often switch between streaming services?
“Yes, and that has often happened to streaming services, especially during the corona crisis. If a favorite series is on it, the subscription will be stopped. We will see that more often in the future. On the other hand, we see that companies want to tackle that problem through content. spread it out more broadly and work with weekly episodes. Funny, because that’s how it becomes linear again. At NLZIET we have at least seen this less often.”
AW: It all gets pretty complicated. Don’t we just get the return of piracy with all those different subscriptions?
“In the Netherlands, piracy has been well nipped in the bud, and I often take it as a sign that the industry is lagging behind. You saw this, for example, with the arrival of Spotify, because that deterrence ensured that you no longer have to download MP3s. Well, that’s exactly the case for the video streaming services.”
AW: Is that so, because on Spotify or any other service you can find all the songs, but it doesn’t work that way for the video streaming services.
“At the moment a lot is changing, it is an intermediate phase. Each service claims that it can conquer the world with its own offer, but in the long term, I think we are moving towards a renewed aggregation where services are combined. Amazon, for example, is already there. working on it, but in the Netherlands it could just as well be an operator such as KPN or Ziggo that brings streaming services together in one package.
AW: Doesn’t that pose a big threat to NLZIET? If KPN can soon offer its customers an app for replay television, as well as a formula that includes all streaming services?
“Yes, you can. But that’s also the fun and exciting thing about this changing market. It’s just evolving. I have an idea where it’s going, but it could just as well be Apple suddenly going invest. You don’t know.”
Wake up cord sleepers
AW: Actually, players like KPN and Ziggo are important competitors for NLZIET, because you consider yourself as cord cutters that compete with cable TV. On the other hand, apps such as Ziggo GO also make it easy for consumers to watch content live or watch it back.
“Yes, but a lot of people are still not aware of the price they pay for their TV. We call them cord sleepers, and that is indeed the target group we reach. Look, the problem actually lies in the broadband internet market. There are now two major providers in the Netherlands and they cross-subsidize their TV subscriptions using their internet subscription. These internet prices are now very high, because customers do not cancel such a subscription anyway, and the TV price is kept somewhat lower. So they make a loss on TV, but they make up for that with the internet. We would like to see changes in that market.”
AW: How do you want it yourself? cord sleepers convince?
“We do that in a lot of different ways. First, the general brand awareness that we are working on, which happens with expensive campaigns. Fortunately, we also get help from our partners [de televisiezenders, nvdr.] who spend airtime on commercials, and then there’s a lot of online marketing. We are going to present ourselves in a targeted manner to people who are looking for other ways to watch programs online.”
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NLZIET is a unique partnership between major Dutch broadcasting groups: RTL, NPO and Talpa TV (formerly SBS Broadcasting).
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Free apps from channels
AW: In our Telegram group from Androidworld we already had a discussion about NLZiet in the run-up to this interview. Our readers certainly see the benefits of the service, but it often turns out that a lot of content is already found on the free apps of the TV channels. Do you have specific agreements about this with the channels?
“We really do experience competition from such apps. Look, it is the task of the public broadcaster to present Dutch citizens with a retrospective offer. But my plea is as follows: we have agreements with the broadcasters about paid services, but why then? not about the free offer?
This way you can make it clear to viewers that NLZIET serves as a central place to watch free content. In addition to that free formula, there is then room for the premium offer, and that delivers: higher streaming quality, more channels, and so on.
Suppose you have one platform for both free and paid content, and there is a broad collaboration about more on-demand content and original content for NLZIET, then you can better connect customers to your service for the long term.”
AW: But why isn’t there such a free formula? You work with all channels, don’t you?
“Because the interests of all broadcasters are not on the same page, and then it will not go ahead. In theory, of course, we could even start such a free formula with a single channel, but then another broadcaster could exercise its veto right to It is sometimes difficult to work like this, and that is quite complicated about NLZIET.”
AW: In Belgium all channels work together, just like in the Netherlands, on a service called Streamz. They temporarily release certain content exclusively on Streamz, and that applies to both the public and commercial channels.
“That is very well put together. It is also true that the combination of public and commercial broadcasters makes things extra complex. Such channels are fundamentally different. Look in Belgium, there has been intervention by the government to direct the VRT in the right direction. Streamz. I think that should also happen in the Netherlands in the long term.”
App development
AW: Something that you as a distributor do have more control over is the apps you offer. The functioning of the platform on Android, Android TV, iOS, desktop, and so on. It must be quite an operation to offer an app on every platform and to maintain it so well. Do you have all the knowledge for this yourself?
“We invest millions every year in the further development of the platform and our apps. This applies to the interface that our users see, the front end, as for the underlying operation or all the things that users don’t see. That’s what it’s called backend. The proper functioning of our platform is very important to us, and we have recently started doing part of it in-house: the backend. It front end is outsourced.”
AW: Do you also involve your subscribers in the development of NLZIET?
“Yes, we have a beta app where interested parties can get to know the latest features. Now we are testing viewing profiles, for example, and that is an important step that allows us to personalize the NLZIET experience. There are 175,000 programs on our service, and it is becoming important to help people find the right content.You can sign up for our test team via NLZIET.nl/testteam.
AW: Thanks for this conversation.
“You’re welcome.”
NLSEE | Watch TV online
NLZIET is a collaboration between the Dutch Public Broadcasting, RTL Nederland and Talpa TV. With the online TV service NLZIET, viewers can in one place..
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