Samsung is preparing to integrate third-party voice assistants into its 2019 line of TV sets. The company may announce a partnership with Google to integrate Google Assistant as early as next month, when it will unveil next year’s TVs at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

Samsung is likely also going to put a bigger emphasis on audio quality, and could include technology that mimics the way Apple’s HomePod tunes music to its environment into some of its high-end TV sets. A Samsung spokesperson declined to comment on those features, and instead pointed to the announcement of 2019 models of Samsung’s the Frame and Serif TV models.

Samsung’s embrace of third-party voice assistants comes just months after the company added its own voice assistant Bixby to its 2018 TVs. However, the current integration of Bixby on TVs is fairly limited. Consumers can use the voice assistant to control playback of videos, but Bixby can’t yet open and control third-party apps.

The company has also not opened up Bixby development to third-party TV app developers, but plans to do so next year. “We are at the very early stage of development for Bixby for TV,” admitted Samsung senior staff engineer James Jung during a session at the company’s recent developer conference in San Francisco.

By adding third-party assistants, Samsung can offer developers more flexibility, and take advantage of the growing number of smart speakers to bring far-field voice control to TVs without built-in microphones. Emarketer estimated this week that 74.2 million people will use a smart speakers in 2019. Samsung introduced its very first Bixby smart speaker in 2018, but has not made the device available for sale yet.

According to Emarketer, Amazon is expected to capture around 63% of the smart speaker market in 2019, with Google coming in second with 31%. An Adobe Analytics report revealed this week that 63% of smart speaker owners have such a device in their living room. In other words: People are already using third-party voice assistants in proximity to their TVs, so it only makes sense for Samsung to plug into those ecosystems.

Samsung’s integration of third-party voice assistants is expected to be similar to the way competitors like LG and TCL have integrated these assistants. On LG TVs, consumers can access local weather, their calendar, and more through the Google Assistant, and also use the assistant to control smart home devices. However, universal search is still being handled by LG’s own software. This helps TV makers to build commercial relationships with app developers and service providers, and keeps them in control of a key aspect of their smart TV systems.

Samsung is also expected to emphasize sound quality as a key area of improvements over previous TV generations. The company registered for a number of trademarks in late November that are related to TV audio, including one for “audio spatial intelligence,” one for “volume intelligence,” and one for “audio scenic intelligence.”

Audio spatial intelligence is being described as “software for televisions, namely, software for use in optimizing sound quality depending on the surrounding environment, such as space size and ambient noise,” whereas scenic intelligence improves TV sound quality based on the type of content users are watching.

Smart speakers like Apple’s HomePod and Google’s Home Max already automatically optimize sound based on their surroundings by monitoring music through built-in microphones. Sonos previously developed a technology to manually tune a speaker for the room it is placed in, which required consumers to wave their phone around while listening to test tones. It’s unclear whether Samsung will integrate microphones directly into its TV sets to optimize audio for consumers’ living rooms, or whether it will rely on a phone or remote control with integrated microphone to optimize these settings.

Samsung is also expected to further build out its TV Plus service, which presents over-the-top streaming channels in a linear-like environment. These types of offerings have seen significant growth in 2018, with Samsung content partner Jukin recently revealing that it was streaming more than 70 million minutes of linear OTT content to consumers per month.

TV Plus is important to Samsung because it allows the company to generate additional revenues after the sale of a TV set. Samsung has for some time tried to transform its smart TV system into a services business that would generate ancillary revenue streams, but the company has at times struggled to turn its TV software into more than just a way for consumers to launch Netflix and YouTube.

Case in point: Samsung acquired failed smart TV startup Boxee in 2013 to build an ambitious smart tvOS that would have replaced the traditional TV remote with a tablet for second-screen control — something that was internally known as “perfect experience.” However, the project was scrapped, and most of Boxee’s staff was laid off, before it ever shipped.

This year, the smart TV team saw another significant departure: content and services chief product officer Gilles BianRosa parted with the company over the summer, Variety has learned. BianRosa was hired in October 2016 from Tivo, and previously led the smart TV device startup Fan TV.

Source: Variety Media

Spotify and Wixen Music Publishing — which sued the streaming giant late last year for a headline-grabbing $1.6 billion — has announced that they have settled the lawsuit. According to the announcement, “The conclusion of that litigation is a part of a broader business partnership between the parties, which fairly and reasonably resolves the legal claims asserted by Wixen Music Publishing relating to past licensing of Wixen’s catalog and establishes a mutually-advantageous relationship for the future.”

While terms of the deal were not disclosed, a source close to the situation told Variety that, not surprisingly, the settlement amount was well short of $1.6 billion. If it were, as a public company Spotify would be obligated to disclose it per SEC rules, which suggests a 5% threshold (e.g. the impact of the event is 5% or more of revenue, earnings, etc) as a starting point.

In the lawsuit, Wixen, which handles titles by Tom Petty, Neil Young, Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen, Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo, Stevie Nicks, and others, alleged that Spotify was using thousands of songs without a proper license and sought damages worth at least $1.6 billion and injunctive relief.

“Prior to launching in the United States, Spotify attempted to license sound recordings by working with record labels but, in a race to be first to market, made insufficient efforts to collect the required musical composition information and, in turn, failed in many cases to license the compositions embodied within each recording or comply with the requirements of Section 115 of the Copyright Act.

Despite the size of the damages, Wixen signaled a willingness to settle in its first statement. “We’re just asking to be treated fairly,” president Randall Wixen said. “We are not looking for a ridiculous punitive payment. But we estimate that our clients account for somewhere between 1% and 5% of the music these services distribute. Spotify has more than $3 billion in annual revenue and pays outrageous annual salaries to its executives and millions per month for ultra-luxurious office space in various cities. All we’re asking for is for them to reasonably compensate our clients by sharing a miniscule amount of the revenue they take in with the creators of the product they sell.”

In Thursday’s announcement, Wixen said, “I want to thank [Spotify cofounder and CEO] Daniel Ek and [Spotify General Counsel and VP, Business & Legal Affairs] Horacio Gutierrez, and the whole Spotify team, for working with the Wixen team, our attorneys and our clients to understand our issues, and for collaborating with us on a win-win resolution. Spotify is a huge part of the future of music, and we look forward to bringing more great music from our clients to the public on terms that compensate songwriters and publishers as important partners. I am truly glad that we were able to come to a resolution without litigating the matter. Spotify listened to our concerns, collaborated with us to resolve them and demonstrated throughout that Spotify is a true partner to the songwriting community”

“We’d like to thank Randall Wixen and Wixen Music Publishing for their cooperation in helping us reach a solution,” said Gutierrez. “Wixen represents some of the world’s greatest talents and most treasured creators, and this settlement represents its commitment to providing first-rate service and support to songwriters while broadening its relationship with Spotify.”

Source: Variety Media

Hearst Television has set a multi-year renewal of its contract with Nielsen to provide ratings for its local TV and radio stations.

The deal calls for Hearst to use a range of new Nielsen software and data tools in its selling its wares to local advertisers. The pact covers Hearst’s 30 TV stations in 26 markets and two Baltimore radio stations.

The Hearst renewal is significant for Nielsen in the wake of CBS’ threat to drop the ratings provider as its year-end contract expiration approaches. The major networks have long been frustrated with Nielsen’s struggles to keep pace with measurement needs in the multiplatform universe. Nielsen ratings, while still the industry standard currency for advertising deals, are becoming less central to the ad sales business as data options proliferate in the digital age.

“Nielsen is an important partner in our television and radio station business,” said Eric Meyrowitz, senior VP of sales for Hearst Television. “We look forward to utilizing Nielsen’s audience measurement solutions and measurement enhancements to showcase the value of our audiences and deliver increased ROI to our advertisers.”

Nielsen said it was eager to work with Hearst to develop new measurement tools.

“Hearst Television is one of the most innovative broadcasters in the industry and is at the forefront of providing advertisers access to viewers across traditional and digital platforms,” said Jeff Wender, managing director of Nielsen Local Media. “We are thrilled to reach this agreement with Hearst Television and to collaborate on the best ways to monetize their audiences.”

Source: Variety Media

Warner Music Group Corp. has announced that in 2018 its revenue exceeded $4 billion for the first time in company history during its call for fourth-quarter and full-year financial results for the period ended September 30, 2018. It also noted that streaming revenue is up 20.4% (18.5% in constant currency).

“We’ve had another terrific year and revenue exceeded $4 billion for the first time in our 15-year history as a standalone company,” said Steve Cooper, Warner Music Group’s CEO. “We continue to invest in our business for the benefit of our recording artists and songwriters and to fuel our long-term growth.”

“The fact that we ended the year with over $500 million in cash, despite significant spend on A&R, marketing, M&A and dividends, is evidence of the underlying strength of our business,” added Eric Levin, Warner Music Group’s Executive Vice President and CFO. “We’re on a great run and I’m looking forward to many more years of success.”

Answering a question about whether streaming revenue will begin to fall off in the coming months, Cooper said he expects it to “grow in a robust way,” noting that it will slow down over time in western countries as saturation begins. In emerging markets, he said, revenues and subscribers are “just now being tapped and I would expect to see growth,” noting that economics will probably be “reduced” by comparison, and “we can expect over a time a more modest trajectory.”

According to the report, for the fourth quarter, WMG revenue grew 13.3% (or 14.8% in constant currency). Growth in Recorded Music digital, licensing and artist services and expanded-rights revenue and growth in Music Publishing digital, performance, synchronization and mechanical revenue were partially offset by a decline in Recorded Music physical revenue. Revenue grew in all regions. Digital revenue grew 21.4% (or 23.1% in constant currency), and represented 57.4% of total revenue, compared to 53.5% in the prior-year quarter.

Operating income was $16 million compared to an operating loss of $1 million in the prior-year quarter. OIBDA was $72 million, up 20.0% from $60 million in the prior-year quarter and OIBDA margin increased 0.4 percentage points to 6.9% from 6.5% in the prior-year quarter. Net loss was $13 million compared to a net loss of $38 million in the prior-year quarter and adjusted net income was $10 million compared to an adjusted net loss of $39 million in the prior-year quarter. As of September 30, 2018, the Company reported a cash balance of $514 million, total debt of $2.819 billion and net debt (total long-term debt, net of deferred financing costs, minus cash) of $2.305 billion.

For the year, total revenue increased 12.0% (or 9.2% in constant currency). Domestic revenue rose 10.5% and international revenue rose 12.7% (or 7.8% in constant currency). Revenue grew in all regions. Digital revenue grew 20.4% (or 18.5% in constant currency), and represented 56.2% of total revenue, compared to 52.3% in the prior year.

Operating income was $217 million down from $222 million in the prior year and operating margin was 5.4% down from 6.2% in the prior year, driven by higher revenue which was more than offset by increased investment in A&R and marketing as well as higher SG&A expenses including for variable compensation, restructuring and facilities expenses related to the Los Angeles office consolidation.

Net income was $312 million compared to $149 million in the prior year. Adjusted net income was $388 million compared to $162 million in the prior year, reflecting higher other income related to the net gain on the Spotify share sale, a prior-year loss on revaluation of the company’s Euro-denominated debt due to changes in exchange rates, a prior-year non-cash loss on investments, lower interest expense in the fiscal year, higher income tax expense related to the impact of tax reform on deferred tax assets in the fiscal year, the prior-year benefit from the reversal of a U.S. deferred tax valuation allowance and the prior-year tax benefit of currency losses on inter-company loans. Net debt (total long-term debt, net of deferred financing costs, minus cash) at the end of the fiscal year was $2.305 billion versus $2.164 billion at the end of the prior year, mainly due to the difference in year-end cash balances.

Recorded Music revenue grew 12.5% (or 13.9% in constant currency). Digital growth reflects a continuing shift to streaming. Licensing revenue growth was due to increased synchronization activity, timing-related higher broadcast fee income and the impact of acquisitions.

During the call, Cooper cited the success of Atlantic’s Cardi B, Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars and “The Greatest Showman” soundtrack; for Warner Bros. Records Dua Lipa, Bebe Rexha and Lil Pump; and for Nashville Dan and Shay. He also paid tribute to late Warner recording artists Aretha Franklin and Mac Miller.

Recorded Music operating income was $31 million, up 121.4% from $14 million in the prior-year quarter and operating margin was up 1.8 percentage points to 3.6% versus 1.8% in the prior-year quarter.

For the full year, recorded music revenue rose 11.3% (or 8.5% in constant currency). Recorded music digital revenue grew 19.3% (or 17.3% in constant currency) and represented 60.1% of total recorded music revenue versus 56.0% in the prior year. Domestic recorded music digital revenue was $1.037 billion, or 71.0% of total domestic Recorded Music revenue, versus 67.2% in the prior year.

Recorded music operating income was $307 million up from $283 million in the prior year due to revenue growth and operating margin was down 0.3 percentage points to 9.1% versus 9.4% in the prior year due to higher compensation and higher facilities expenses related to the Los Angeles office consolidation.

For Warner/Chappell publishing, in Q4 revenue rose 15.7% (or 18.0% in constant currency) with growth in all segments reflecting the ongoing shift to streaming in digital, timing of distributions in performance, higher licensing revenue in synchronization and the timing of mechanical distributions. Publishing operating income was $39 million compared with $36 million in the prior-year quarter driven by revenue growth.

For the full year, publishing revenue rose 14.2% (or 11.8% in constant currency) with growth in all segments. Music Publishing digital revenue rose 26.7% (or 25.4% in constant currency) reflecting the ongoing shift to streaming, and represented 36.3% of total Music Publishing revenue versus 32.7% in the prior year. Growth in performance revenue was due to higher distributions, synchronization revenue growth was driven by higher television and commercials income and mechanical revenue growth was timing-related.

Source: Variety Media

Texas-based Nexstar Media Group is poised to become the nation’s largest owner of TV stations after setting a $4.1 billion deal to acquire Tribune Media, which will take the company into New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and other large markets for the first time.

The all-cash deal covers Tribune’s 42 stations — including WPIX-TV New York, KTLA-TV Los Angeles, WGN-TV Chicago — and the WGN America cabler. Nexstar, based in Irving, Texas, will become a broadcast colossus with more than 200 stations with the Tribune outlets included. Nexstar already owns 170 stations covering nearly 39% of U.S. TV households. Nexstar said the deal had a total transaction value of $6.4 billion including the assumption of Tribune’s debt.

Nexstar outbid private equity giant Apollo Global Management with an all-cash offer valuing Tribune at $46.50 per share. The sale comes about four months after Tribune’s previous acquisition pact with Sinclair Broadcast Group imploded amid regulatory hurdles and political controversy given Sinclair’s size and the notably partisan tilt to the company’s political opinion and commentary programming and the tenor of its newscasts.

Nexstar’s transaction will also face stiff regulatory scrutiny and require divestitures to comply with the FCC’s TV station ownership rules. The company, founded in 1996 by Perry Sook who remans president-CEO, has been one of the most acquisitive broadcast groups in recent years. Of the 118 markets served by the combined company, Nexstar identified 15 markets of significant overlap with Tribune holdings. The company said it would quickly present a plan to the FCC for divestitures in 13 of those overlap markets.

“Nexstar has long viewed the acquisition of Tribune Media as a strategically, financially and operationally compelling opportunity that brings immediate value to shareholders of both companies. We have thoughtfully structured the transaction in a manner that positions the combined entity to better compete in today’s rapidly transforming industry landscape and better serve the local communities, consumers and businesses where we operate,” Sook said in announcing the deal. “As with our past transactions, we have developed a comprehensive regulatory compliance plan and believe we have a clear path to closing. With committed financing and a plan for significant synergy realization that will result in only a minimal increase in Nexstar’s pro-forma leverage, the combined entity will be poised for growth, leverage reduction and increased capital returns for shareholders.”

Nexstar said the sale price marked a 15.5% premium to Tribune’s closing price on Nov. 30, and a 45% spike over Tribune’s closing price on July 16, the day the FCC made it clear that the Sinclair pact would not be completed without another long slog through a regulatory hearing.

The combined Nexstar and Tribune will have revenue of $4.6 billion and earnings of $1.7 billion, Nexstar said. The deal also encompasses Tribune’s 31% stake in cabler Food Network, now owned by Discovery.

Sook told investors he expects the transaction to close in the third quarter of 2019. Nexstar has targeted $160 million in synergy savings in the first year after the completion of the deal.

Tribune Media CEO Peter Kern emphasized that the Nexstar pact will provide Tribune’s shareholders “with substantial value and a well-defined path to closing. Together with Nexstar we can better compete by delivering a nationally integrated, comprehensive and competitive offering across all our markets,” he said. “We believe this combination will produce an even stronger broadcast and digital platform that builds on the accomplishments of both companies and benefits our viewers and advertisers.”

The deal comes with a safety net for Tribune in requiring the price tag to climb by 30 cents per share per month if the transaction is not closed by Aug. 31, 2019.

Fox is expected to pursue the purchase of at least seven Fox affiliates as part of Nexstar’s divestiture process. Fox had planned to buy Tribune-owned Fox affiliate stations in Seattle, Denver, Miami, Cleveland and other mid-sized markets for $910 million from Sinclair had that company closed its Tribune takeover.

Industry sources said Fox is expected to try to pick up number of other Nexstar-Tribune affiliates as the enlarged company will rival Sinclair as an owner of Fox affiliates, giving Nexstar significant sway over a good chunk of the broadcast distribution of Fox Broadcasting Co. With Fox poised to sell off its studio and entertainment cable channels to Disney, the new iteration of Rupert Murdoch’s empire will be largely focused on Fox Broadcasting, Fox News and Fox Sports.

In a memo to Tribune staffers, Kern acknowledged that the company has been on a bumpy ride since May 2017 when it first set its sale agreement with Sinclair.

Here is Kern’s full memo:

Early this morning, we announced that Tribune Media entered into a merger agreement with Nexstar Media Group under which Nexstar will acquire Tribune, paying $46.50 per share for a total transaction value of $6.4 billion. This combination will create the preeminent local broadcast company — one that will have greater scale and more resources to serve all the communities in which we operate. Together, we’ll have much more flexibility to navigate the huge changes taking place in media and continue the trajectory of growth that both companies have established.

I recognize that this is the second time around in quick succession for most of us. But thanks to your efforts, we are in a very strong position strategically and financially. Last time we were here, almost 19 months ago, I challenged you to ignore all the noise and deliver your best performances. You met this challenge and as a result, we overcame that failed attempt and performed incredibly well this past year – and that, I can tell you, is a rare thing. You helped make this transaction possible and you should be very proud of what you have accomplished. On behalf of our Board, thank you.

Nexstar has, in its own right, been a remarkable success story. Launched in 1996 with just one television station, WYOU in Scranton, PA, today it is one of the nation’s largest local TV operators. The company now runs 171 stations delivering high-quality news, sports and entertainment content to 100 markets across the country. For Tribune employees, the breadth of Nexstar’s operations offer a great opportunity for professional development and advancement.

Like Tribune, Nexstar recognizes the importance of being “local” as one of its core values and prioritizes the production of high-quality local news. Once joined together, the combined company will produce almost 300,000 hours of local news and content. That commitment to being local is also apparent in Nexstar’s “Founder’s Day of Caring,” when employees in all 100 of the company’s markets receive paid time off to volunteer in their community. A great program in which I know we will be enthusiastic participants.

We look forward to working with Nexstar to achieve regulatory approval as expeditiously as possible and rest assured we have a clear understanding on how to do just that. We hope to close this transaction by the third quarter of 2019. Until then, we remain an independent company with ambitious plans. I know I can count on you to deliver the same outstanding work you have this past year and advance our goals despite this pending transaction.

Source: Variety Media

NPR has unveiled a new open source podcast measurement project that aims to bring more transparency and granularity to podcast metrics. The project, dubbed Remote Audio Data (RAD), has been developed in partnership with a number of podcast app developers, ad tech companies as well as tech and media heavyweights including ESPN, Google and iHeartMedia.

At its core, RAD allows podcast publishers to tag individual moments in their podcasts — think ad breaks, mentions of sponsors, individual segments and more. Podcast apps that support RAD will keep track of listeners reaching those moments, and send relevant data back to publishers.

RAD has already been implemented in NPR’s own NPR One Android app, and podcast analytics provider Podtrack is starting to offer support as part of a beta program. In addition, NPR has gotten commitments from Acast, AdsWizz, ART19, Awesound, Blubrry Podcasting, Panoply, Omny Studio, PRI/PRX, RadioPublic, Triton Digital, WideOrbit and Whooshkaa to implement support for RAD.

The development of the standard was supported by Cadence13, Edison Research, ESPN, Google, iHeartMedia, Libsyn, The New York Times, New York Public Radio, Voxnest and Wondery. Notably absent from the list is Apple, which has long been one of the biggest players in the podcasting space.

Source: Variety Media

Integral Ad Science (IAS), a digital ad verification company, has hired a new CEO and board member.

According to IAS, they will focus on expanding IAS into new global markets and pushing into new ad formats. 

Source: Variety Media

Amazon is once again selling Google’s Chromecast streaming adapter, three years after yanking the product from its website. The e-commerce giant began listing the 3rd-generation model of Google’s Chromecast streaming stick, as well as the 4K-capable Chromecast Ultra, on its website this week. The move could be a first step towards a more comprehensive business agreement between the two companies.

Amazon stopped selling Google’s Chromecast devices in late 2015, and at the time justified the move with the argument that Amazon’s own video services weren’t available on Chromecast. Google charged that this was Amazon’s fault, and that the company easily could have added cast capabilities to its apps if it wanted to. The two companies also disagreed on a host of other issues, including Amazon’s use of Android, and Google’s unwillingness to bring its own apps to Amazon’s Fire tablets.

The conflict gained some additional urgency when Amazon released its Echo Show smart display device in 2017. The device initially featured a customized YouTube integration, which Google quickly blocked, arguing that it violated YouTube’s terms of service.

Amazon followed up with a work-around, which was once again blocked by Google. And late last year, the search giant further escalated the conflict by also blocking Amazon’s Fire TV devices from accessing YouTube.

Amazon’s decision to once again sell Chromecast could signal an end to this feud, and increases the likelihood that Google may bring an official YouTube app to Fire TV. Spokespeople from Google and Amazon didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Source: Variety Media

Internet and ‘big data’ giants like Amazon and China’s Alipay pose an existential threat to traditional banks, the head of the Bank for International Settlements, Agustín Carstens, said on Tuesday.

Carstens, who took charge of the central bank umbrella group a year ago, said the huge amounts of data that big internet companies gather on their customers meant they potentially have advantages over established banks.

They may have better information on customers’ spending and lifestyles, which might make it easier to judge the risks of providing a loan.

“This is very big,” Carstens, who was previously governor of Mexico’s central bank, told Reuters on the sidelines of a banking conference in London where he spoke on the growing influence of big data.

“This can be an existential threat to some financial intermediation firms so it is very important for us to get all of this early on and try to steer it without distortions.”

Alipay, the payment affiliate of China’s Alibaba , is already catching up with HSBC in terms of market capitalisation. The growth of Alipay and companies like Tencent has prompted Chinese regulators to take steps to be able to monitor them more closely.

There are also questions over whether U.S. giants such as Amazon, Google or even social media firms such as Facebook, could expand in financial services with similar setups.

“Each model is different, but what is universal is the exploitation of information,” Carstens said.

“Amazon doesn’t have much of an open financial intermediation model, they don’t have a financial arm like Alipay but there is nothing that prevents them from generating it.”

The key point was that it was not yet clear how much of a competitive edge social media and shopping data can give internet companies that go into financial services, he said.

From the perspective of the authorities, the questions are whether it will create any risky lending or destabilise the financial system in any way.

“We need an open public discussion,” he said in a speech entitled “International coordination is the name of the game”, which he gave at the conference.

Source: Reuters

Companies in the media sector are generally progressive in embracing digital tech to adapt their businesses — but they are more reluctant than other industries to move forward with artificial intelligence, among other emerging technologies, according to new research from PwC.

Per PwC’s survey of 1,000 U.S. executives for its “2019 AI Predictions” report in multiple industries, 20% said their companies will deploy AI across their businesses next year.

By comparison, media companies are in the extremely early phases of implementing AI, the consulting firm’s research shows. Only a limited few have defined an AI business case and deployment plan — and hardly any have projects currently in process, PwC found. Just 7% of media execs said they are making “substantial” investments in AI, according to PwC.

“AI has been a hot topic, but it’s not in production as much as you think,” said Scott Likens, who lead PwC’s emerging technologies group. “There’s still mystery about emerging technologies among business executives.”

One of the concerns about AI is that it will introduce new problems. The potential for AI-powered cyberthreats was the top-ranked concern among tech, media, and telecommunications execs surveyed by PwC (43% of whom identified it as the No. 1 worry).

“We automatically don’t trust something we don’t understand, even if it’s better,” Likens noted.

There’s also a lack of understanding of how AI can be used to improve efficiencies and create new revenue opportunities, according to Likens. Artificial intelligence, depending on how it’s defined, is 50 years old, he said. So far, though, the promise of AI has been tough to explain. “People say they’re using AI when in fact they’re just using analytics,” Likens said.

The benefits of AI applications can be intangible, according to Likens. For example, it’s hard to measure the extent to which an AI-powered personalization feature for content results in a better overall customer experience, he said.

Among media execs PwC polled, only 12% identified AI as being the “most disruptive” emerging technology in the next three years.

Still, media executives do see the potential for AI applications. Of respondents who picked AI as the No. 1 disruptive technology, 19% said they expect AI will help cut costs, 5% said it will boost productivity, and 3% said it will improve customer experience.

One of the biggest challenges — as with the adoption of any emerging technology — is changing the culture of an organization to embrace it, Likens said. “Changing process takes a lot of time,” he said. “Upskilling the workforce is difficult. There’s knowledge on both sides that has to come together — that includes people with AI domain expertise and businesspeople.”

In addition to AI applications that can reduce costs (like automating call centers and customer service), artificial intelligence used in conjunction with other technologies can produce big wins, according to Likens. “We think the convergence of emerging tech is where it’s at,” he said.

For example, PwC deployed an application for a client (which Likens declined to identify) that combined blockchain and AI to automatically manage content-rights and royalties payments. “A lot of the manual processing went away by automating that smart-contract process,” he said.

Likens also sees promise in combining AI with virtual-reality and other immersive experiences. “With AI it’s not just canned interactions… it’s a live interaction model,” he said.

Source: Variety Media