Broadcasting & Cable

How TV Everywhere, streaming video and the Connected Home are changing the face of television forever.

The growth of technologies and applications such as IPTV, mobile TV, over-the-top video and video on demand has changed the traditional broadcasting landscape. Formerly futuristic concepts like TV Everywhere and the Connected Home are quickly becoming a reality. The world of TV is changing - fast.

Calysto started working in the broadcasting and cable industry in the mid-1990s, just as the concept of IPTV began to emerge as a viable alternative to traditional broadcasting. Soon it became clear that the telecom and broadcasting industries would eventually begin to converge. And Calysto’s manufacturing and software clients in the telecom space began reaching to companies in the broadcasting and cable industry to sell their products.

Breaking Through the Noise in Broadcasting and Cable

That's when Calysto began helping clients use public relations to break into the broadcasting and cable market. Calysto has since helped a wide range of players in this industry segment – from content creators to manufacturers and service providers – cut through the noise. And thus get the attention of key influencers. Reach their target customers. Expand to new customers segments. Or position themselves for successful exit or acquisition.

Today, it’s not only IPTV that poses a threat to established players. In addition to telephony companies, other broadband players such as over-the-top video providers have emerged as real threats to traditional broadcasting and cable companies. Increasingly, consumers are clamoring for TV Everywhere, the Connected Home and services such as video on demand. The result: The broadcasting and cable market is getting more crowded and more complex every day.

Thanks to these changes, both new and established players in the broadcasting and cable industry are dealing with new challenges daily. These include digital rights management. Video optimization issues. Audience measurement issues. And many others.

The reality is that broadcasters and cable companies must adapt to survive.

Fortunately, with these changes also come new opportunities. For instance, technologies such as mobile TV will open new revenue opportunities for broadcasters. Applications like gaming and video on demand are presenting new opportunities as well. Plus products such as set-top boxes have opened the industry to new players and provided new revenue streams for many operators.

Using PR to Position Your Company for Success

Calysto helps its clients position themselves strategically to stave off the competition, to take advantage of new revenue opportunities and to get their company noticed.

For example, when Widevine hired Calysto, the company’s goal was to become the number one provider of digital rights management and video optimization solutions to telco, satellite and over-the-top Internet provider players.

To help Widevine accomplish this goal, Calysto developed and implemented a strategic public relations, media relations and social media plan for the company. This plan specifically leveraged the media, analyst and blogging community to help Widevine attract the attention of both potential customers and potential buyers.

Immediately after being hired, Calysto took Widevine through a messaging exercise that helped the company clearly define its market position and its differentiators. Calysto then began communicating Widevine’s message by:

  • Expanding Widevine’s Reach. Widevine had consistently pitched only five or so media contacts prior to hiring Calysto. So Calysto quickly built a comprehensive, customized media list for Widevine. As part of this ranking, Calysto identified a list of more than 20 media and analysts that Calysto often prepitched when big news came out.
  • Developing Champions. Out of the gate, Calysto focused heavily on educating industry research analysts about Widevine. The goal: to have Widevine be recognized and named as a market leader and to develop positive, credible analyst references.
  • Positioning the CEO as a “Go to” Source for Media. Calysto began positioning Widevine CEO Brian Baker as a potential source for media covering stories on industry trends such as digital rights management (DRM), the movement toward over-the-top (OTT) video, and video delivery to the home and mobile devices. Calysto accomplished this by developing several “trend” pitches that covered hot topics or could be sent in response to breaking news.
  • Keeping the Buzz Going. One strategy that Calysto uses to build awareness for a client is a “Did You Know” campaign. These messages are designed to increase frequent communications with influencers in the media, blogger and analyst community by pointing out something interesting about the company, an industry trend or other notable facts that might not be newsworthy enough for a release. The overall goal: To have the influencers begin to align these insightful ideas with the company’s name.
  • Positioning Widevine as a Thought Leader and Subject Matter Expert. Leveraging its strong relationships with industry influencers and its insight into prominent industry tradeshows, Calysto set out to quickly secure speaking opportunities for Widevine at a targeted group of leading tradeshows.

As a result of its campaign for Widevine, Calysto:

  • Secured Coverage Within 30 Days. Because of its strong relationships in the broadcasting & cable sector, Calysto was able to hit the ground running as soon as Widevine hired the Calysto team. Within 30 days after Widevine started working with Calysto, the Calysto team had scheduled introductory meetings with a group of influential research analysts and had already secured media coverage for Widevine.
  • Significantly Increased Overall Coverage. In fact, after Widevine hired Calysto, Widevine went from getting covered in just a few articles a month to securing up to 35 or more hits per month in a wide variety of trade and mainstream publications. These included Light Reading, CED Magazine, Connected Planet, Multichannel News, Home Media Magazine, San Jose Mercury News and the Los Angeles Times.
  • Successfully Positioned Widevine as a “Major Player” in the OTT Space Among Respected Industry Analysts. Several months after Calysto began working with Widevine, ACG Research Group sent this note about Widevine to its clients: “Widevine’s product strategy has impressed us as providing the right solution that will enable the service providers to participate in the impending OTT gold rush while securing Widevine’s position as a major player in the space.”
  • Effectively Established Widevine CEO Brian Baker as a quotable expert. In fact, this campaign was so effective that reporters started contacting Calysto for interviews. Of course, Calysto also continued its proactive pitching efforts. As a result, Baker received so many requests for interviews that Calysto began having difficulty getting every interview request on his schedule.
  • Secured Speaking Slots at Several Global Industry Events. As a result of Calysto’s speakers’ bureau efforts, Widevine executives were invited to speak at several key conferences, including the 13th International Exhibition and CSTB Conference in Russia; CONNECTIONS 2011 in California and the OTTcon conference in California.

But by far the most notable result was this: Just 12 months after hiring Calysto to manage its strategic, targeted public relations program, Widevine was acquired by Google.

And that’s not the first time that Calysto has helped clients stand out – or get acquired – in the fast-changing world of broadcasting and cable. Calysto worked with Broadwing in 2005 to help the company establish itself as a leader in the industry and position itself for acquisition. The result: Broadwing was officially acquired by Level 3 in January 2006. Level 3 still uses Broadwing’s technology today to support its Vyvx content delivery services.

Calysto also helped its client Alloptic go from a virtually unknown optical company to one that was recognized as a market leader by broadband, multisystem cable operators (MSO) and telco players in the optical market. After working with Calysto for a little over two years, Alloptic’s product portfolio was successfully acquired.

Calysto also helped a project-based client launch a new product in conjunction with TelcoTV in just 45 days. In just weeks, Calysto lined up 10 analyst briefings and 12 media interviews for the client in conjunction with TelcoTV. The result: 1.4 media impressions within just a few weeks after the announcement was made.

Calysto professionals have worked with a wide range of clients in the broadcasting and cable industry, including Alloptic, Broadwing, Cox Communications, Entone, Globecomm, Hitachi Telecom, Knology, Morega Systems, Nevion, Time Warner and Widevine (acquired by Google).


Interested in finding out more, contact us.