Market View
Platform monetisation: The evolution of revenue models in a subscription-saturated market
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Richard Huang
Head of Strategy at BBC
About Richard Huang
Richard Huang is the Head of Strategy at BBC, bringing over nine years of experience in commercial management, corporate strategy and transformation in TV subscriptions, news publishing and online gaming. He excels at developing long range strategy, translating complex plans into clear implementation programmes and driving execution across cross functional organisations. Previously, Richard held strategic roles at DMG media, Sky and Paddy Power Betfair, where he developed expertise in business case development, commercial planning and strategic programme management.
How are media companies differentiating their offerings to combat subscription fatigue in today's crowded market?
I think it's important to recognise that consumers are now offered more access to different subscription services than ever before, and that extends beyond just media. Within media alone, we're looking at TV, music, speech-audio, news and even triple-A gaming available over the cloud on subscription.
For the top-tier players, what truly differentiates them is their core product—the content itself. Netflix's investment into original content some 10-15 years ago is what sets them apart today. You can see how they've evolved that strategy, working with local producers and writers to tell local stories with global appeal, not just American ones. Last year, Netflix had the majority of the top ten most-watched TV dramas in the UK, outperforming British broadcasters.
Where a company like Sky differentiates itself is through platform innovation and approach to content aggregation. Their launch of Sky Glass is a prime example—they became the only broadcaster in the UK at that time to own the hardware, the platform and the content. That's a massive differentiator because you control the full end-to-end customer experience. Economically, it's advantageous because customers who own your hardware have much higher retention rates.
Sky Glass provides a unified interface where you can access content from different subscription services quickly and without switching between apps.. This integration, combined with their triple-play structure of broadband, mobile and TV, creates a sticky customer relationship that effectively combats subscription fatigue.
Looking ahead, I believe there's potential to transform the advertising experience into a genuine benefit rather than a negative. Amazon could leverage their commerce capabilities so viewers who see something relevant in an ad can immediately purchase it.
We're currently testing whether AI can provide accurate live transcriptions for coverage of sports, particularly local clubs. Using generative AI to listen to radio broadcasts and create articles makes covering a wider range of sports economically viable.
How do you see AI and automation improving content discovery and production economics in the media industry?
AI and automation cover such a broad range of applications, and machine learning has been used in platforms for years—for dynamic pricing, programmatic advertising and content recommendations. What's particularly exciting now is how generative AI can help make content production more efficient.
At DMG Media, I saw firsthand how AI transformed content production for social media. Instead of having journalists film themselves, editors could find clips, write scripts, and use AI for transcriptions and voiceovers, allowing a step change in the volume of content produced. The biggest concern initially was quality, but we found that audiences on platforms like TikTok weren't expecting the highest production values—they wanted short, regular, to-the-point news.
We're currently testing whether AI can provide accurate live transcriptions for coverage of local sports clubs. For big matches, we'll always send journalists—you need the quality and expertise of humans—but for smaller local clubs with hundreds of matches monthly, it's prohibitively expensive. Using generative AI to listen to radio broadcasts and create article wireframes makes covering a wider range of matches and sports more economically viable.
The voice-over technology has improved dramatically. Some tools we're testing now are genuinely difficult to distinguish from human voices. The marginal cost is minimal—you can process one original video and quickly generate multiple highlights with different voiceovers to attract diverse audiences. Biases still exist with the accents the models prioritise but the improvement in technology over the last 18 months has been very encouraging.
What strategies are proving effective for content discovery as media libraries continue to grow?
This is something we discuss frequently at the BBC. For iPlayer, our immediate challenge isn't attracting users—we have a massive audience—it's the opportunity cost of promoting one piece of content over another on the homepage.
A large percentage of our viewership comes from the "next episode" button. People finish an episode and simply want to continue watching without actively seeking to discover new content. That's where personalised algorithms are truly valuable—when you need to determine what to recommend next. These algorithms can be much more accurate than manual selection and truly personalised for each user.
For companies with multiple digital products, better utilisation of these assets to promote videos is crucial. At the BBC, we have multiple apps—BBC News, Sports, Sounds—and our website, all with significant traffic. These are valuable promotional assets that should be leveraged effectively.
Promotion off-platform, particularly on social media, is equally important. You can't expect a direct journey from someone scrolling on TikTok to sitting down for a 40-minute documentary. However, these platforms can generate anticipation for upcoming content releases.
Looking ahead, I believe there's potential to transform the advertising experience into a genuine benefit rather than a negative. Amazon could leverage their commerce capabilities so viewers who see something relevant in an ad can immediately purchase it.
How do you see platforms evolving to incorporate advertising and new revenue streams?
With content inflation at an all-time high—particularly for premium drama, entertainment and sports rights—platforms must diversify revenue streams to remain competitive.
Many streaming platforms weren't originally designed with advertising in mind. There are two distinct challenges: back-end infrastructure—setting up content metadata tagging and user data in a standardised way for programmatic and direct advertising—and the user experience, determining how to incorporate advertising with minimal disruption.
Looking ahead, I believe there will be a step-change in the advertising and commerce experience from where it is today. Amazon is particularly well-positioned—they could leverage their commerce capabilities so viewers who see something relevant in a TV ad can immediately purchase it through the app or via voice assistant.
Even today, much depends on what type of advertising you permit. High-premium, brand-direct advertising tends to work well because major brands invest significantly in creating quality ad content that viewers don't mind watching. However, lower quality or irrelevant ads quickly deteriorate the viewing experience.
Beyond advertising, we're seeing interesting diversification. Disney is now open to distribution deals on their archive content after initially taking everything exclusive, Netflix is experimenting with gaming, and Disney has invested in Epic Games. This experimentation is necessary as content inflation reaches unsustainable levels.
About The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the UK's largest media organisation and a pioneering force in global broadcasting, with a rich history as the world’s longest-running national media organization, founded in 1922. As a public service broadcaster operating under a Royal Charter, the BBC produces diverse content across television, radio and digital platforms, reaching over 400 million people weekly worldwide. Renowned for its commitment to impartiality and quality programming, the BBC continues to innovate in media technology whilst delivering on its core mission to inform, educate and entertain.
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