Stand out & offer captivating holiday viewing experiences with pop-up channels

It's that time of year, again

The holiday season is just around the corner, and people have started making Christmas and New Year's Eve plans. Finalizing the menu and guest lists for holiday parties is not enough; they also need recommendations for what to watch. Unsurprisingly, a 2021 Nielsen report shows that December enjoys a massive surge in streaming numbers across the US. 

The UK is no different. Samsung UK surveyed Brits to understand their TV-viewing habits during the holiday season and found their average viewership to be about 62 hours.  

Clearly, people want to watch TV during the holiday season, but how can you, as a content owner, platform, or broadcaster, make the most of this? The answer lies in pop-up channels. 

What is a pop-up channel, and how does it help you?

Channels created for a limited period to supply relevant content based on an occasion, for instance, Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Halloween, are called pop-up channels. They are taken down once they serve their purpose. 

Pop-up channels offer significant advantages for all stakeholders. Here are a few.

• Thematic viewing experiences: Explicitly created for select occasions, pop-up channels offer highly tailored viewing experiences. For instance, a New Year/Christmas-themed pop-up channel is no less than a treasure trove. 
  
  
• Better monetization opportunities: While viewers enjoy themed channels based on their liking, advertisers get to offer hyper-personalized and targeted ads. These ads are more relevant to the channel's content and provide better monetization opportunities.
  Click here to explore more. 
  
  
• Do more with your content: Content owners and platforms/broadcasters can use pop-up channels to increase the shelf life of their content. For instance, if you have a collection of Christmas-based movies, you could use them to create a holiday-themed channel. Pop-up channels also allow you to reuse your recorded live content. For example, top moments from the last season’s Christmas events. 
  
  
• Run multiple live channels in parallel: For Christmas/New Year-based live events, broadcasters/platforms can run multiple pop-up channels in parallel dedicated to different Holiday themes such as music concerts, theater performances, and much more. 

Saving big bucks for broadcasters

If you are a traditional broadcaster, investing in pop-up channels might seem costly, given that these channels run for a few days in a year. However, for broadcasters with cloud-based playout systems, there is no capital expenditure, and thus, pop-up channels can be scaled much more economically. Just pay for the days you are running the channel. That’s it!  

Powered by the cloud, pop-up channels can be run remotely from anywhere worldwide, not necessarily a brick-and-mortar studio. Cloud operations also eliminate the need for heavy equipment and large media crews, thus helping save some dollars. 

Read more: Unleash growth & agility with unified broadcast workflows on cloud

What do you need to launch a pop-up channel?

Pop-up channels are a must-have in today's world, given their advantages. If you are a broadcaster, now is the right time to plan a few holiday launches. The first and foremost thing you need to do is – partner with a robust cloud-based solution like Amagi CLOUDPORT that allows you to spin up broadcast-grade channels on the go. 

The most critical part about creating a pop-up channel is being able to launch it quickly. Amagi CLOUDPORT lets you do that within a matter of a few hours. Some of the other key advantages include:

• Agility: Launch a pop-up channel without disrupting your existing TV or OTT workflows 

• Advanced dynamic graphics: Create immersive experiences with thematic and powerful graphics such as lower thirds, tickers, picture-in-picture ads, and more

• Broadcast-grade channels: Offer UHD-ready channels for an uplifting viewing experience

The holiday season is almost here, giving you the perfect opportunity to launch a pop-up channel and make the most of it. 

The audiences are ready for you. Are you?
Get the Amagi advantage. 

Reach out to us at cloudandme@amagi.com.