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NEW YORK — Despite the growing popularity of over-the-top (OTT) TV services and the ever-increasing number of players in the space, several challenges remain for companies offering those services and TV Everywhere solutions, according to media and technology executives who spoke at the Next TV Summit Oct. 19. “We really haven’t fulfilled on the promise” offered by TV Everywhere for several reasons, Epix CEO Mark Greenberg said. “It’s still difficult to authenticate new devices, to search for content you want to watch, to navigate the user interface,” he said. Research studies also show that many TV viewers don’t even know it’s offered, he said, advising companies in the space to become more “proactive.”

Greenberg also suggested that companies stop worrying so much about bundles and more about providing “new experiences.” There are four key ways that companies can achieve that, he went on to say. First, it’s important for the industry to “acknowledge that syndication as we knew it has died and become something else,” largely the result of the success of Netflix in creating a “whole new market” for past seasons of TV shows he said, adding: “Programmers and operators have to find an economic model that keeps previous seasons in our ecosystem or TV Everywhere will continue to pale in comparison to newcomers” offering alternative on-demand TV services.

Search and discovery also must be improved on TV Everywhere services, and the entire experience of interacting with the content must also be “as streamlined as possible” for users, from authentication to the user interface, Greenberg said. He singled out Comcast’s X1 as the “best possible” TV Everywhere experience for its customers. Once companies have a strong TV Everywhere solution, they must also “communicate just how much value” the service is offering to customers, he said.

Traditional media companies like Epix have “no reason to be afraid” of new technologies, Greenberg said. “Competition has always made us better,” he said, pointing to the innovation that happened after the arrival of satellite TV, including the introductions of new TV channels and high-definition. “Competition has motivated us to deliver better product and create a better experience,” he said. Skinnier bundles and a “price war,” on the other hand, are not the best ways to meet the challenges created by new technologies and non-traditional TV delivery services, he said.

By 2025, 75% of the workforce is going to be made up of millennials and that shift in demographics is already being felt in terms of how consumers behave and consume content, Chad Andrews, IBM global solutions leader of cloud video, said later during an OTT panel.

When launching an OTT service, it’s imperative for a company to select the “right vendor” for the platform that’s used, Andrews said. Unlike prior content distribution models, “every new viewer” of OTT content has a “variable cost associated with them,” he said. Therefore, having an “efficient infrastructure” is imperative with an OTT service, he said, adding the “third and most important” issue that must be considered when launching a new OTT service is making sure if it’s “going to work” and has the right content for the customers it’s planning to reach.

One relatively new OTT service that seems to be thriving is Sony’s PlayStation (PS) Vue. Since launching last year in only select markets, it has become available across the U.S., Dwayne Benefield, VP and head of PS Vue at Sony Network Entertainment, pointed out in a session devoted to that OTT service. Challenges that Sony faced when launching the service included developing the right technology to stream live TV, he said. Sony saw significant growth when it went national and that “robust” growth has continued, he said, without disclosing any subscriber numbers.

Sony’s PS Vue goals include becoming available “on all the streaming platforms” that are available to consumers and making more channels available to users, he said. More device launches are coming, he said, without elaborating. Sony has seen “very good uptick” on all four of the plan options it offers, including the highest-priced Ultra package it recently added that offers premium channels including HBO and Showtime, he said.