Synamedia, formerly Cisco's Service Provider Video Software Solutions (SPVSS) group, has launched Credentials Sharing Insight, a software solution intended to help streaming video service providers combat password sharing between friends and families and turn it into a new revenue-generating opportunity. The solution can also be used to detect and shut down large-scale, for-profit credentials sharing accounts run by fraudsters.
Media research firm Magid says 26% of millennials share passwords for video streaming services, while Parks Associates predicts that in 2021, $9.9 billion of pay TV revenues and $1.2 billion of OTT revenues will be lost to credentials sharing.
Using AI, behavioral analytics and machine learning, Synamedia Credentials Sharing Insight is designed to identify, monitor and analyze credentials sharing activity across streaming accounts. Real-time dashboards highlight unusual sharing activity including alerts and trend analysis.
By integrating the credentials sharing policy engine with its subscriber database, the operator can apply specific policies - such as an action to upsell - to any account whose sharing score exceeds a predefined threshold. The information is intended to help marketing teams find account sharers without harassing customers.
For example, the solution can determine whether users are viewing at their main home and a holiday home, or whether they have shared credentials with friends or grown-up children who live away from home. If the latter, then subscribers are offered a premium shared account service that includes a pre-authorized level of password sharing and a higher number of concurrent users.
The learning system's analytics take advantage of the collective, anonymized intelligence gained from multiple Synamedia customers.
"Casual credentials sharing is becoming too expensive to ignore. Our new solution gives operators the ability to take action. Many casual users will be happy to pay an additional fee for a premium, shared service with a greater number of concurrent users. It's a great way to keep honest people honest while benefiting from an incremental revenue stream," said Jean Marc Racine, CPO and GM EMEA of Synamedia.
Synamedia Credentials Sharing Insight is available as a cloud or on-premises offering, as a stand-alone product, or managed via Infinite, Synamedia's cloud-based multiscreen platform. The solution forms part of Synamedia's VideoGuard portfolio.