Video: The online video Maxdome has been around for quite some time. The video readers voted you to the best American onlinevideo at the last reader selection. Please tell your electors where Maxdome is today.
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Andreas Heyden: First of all I would like to thank the readers of the video for the price. The whole Maxdome team was very happy about the result. Maxdome was launched in 2006, was the world's first online video store with Abomodell and is since then a decisive driver for video on demand. That is why we see it as a great success that online video stores have now arrived in the middle of society. The range of our content ranges from special children's films through feature films and comedy to the latest US series. It is easy for everyone and as the numbers show us: our customers also use the range in the width.
Video: Maxdome is not only the oldest, but also the most used online video store in the United States. This can be seen in the Annual Report of Pro7Sat1 AG. However, the competition does not sleep, especially Amazon Instant Video has expanded its offer at the beginning of the year massively. What do you do to keep your position?
Heyden: We are market leaders, have a great experience and a very strong position after eight years. We will continue to orient ourselves to our customers and tailor the product to their needs. As for films and series, which we offer for regular users in the package as subscription, as well as in the single-copy for customers, who want to try our offer only once or without commitment. In addition, Maxdome is available on most devices: as the first provider, we now have apps for the three major mobile platforms iOS, Android and Windows. Almost every tablet owner can view content from his Maxdome package. We have been represented on smart TVs and game consoles for years. And we have special offers in many areas: only at Maxdome, for example, are previews - so series sequences, even before first broadcasting on the TV. We also have the biggest offer on American TV series. It is often underestimated how much the demand is.
Video: We were able to find in tests but also already, that especially with Maxdome often of certain series not all the relays are online. Is this saved or what is the reason for this?
Heyden: The licensing and publication of series stadiums is very complex. Series with ongoing stories such as "Breaking Bad" are often seen in the "Binge Watching": The viewer sees many episodes one after the other and immerses himself completely into the story. For such series we also offer this. In the case of episodic sitcoms such as "How I met your mother", however, it is more important to always make the most recent effects available. We also meet this desire by, for example, offering the current episode for sale one day after US first broadcasting. Nevertheless, of course, we try to show all the series of a series completely in our offer. However, there is still a need for optimization in the evaluation strategies of the studios, since we can offer partial content only for a limited time.
Video: Maxdome has significantly reduced the package price in the last year and a half and reduced the notice period to two weeks at the end of the month. What brought about the number of subscribers and sales?
Heyden: We have not only reduced the price and notice periods, but also simplified the offer in structure and presentation. Last April we had over 20 different offers. Now there is only one offer at a price. Our relaunch in the summer was also very positively received by the customers: compared to the previous year, we doubled our number of customers.
Video: We had the impression in the last tests after the price reduction that the offer of powerful films in the Maxdome package against the competition a little. What is the main focus of the Maxdome package and how do you best acquire new subscribers?
Heyden: Your impression deceives. We offer our customers the largest selection of attractive films and since then have extended our offer by over 1,000 feature films. In addition, through content agreements with more than 180 licensors, we are constantly securing fresh content for our customers. The focus of our offer is on series as well as on feature films. We always make the experience that the viewers come to us because of well-known films and then remain because of the series. The areas complement each other perfectly.
Video: How do you decide which movies and series to offer with the highest priority?
Heyden: We plan our portfolio selection using various evaluations. Every day, we look closely at the content of our viewers. Sometimes, we're looking at what's most common about Google or in illegal BitTorrent networks. We try to include these contents as much as possible in our program to provide a very good legal alternative to the exchange exchanges.
Video: Which part of your two offers is currently more important - the subscription package or single-shot?
Heyden: The two divisions are balanced side by side - in the customer base as well as in sales. It can be seen that the customers are very faithful in the single fetch and use Maxdome regularly, instead of borrowing or buying current feature films from the video store. The subscription customers use our offer more in the entire width and with a strong focus on the serial contents. There are a number of studies that are predicting strong growth in the subscription offer for the coming years. I see this similar.
Video: Is the subscription not also a cheaper alternative to pay TV?
Heyden: No, Maxdome does not compete with either free or pay TV. The media usage behavior is becoming more and more fragmented, and there are correspondingly different forms of supply. Clearly it is great if you can watch a series on Maxdome anytime and anywhere. For this, the subscribers are also willing to pay for something. However, this is more to the detriment of the DVD usage or the classic video store around the corner than at the expense of pay TV.
Video: That Abo-Videotheken can cause a real boom, is in the US at Netflix to observe, which indeed indeed the big TV networks fear the fear. If we interpret all the signs correctly, Netflix is likely to start in the United States in the course of the year. How do you prepare maxdome for these powerful competitors?
Heyden: Netflix should consider whether they start in countries like the United States and France. Nevertheless, both are very complex markets compared to the countries in which Netflix is already represented. Films are typically synchronized, in contrast to Scandinavia and the Netherlands. It is not easy for Netflix, but another competitor brings more power to the topic and the market also offers a lot of space. Compared to television, we are still very young and clear. An average household receives more than 80 channels. We currently have three relevant online video stores in the United States. And Maxdome is very well positioned in many respects - through our many years of cooperations with many film producers and our good relations with equipment manufacturers. The ProSiebenSat.1 Group also maintains business relations with Netflix. The subsidiary "Red Arrow" produces for Netflix, for example, the series "Lillyhammer". And the Netflix series "House of Cards" was also available at Maxdome.
Video: A propos of more expensive content: Does the new compensation scheme of American online video stores with the GEMA movies and subscription packages actually become more expensive in the future?
Heyden: No. The new remuneration system will not affect subscription prices.
Video: Apart from the offer of films and series - what are you planning on technical innovations at Maxdome? There are first movies with 5.1 channel, in a presentation is even of Dolby True HD talk. What can we expect in the near future?
Heyden: We are also investing further in the technical quality, for example in 5.1 sound. Customers are actively looking for technically high-quality films, also with cinema-sound. We want to offer all available new products with 5.1 channel. Also the topic 4K on the new UHD-TV we carry before us, that will definitely come. Since an online video store has of course against the classic TV transmission ways great advantages. We are talking about it with major partners from the TV industry and will soon announce further steps.
Video: Thank you very much for the detailed discussion.
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