The global content protection market is expected to reach $1.95 billion by 2024, expanding at a CAGR of 2.3 per cent, said a new report from growth partnership company Frost & Sullivan.

New-age holistic content protection solutions that protect not only content but also user data and customer reputation are expected to drive the next wave of growth in the global content protection market, added the report titled “Global Content Protection Market, Forecast to 2024”.

 These solutions need to address the concerns of content owners and distributors of both digital and traditional channels, without significantly adding to their overheads. The convergence of media ecosystem is encouraging content owners to move away from standalone solutions and, instead, implement end-to-end anti-piracy solutions for monitoring illegal sites and preventing content theft. In response, vendors are making changes to their business roadmaps and positioning themselves as one-stop shops for all of the security needs of media companies.

"There has been a dramatic shift in the way content is consumed, with viewers switching from big TV sets to handheld devices such as mobile phones, laptops, and tablets. This has prompted media companies to offer multi-screen content, which, in turn, is driving security vendors to adopt a comprehensive closed-loop approach to securing media assets across all available distribution modes,” said Swetha R K, Digital Transformation Senior Research Analyst at Frost & Sullivan.

"Hybrid solutions combining the capabilities of conditional access systems (CAS) and digital rights management (DRM) systems will be especially effective in protecting content over unmanaged networks and devices in the medium and long terms."

Frost & Sullivan’s analysis provides a comprehensive analysis of trends, perspectives, competitors and market forecasts until 2024. It covers the segments of CAS, DRM, and digital watermarking across the regions of North America and Latin America; Europe, Middle East, and Africa; and Asia-Pacific. CAS are estimated to account for 59.0 per cent of the global revenues.

"Although NALA (North America Latin America) remains the strongest market, accounting for close to 43.0 per cent of the global content protection business, it is showing signs of saturation and will derive its revenues primarily from IP upgrades or newer solutions such as watermarking," noted Swetha. "Therefore, vendors are exploring opportunities in the emerging economies of Asia-Pacific and Central and Eastern Europe."

The most successful vendors in this dynamic market will be the ones that are agile enough to alter their business models and tap revenue opportunities by:

•    Developing anti-piracy technologies in-house or by partnering with service providers. Vendors have not only developed anti-piracy solutions that detect and prevent theft but have also established partnerships with legal agencies to take action against content thieves.
•    Selling cybersecurity solutions along with CAS and DRM solutions to media customers.
•    Applying advanced technologies such as analytics and Artificial Intelligence to monitor, predict, and prevent leakages by leveraging database of websites or IP addresses known to distribute content illegally.
•    Expanding footprint in emerging markets such as China, Japan, India, and Korea. – TradeArabia News Service