TV Navigator from strategy to execution

Forged by experience

Your business is changing fast — and that is not necessarily a bad thing. With the right mindset and the right strategy, the disruption of TV and video is a huge opportunity.

For years we saw clients struggle with digital disruption. Writing an RFP with perfectly predicted requirements for some distant point in time — or running a service environment for a constantly-evolving system — can paralyse processes that need to be lean and fast. Our efforts to effectively surface, align and document strategic priorities for these organisations grew into the TV Navigator.

Since its first inception, the TV Navigator has been used by dozens of operators, service providers and other TV-industry stakeholders. It is never a finished product, but a model that keeps evolving. We release it under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licence: copy, redistribute, remix and use it in any form, as long as you give appropriate credit.

How to fill out the TV Navigator

The TV Navigator lets you document your priorities across ten strategic domains related to the TV and video industry:

• Three domains on vision: business, proposition and value type.
• Four domains on product and technology: content, network, access and device.
• Three domains on operations: service design, data and (future) technology.

Using the TV Navigator

Filling out the TV Navigator is a great exercise in itself. It forces you to think about what defines your strategy. In the real world we have used it in several different scenarios that may be relevant to you:

• Assessing whether an RFP you are putting out matches your strategic priorities.
• Filling out two versions — current strategy and target ambition — to map the steps to get from here to there.
• Having multiple people fill it out separately, then running a joint session to find overlap and divergence.

The ten categories

• Business — Which markets are you targeting? How will you compete? How will you differentiate?
• Proposition — How do you create value? Who is your target market? What is your offer? How do you create revenue?
• Value type — Leader, challenger, innovator or smart follower? Focusing on a specific niche?
• Content — Your own content like Netflix, user-generated like YouTube, VOD, linear, live, sports?
• Network — Maximise the use of your existing network? Closed network, open internet, MVNO? Others operating on your network?
• Access — How will end-users access your service?
• Device — Which devices are you targeting with your service?
• Service design — How are operations, support and lifecycle management organised around the service?
• Data — How do you use data to inform strategic and operational decisions?
• (Future) technology — What technology do you need to support now — and what is around the corner?

Align strategic priorities with your activities

The TV Navigator helps you align strategic priorities with business activities. It is a great first step in a process that can significantly improve your ability to survive and thrive in a market going through unprecedented change. It can be used on its own, but is most effective as the kicking-off point for a bigger process.