Limelight Networks (LLNW) made the smart choice of getting into the broadcast space. If Akamai grew its “Media Delivery Solutions” revenue to $71M in six months ending June 30, 2014 from prior year, there’s room for LLNW to increase its annual media revenue. Under the previous business model, LLNW was not successful increasing its annual revenue. The broadcast offering gives them another shot at improving its fortune. If LLNW increases annual revenue by $50M in 2 years, its a success. However, based on the current news in the press and the information gathered from LLNW website, they need help with their broadcast offering strategy.
Recommendations for LLNW
Selling to the broadcaster sector requires a different skill set than selling to studios (movie, post houses, labs, distributors). Selling to broadcasters / studios is night & day different than selling B2C video streaming services. No way LLNW can takes its current CDN salesforce and train them to sell to broadcasters / studios. Its just too difficult and time consuming. Here is our advice for LLNW, and its the best advice anyone can give to LLNW:
- Create a fourth offering called Content Exchange and emphasize it on the home page
- Build a new Broadcast / Studio team from scratch. Hire them from the outside
- Hire 4 sales reps from Deluxe and 1 from Technicolor
- Hire sales manager from Deluxe, and call him General Manager
- Hire two sales engineers: one from Dalet and one from Avid
- Hire two software developers (Dalet & Deluxe) that are dedicated to improving workflows and integrations between LLNW & customers
Conclusion
If LLNW follows this advice, and gives the new team some leeway into the decision making, they will have the best broadcast / studio sales organization of all CDNs. It will cost LLNW the following: 10 folks x $200k annual salary = $2M/year. The folks from Deluxe, Dalet, and Technicolor will bring a whole new dynamic to the salesforce who will help close new broadcast / studio accounts. Once that is said and done, the biggest competitor LLNW will face is Deluxe, the 800 lbs. giant of that space.