In the current media landscape, the “Streaming War” isn’t just fought with content; it’s fought with speed. For traditional TV broadcasters, the ability to launch a new product feature or pivot a digital strategy in weeks—not years—is the only way to stay relevant against tech-native giants.
But there is a silent killer of speed in our industry: the quest for the perfect, universal data model.
The Need for Speed (and Real-Time Insights)
To compete, two things must happen:
- Rapid Innovation: New product ideas must move from whiteboard to production without being suffocated by endless “alignment meetings.”
- Instant Feedback: We need to analyze the success of these ideas in real-time. If a new recommendation algorithm or a UI change isn’t working, we need the data to tell us now, not in next quarter’s report.
Domain-Driven Design: Breaking the Alignment Marathon
Traditional Enterprise Data Models (EDM) aim for a single “source of truth” where every term is defined globally. In a complex TV station, this is a trap. A “program” means something different to the licensing department than it does to the playout team or the ad-sales department.
By adopting Strategic Domain-Driven Design (DDD), we recognize that a “Ubiquitous Language” only works within a specific domain boundary.
- Autonomous Teams: When teams own their domain language, they gain high development speed.
- Reduced Friction: Alignment only happens at the borders.
- Analytical Power: By extending this autonomy into the analytical space through Data Products, teams can make data-driven decisions locally and quickly.
Govern the Joins, not the Attributes
Industry standards like EBUCore+ are impressive, but they are heavyweight. They define so many entities and attributes that implementing them across an entire organization feels like a marathon with no finish line.
My proposal? Radical reduction. Data Governance should focus on a minimal central ontology—identifying core entities (like a “Creation” or “Asset”) and their global Identifiers.
- Keep it lean: Don’t mandate a hundred attributes.
- Focus on connectivity: As long as every system can respond to a specific ID, the data can be linked.
- The Golden Rule: Govern the joins, not the attributes. This allows small teams to innovate without waiting for a central “Data Pope” to approve their local schema.
Search is the New Archive
We need to stop obsessing over rigid, structured archive metadata formats for every single item. Instead, we should embrace a discovery-first approach:
- Central Search Layer: Collect data in a central search index. It doesn’t matter which piece of information you bring to the table—if it’s in the index, you find the item.
- Pointer Strategy: The search result simply points to the source system(s) or the archive where the physical asset resides. This turns the archive from a data silo into a searchable resource.
The Role of Enterprise Architecture (EA)
There is often a gap between Data Governance and the actual tech stack. Data Governance excels at stewardship and business alignment, but it often lacks the technical depth to shape operational systems.
This is where Enterprise Architecture (EA) comes in. Using frameworks like TOGAF, EA looks at the big picture:
- Business Architecture: Does this data flow support the actual process?
- Application & Infrastructure: Can the system handle the bandwidth and latency requirements? Is the API gateway scalable?
While Data Governance provides the “what” and the “why,” EA provides the “how.” An EA-driven approach ensures that data principles are not just decorative PDFs but are technically enforceable and aligned with the overall IT strategy.
Conclusion: From Control to Enablement
The era of the monolithic, slow-moving data department is over. To succeed in the streaming war, we must trade total central control for governed autonomy. By focusing on lean ontologies, unique identifiers, and a holistic Enterprise Architecture, we stop building data silos and start building a high-speed data highway.
We don’t need everyone to speak the exact same language; we just need to make sure they can talk to each other when it matters.