Over The Top

OTT Terminology
Video content-Video content can be viewed on any device, including computers, mobile devices, televisions, OTT devices, etc.

Over-the-Top (OTT) Content: Content from a provider of OTT data (such as Sling TV). Multiple devices can view OTT services, including computers, mobile devices, OTT devices, and more.

Over-the-Top (OTT) devices: Any device used to consume OTT content that is not a desktop, laptop, or mobile device. Smart TVs, Apple TVs, Chromecast, PlayStation, Xbox, Amazon Fire Sticks and other streaming devices are some of the examples.

Over the top (OTT) is a term used to refer to content providers who distribute streaming media directly to consumers via the Internet as a standalone product, bypassing telecommunications, multi-channel television and broadcasting platforms that traditionally act as controllers or distributors of such content.

Usually, top services are accessed the websites on personal computers, mobile apps (such as smartphones or tablets), digital media players (including video game consoles), or TVs with embedded smart TV platforms.

Over the top (OTT) content is accessed by millions worldwide across various channels. Over the past few years, OTT content, which can be viewed as an Internet-based media alternative to traditional entertainment, has been substantially prominent compared to conventional forms of communication.

During the forecast period (2017-2023), the OTT content market is expected to grow at 14 % CAGR.

Global streaming video content (Over the Top OTT) revenues, according to Digital TV Research, will reach USD 129 billion by 2023, up from current USD 50 billion, demonstrating the substantial growth opportunities ahead.

Customized content has proven highly successful in targeting the target audience. In addition, OTT content providers render original content of high quality that specifically competes with material produced and shared on more traditional means of communication.

Advertising also travels digital and uses OTT advertising as a method to meet targeted audiences. The industry is expected to accept new competitors in the near future, which will include TV service providers and digital internet providers, and can be due to aggressive business strategies provided by OTT media providers to end consumers.

Key players are engaging in the development of new OTT services and innovative technology. The Over the Top Services Market is likely to see some cross-over with traditional content providers joining. New entrants may struggle to find a foothold without separating themselves effectively from existing players, but there is a lot of potential for growth in this niche market, which is expected to reach USD 129 billion by the end of 2023.

Two common examples include OTT content and OTT messaging. However, both OTT content and messaging still require internet access, cable, DSL, or a cellular data connection. OTT services do not offer a list of channels. Instead, shows and movies must be selected individually, can be downloaded and watched on demand.

One of the most commonly used ways to record, compress, and distribute the business’s video content is a H.264 file type. Thus, based on what one plans on doing with the files, for exporting video may be chosen other common types of files encoding compression as: H.265, MPEG, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, MPEG-DASH.

Over-the-top content refers to movies and television shows that are delivered directly to users. Popular OTT mediums include Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and HBO Now, free services like YouTube and Vimeo. When your content skips over the middlemen and goes directly to the consumer it’s called DTC: Netflix, which doesn’t need to find a TV channel to show their content.
Multichannel Video Programming Distributor (MVPD) is something like a cable provider — a service that delivers packages of TV channels.

Comcast, one of the biggest MPVDs in the industry, offers packages past 200 channels.

Because OTT service is relatively cheap, many users purchase multiple OTT subscriptions as an alternative to monthly fees for the cable or satellite TV.

OTT is the term used to deliver film and TV content over the Internet without requiring users to subscribe to a traditional cable or satellite pay-TV service such as a Comcast or Time Warner Cable.
OTT stands for “Over – the-top.” OTT refers to Internet-based data that sidesteps traditional media. The OTT content and OTT messaging are two common examples.

Over-the-top Content
Over-the-top content refers to directly delivered movies and TV shows to users. OTT content can be downloaded and viewed on demand instead of requiring a cable or satellite television subscription. Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and HBO Now are popular OTT mediums. Free services such as YouTube and Vimeo are also considered OTT, although they are less directly competitive with TV providers.

OTT services do not provide a channel list. Instead, the viewers select individual shows and movies and watch them on demand. While traditional providers such as Comcast and DIRECTV offer on-demand content as well as live shows, OTT providers typically pay multiple times their monthly fees. Since OTT service is relatively cheap ($8-$ 15 a month), many users buy multiple OTT subscriptions as an alternative to cable or satellite television.

Over-the-top Messaging Text messaging (or SMS messaging) has been the standard way to communicate with someone using a mobile phone for many years. In 2009, WhatsApp introduced a free way to communicate with other users without using SMS. In 2011, Apple introduced iMessage, which uses Apple’s own free messaging service rather than SMS or MMS. As these alternative messaging options grew in popularity, many cellular service providers increased their number.

OTT can be mainly divided into three different revenue models: SVOD (subscription-based services such as Netflix, Amazon and Hulu); AVOD (free and ad-supported services such as Crackle); and TVOD (transactional services such as iTunes, Vimeo On Demand and Amazon Instant Video which enable users to pay for individual content).

Common, OTT Terms & Acronyms
OTT – Over The Top – This is the no intermediaries, direct-to-consumer, web-based content distribution. Example: StarTalk All Access’s Roku app is the OTT hub for all technology.
VOD – Video On Demand – This is Video on Demand if the programming is not live and the consumer chooses the content to play. Example: Night Flight has some of the country’s best horror VOD.
APP – Application – These are the programs that you download from their respective stores to hardware and ecosystems. Example: Just pick up the App Store’s new Anthony Cumia app and start watching.
STB – Set Top Box – A device that runs OTT video connected to the internet. Example: Apple TV is one of the market’s most popular STBs.
AFTV – Amazon Fire TV: Amazon’s content streaming set-top box. Example: Take the remote, it’s time to watch some AFTV Global Citizen.
tvOS – Apple TV Operating System – This is the Apple TV set-top box program. Example: Do you have the new tvOS updated yet? I hear some functionality added by Apple.
OVP – Online Video Platform – Uploading, storing and distributing content online for users. Example: The key to finding the right OVP for your business is to monetize and scale it up.
PS4 – Playstation 4 / Gaming – media device from Sony.
DTC – Direct To Customer – If the product goes over the intermediaries and goes to the customer directly.
AVOD – Video on Request Ads – Use ads as a means of monetization. Example: Hulu’s tiered AVOD system seems to work well for them, I’m not sure that I know anyone who’s been commercial-free for more money.
SVOD – Video on Request Subscription – Use subscriptions as a means of monetization. Example: Netflix viewers have risen since Stranger Things are a success, so this quarter their SVOD platform is doing very well.
TVOD – Transactional Video on Request – Uses payments as a means of monetization (purchases, leases, etc.). Example: the iTunes Store helps me to own or rent movies, making money from the TVOD service.
MVPD – Multichannel Video Programming Distributor – This is something like a cable service provider — a service that delivers TV channel services. Example: Comcast is one of the industry’s leading MPVDs, selling packages over 200 channels
CDN – Content Delivery Network – Proxy servers in multiple data centers to deliver high-quality, high-performance content to the audience. Example: Amazon provides a powerful CDN option through AWS with its Amazon CloudFront.
AR/VR – Increased Reality / Virtual Reality -Recent ways of viewing content, usually using technologically advanced goggles or headsets, or using the camera on mobile devices. Example: The VR headset for Playstation is the least expensive AND has a lot of content ready to go.
EST – Electronic Sales For – free streaming, this is when you purchase content online. Example: That fee is called an EST when you bought Die Hard from iTunes.
CMS – Content Management System -This is the backend software that you use, like WordPress, to manage your content. Example: The dashboard of Zype is a single-pane glass CMS that allows you to control everything from distribution to monetization and analytics.
IPTV – Internet Protocol Television – Delivering your content or internet programming in “IP packets” encoded. Example: IPTV is changing how we watch TV — directly through the internet.
RTMP – Real Time Messaging Protocol – Adobe has since purchased and partially released it for everyone, originally proprietary tech for sending audio / video / data between Flash players and a server. Example: I would consider looking at RTMP if you want high-quality VOD and live media.
MSO – Multiple system operators – Companies owning or operating two or more cable television systems. Example: AT&T owns Uverse and DirecTV, which makes them an excellent MSO.
VBR – Variable Bitrate – Some kind of bitrate used in sound / video encoding, but for each time segment the files vary the output data. Example: It may be slightly slower, but during your streaming, a VBR will give you great quality.
CBR – Constant bitrate – CBR is the constant data output of a codec when compared to the “variable” bitrate. Example: CBR handles audio faster than VBR, but you don’t get great storage and quality optimization like VBR.
DRM – Digital rights management – This is digital media copyright protection. Example: The DRM is super strong in this video, I can only watch it on my own computer, signed into my own account, so I can’t share it with anyone else.
CPM – Cost Per Thousand Impressions – A commonly used form of measurement in advertising, denoting the price of 1,000 advertising impressions on one webpage. Example: The CPM is about $2 per 1,000 impressions for that ad.
DAR – Digital ad rankings – Including Nielsen’s TV ratings, what you market online or phones. Example: One of the simplest ways to measure ROI advertising is to use Nielsen’s DAR to figure out how the advertisements are conducted the next day.
RAF – Roku Ad Framework – Roku set-top box advertising. Example: The RAF wants to help you monetize by putting video ad features right into your SDK.
MRR – Monthly Recurring Revenue – How much money a company can predict to earn every 30 days or every month. Example: We really started in 2016: our MRR was close to $16,000!
VAST – Video Ad Serving Template – A standard for ad and video player communication requirements. Example: The video player needs to initiate a request to a VAST ad server before an ad can be delivered.
VPAID – Description of Interface Supporting Video Player Ad / A common interface between video players and ad systems. The ads can then be in-stream interactive. Example: VPAID stacking on top of VAST gives you a more stable ad experience as VPAID helps you to execute an ad.
VMAP – Video Multiple Ad Playlist – If the video player or transmission source is not managed, VMAP is an XML framework that can be used to set up the ad insertion “structure”.
IMA – Interactive Media Ads –  Video-based ads, like banners, that may be linear or nonlinear. Example: Google IMA should support us mid-roll linear ads, while consumers seem to be comfortable with normal ad-breaks such as on TV.
RSS – Real Simple Syndication – Many packaged stream formats that are often used to publish things, such as forums, news headlines, audio, video, etc. Example: Feedily eat all your favorite RSS feeds and pose them in a readable and convenient fashion for you.
MRSS – Media Real Simple Syndication – This is an RSS extension that syndicates RSS feeds to multimedia files such as audio, video, and images. Example: You can import videos to Zype using MRSS.
SDK – Software Developers Kit –  This is what applications are written by programmers. Usually, the programs include ways to edit and test how new apps and features work. Example: The new Android SDK makes the creation of apps super easy, but it also makes it easy to side-load the new OS updates.
HLS – HTTP Live Streaming – The video messaging protocol from Apple is part of QuickTime, OS X, macos, and Safari. Example: if you had to choose between HLS and RTMP which one you would pick?
HTML5 – Hyper Text Markup Language 5 -This is the third and latest edition of HTML, the language used to display things on the internet to the world. Example: All YouTube videos are now shown by default using their HTML5 players.

Common File-Types: H.264, H.265, MPEG, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, MPEG-DASH, File Encoding/Compression // You need to choose a form of encoding, compression, and file extension when exporting video. Based on what you plan to do with your files, specifically video, you’d choose one of these. Example: H.264 is one of the most common ways of recording, compressing, and distributing the video content of your business.

PRORES
Apple Lossy Video Compression Format // A compression format used primarily for post-production from Apple that supports up to 8k. Example: We have all these files in ProRes, time to upload them to Final Cut Pro and work on editing them.

Marketing Issues To avoid the annoyance of the audience with the ad breaks, when one doesn’t control the video player or distribution outlet, one can use the VMAP (Video Multiple Ad Playlist), which is an XML template with a “structure” for ad insertion.

Digital Ad Ratings (DAR) evaluate how the ads did online and mobile, like Nielsen’s TV ratings.
The RAF (Roku Ad Framework), an advertising on the Roku set-top box, helps to monetize by putting video ad functionality.

A common interface between video players and ad units is the VPAID (Video Player Ad Serving Interface Definition) allows the ads to be interactive in-stream.

Video-based ads or IMA (Interactive Media Ads) can be linear or nonlinear, like banners helping to make the customers to be okay with natural ad-breaks when using the Internet like on television.

Management Issues Originally proprietary tech for sending audio video data between Flash players and a server is a RTMP (Real Time Messaging Protocol) which allows high-quality life media.

Adobe has purchased it and partially-released it for everyone. The HLS (HTTP life Streaming) communications protocol was offered by Apple and is a part of QuickTime, OS X, iOS, and Safari.

The backend software to manage the content, like WordPress, is called CMS (Content Management System). For example, a Zype’s dashboard lets control everything from distribution to monetization and analytics.

OTT is the term used to deliver film and TV content over the Internet without requiring users to subscribe to a traditional cable or satellite pay-TV service such as a Comcast or Time Warner Cable.

OTT stands for “Over – the-top.” OTT refers to Internet-based data that sidesteps traditional media. The OTT content and OTT messaging are two common examples.

Over-the-top Content Over – the-top content refers to directly delivered movies and TV shows to users. OTT content can be downloaded and viewed on demand instead of requiring a cable or satellite television subscription. Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and HBO Now are popular OTT mediums. Free services such as YouTube and Vimeo are also considered OTT, although they are less directly competitive with TV providers.

OTT services do not provide a channel list. Instead, the viewers select individual shows and movies and watch them on demand. While traditional providers such as Comcast and DIRECTV offer on-demand content as well as live shows, OTT providers typically pay multiple times their monthly fees. Since OTT service is relatively cheap ($8-$ 15 a month), many users buy multiple OTT subscriptions as an alternative to cable or satellite television.

Over-the-top Messaging
Text messaging (or SMS messaging) has been the standard way to communicate with someone using a mobile phone for many years. In 2009, WhatsApp introduced a free way to communicate with other users without using SMS. In 2011, Apple introduced iMessage, which uses Apple’s own free messaging service rather than SMS or MMS. As these alternative messaging options grew in popularity, many cellular service providers increased their number.

OTT can be mainly divided into three different revenue models: SVOD (subscription-based services such as Netflix, Amazon and Hulu); AVOD (free and ad-supported services such as Crackle); and TVOD (transactional services such as iTunes, Vimeo On Demand and Amazon Instant Video which enable users to pay for individual content).

OTT’s future looks stronger than ever with a 17.4% CAGR and an ambitious forecast sales expected to rise to USD 245 billion by 2028 (Future Market Insights, 2018). Although this booming industry has caused a lot of confusion in the distribution of media and entertainment, it has not halted its growth. Technical advances in video processing, authentication and distribution strategies to the changing business environment which focuses on integration and globalization, new technologies and business development drive OTT’s continuing transition.

Here we look at some of the major trends that will shape the OTT industry in the coming years:
Efficient encoding transcoding: Officially announced back in 2015, with the help of most engineering behemoths, AV1 is definitely a disruptor in the OTT industry. With demonstrated efficiency gains relative with current High-Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) and VP9 codecs, it could potentially lead not only to financial savings, but also to improved QoE.

Introduction of official support in Microsoft Windows (beta at the moment), Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox, and with the release of hardware chips later this year, AV1 is bound to gain a lot of traction.

Subscription price may increase: Now, this is no longer news. Netflix has recently increased its subscription price. So what is this suggesting? SVOD services like Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu etc. lead the OTT market and share the credit to make streaming popular all over the world. While the prices of live and on-demand fuel consumption are easy to access and cut devices and tablets, 2018 has introduced original content. Originals from Netflix, originals from Prime Video kept winning millennials and GenZ made the industry’s top names everywhere a household name. So, if this year’s subscription prices increase, don’t get entertained. We bet that you can’t resist the binge-worthy shows.

Rough weather to continue for Pay-TVs Research shows on average that users will spend 170.6 minutes on the internet every day; video streaming will reach around 332.2 million subscribers, and Roku, Fire TV, and so on will be the main streaming devices behind this mammoth growth. The statistics combined with the increase in regional streaming services and the launch of new media house platforms such as Disney, Warner Brothers etc. clearly suggest that the battle against OTT is far from over for pay-TVs.

Ad-supported Offline Viewing can be a reality: The increased number of OTT users will attract advertisers automatically to take advantage of the platform and market their products or services. In 2019, there will be a significant increase in digital advertising.

According to a report, 49% of Gen Z and 48% of millennials spend a large part of their time streaming online. Advertisers now have a smoother and smarter way of meeting their target audience and earning a big deal. Streaming platforms with an AVoD revenue model are in a win – win situation, as they can make their service completely ad-free by charging more or simply lowering the price, increasing the user base and keeping digital advertisers earning revenue.

Even with 42 % US and 50 %UK SVOD consumers streaming videos for offline viewing, marketers may soon come up with an opportunity to embed advertisements into the material itself. This is again a win – win scenario for both advertisers and video streaming service providers as the latter can pay their customers extra bucks for ad-free viewing.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) to make streaming smarter: Through the recommendation engine, the OTT industry has already had a glimpse of the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Recommendation engines are by far the most evident and discussed in OTT platforms use case of AI. It is particularly useful for platforms that have worked on a subscription-based model as it is instrumental in the discovery of content and user-based segmentation. Recommendation engines with their recommendations in 2019 will be smarter and better, thereby increasing the lifespan of users on any website they browse. Whether it’s OTT or e-commerce websites.

Being Interactive with AR & VR: Research has shown that by 2021, the combined size of the augmented and virtual reality market will reach about $215 billion. There are over 1,760 VR companies operating in various industries including marketing, training, hospitality, and many more. And along with all of this, an additional change is planned in 2019–the VR headsets may no longer require the support of external devices. So, both of these developments will make incredible advances this year and later.

Live Streaming & Short-Form Contents will stay in Vogue: Research says audiences are spending 8X more time streaming video than videos around demand. Beginning from last year’s FIFA World Cup to the Academy Awards, live streaming has been sitting on the table with extensive coverage of all major events. The backstage chitchats are immensely popular among viewers of leading entertainment and sporting events. So, get ready to have a sneak peek of your favorite stars just by pressing the button “start streaming”.

Streaming UHD Videos in Low Latency: With greater appreciation of the OTT industry, the demand for high-quality videos is increasing. Thus viewers are resistant with service interruption to compromise 4 K streaming. This requires the most competent CDN to provide your viewers with low latency. Even a smaller lapse in videos can cause you to lose in number of viewers, according to several studies. Improved video delivery tops the list of deliverables for leading streaming service providers, especially those that start.

Soaring Demand of Cloud Hosting: It is expected that 2019 will be the year of cloud-based OTT platform infrastructure. In addition to extensive storage space for online store owners and their users, it will also help them to launch and expand their services instantly.

Sachet Pricing will enter the Move: In 2019, OTT service providers may sell customers with relatively low-priced subscription plans for a week rather than a month. This will make it easier for audiences to access content online at a relatively lower cost. They can switch to monthly schedule whenever they feel like.

The OTT industry had focused more on technical improvisations and monetization until last year. In 2019, however, the focus will be more on viewing patterns and behavior in content consumption. While quality content will be the primary driver of OTT services, it would be interesting to see the pricing strategy of larger players and how they balance things with their expansion plans.

Convergence through data: OTT Ad spending in 2018 reached a whopping $2bn and providers are increasingly investing in the viewership correlation with consumer buying behaviour. OTT’s convergence with e-commerce, supported by advanced analytics and custom ad-injection, opens up even more revenue models for providers. This also leads us to the next customization trend.

Personalizing for loyalty and revenue: This needs more than just great content to win the trust for the new generation of cord-cutters and cord-nevers, they demand personalized services based on their interests and desires. Personalization is not only required from the content, however, recommendations, subscription plans, metadata and even frontends must be customized to meet the new subscriber era.

Demand for high-quality content: Both technological and industry patterns, enhanced visibility of powerful encoding and distribution technologies, competent user-end equipment pave the way for UHD, 4K, 8K and HDR content to be produced and installed. Providers are increasingly focused on the production of such content and, as 4 K, HDR TVs are becoming popular in homes, the industry will see a high demand in 2019.

Evolving mobile media consumption: With video set to be 78% of all mobile traffic by 2021, higher bandwidth and technical capabilities are increasingly needed. The next cellular communication generation, 5 G, is ready to solve this with the promise of low latency and speeds up to 10Gbps.
And with telcos so broadcasters working together to exploit the capabilities of 5 G, the way mobile users access media content will change in 2019.

Blockchain-powered content protection: In 2019 and beyond, blockchain use in the OTT market is expected to increase, as it can support content creators and marketers archive, catalog, license, and deliver digital content. The unchanging, transparent public blockchain of Blockchain will also allow OTT platforms to enforce more effective policies and controls on access. This will help ensure that digital content stays available to authorized users without interference while protecting it from copyright infringements or online piracy.

OTT beyond entertainment: The combination of mobile internet and smartphones has already made a significant contribution to democratizing education throughout the world. With just one finger-tap away with any and every bit of information, learning is not confined to classrooms alone now. OTT services will help boost this revolution by expanding a classroom’s dimensions further. A classroom will soon become a metaphor for millions of people living-streaming lectures across the globe and across time from being a mere physical part of a building.

The move from the provision of classroom-based education to a virtual self-learning environment is followed by video lectures, live webinars and immersive quizzes. OTT-based virtual training will also allow students to seek multidisciplinary training by taking specific online courses live or registered according to their needs.

Over – the-top applications (OTT) create a “new age” of video.

This apps allow you to stream video whenever you want from your favorite provider, to your favorite phone. You don’t need either a cable subscription or an expensive satellite bundle to do that. You can circumvent all the “normal” networks and charge for the platforms you don’t want or need.

Alternatively, you pay the channel provider a fixed subscription to access what they are offering. Instead, you watch it on the screen you want. If you have a Netflix subscription or have heard about Netflix at least, you know how it looks in action.

Such apps make Television, mobile phones, laptops, desktop computers and cable boxes eligible for video. And how important this exposure to streaming has become in today’s society is not forgotten either.

The OTT market was estimated at 28.04 million in 2015, but by 2022 it is forecast to reach 62.03 billion. Making a market that is just waiting to explode over – the-top streaming. What’s the reason?

Since people want their videos downloaded, on their own, on their computer. This is attested by the popularity of Netflix, Amazon Video and Roku.

This won’t be long before we have less of a “switch” industry and more of a business explosion to every household using OTT services to watch their favorite programs, films and entertainment.

By creating apps, you can exploit any part of this potential audience:
– Televisions
– Tablets
– Streaming Boxes
– Mobile Phones (Android and Apple)

Gone are the days where consumers are willing to put up with ideas such as “appointment tv.” When people want content, they want it now, regardless of where they are, time or phone.

OTT media allows content providers, including B2B companies, to sell their video content directly as a stand-alone product to their target audience.

Rather than operating within the confines of telecommunications companies or broadcasting television platforms, OTT apps allow you to communicate directly with your audience through your own branded mobile and TV devices.

There are currently more than 51 million households in the U.S. who use an OTT platform or app to stream content on a regular basis, representing more than 50% of internet-connected homes in the U.S. They use these apps every day for over 100 minutes.

We have come to a point where people have combined the last 30 years to produce video content more than all the major television networks in the U.S. Not only will video soon be the major source of internet traffic around the world, but more than half of it will be consumed on mobile devices.

Cutting the cord in 2019 is not a new concept for anyone. Millions of people have left traditional cables to pay for Internet broadband and streaming services only.

People are increasingly preferring video content–to the degree that some believe that we are experiencing a post-text era.

Customers want providers to access video content at their convenience. They will not return to consuming content on someone else’s schedule once they have experienced this flexibility. This is demonstrated by the steady decline in cable subscriptions.

Developing an OTT app for mobile and TV devices can help you increase your business audience and income. People have the flexibility to choose the source and schedule of the video content they consume.

The companies can take full advantage of this trend through OTT apps and services. OTT applications have full control, usability and scope of your content.

We have rounded up some of the most commonly used apps and divided the list into several categories: TV Everywhere apps that are linked to traditional cable stations; TV streaming services that are an alternative to cable; and standalone, specialized apps.

What Is TV Everywhere?

TV Everywhere apps and websites are asking viewers to authenticate their TV subscription. Once you have verified your subscription, you can access any channel included in your TV package.

TV viewers can stream live programming and on-demand content from over one hundred networks by using different TV network apps and websites. Users can stream content to authenticated phones, including computers and mobile devices, inside and outside the home.

TV Everywhere for TV customers is free of charge. All you need is to subscribe to the network that you want to watch. It includes live television as well as full episodes of current television shows. You will have access to online channel programming that includes your cable subscription.

However, without incurring cellular data charges, you can watch TV Everywhere as long as you can sign on to Wi-Fi. TV Everywhere quality depends on the strength of the signal available.

However, without incurring cellular data charges, you can watch TV Everywhere as long as you can sign on to Wi-Fi. TV Everywhere quality depends on the strength of the signal available.

What Is Streaming TV Service?

We’ve seen a wave of internet TV apps over the past few years that you can subscribe to as a cable substitute. Streaming TV products are subscription-based but separate from conventional subscriptions to the TV service. Products of streaming TV are distributed over the Internet. Streaming TV providers usually offer a free sample for users to test before purchasing. Often, streaming TV services offer no commitment incentives and users can terminate their subscription without charges. Streaming TV gives viewers an option for those who choose niche content or are unable to access traditional TV services.

What Are Standalone Streaming apps?

Either they are streaming versions of specific channels or they offer specialized content.

The demand for OTT content is still in its infancy and may seem challenging and competitive. But it is also the biggest global entertainment market in decades, so it is not a viable option for advertising marketers to take a waitand-see strategy. Modern television and cable have been shown to be the most powerful medium for brand building and pushing business. Today, with the speed and scope of the global Internet, OTT systems offer the energy of Television.

From hollywood studios with enticing films for a targeted audience; to a radio station with a strong online talent; to a local newsroom looking to introduce a mobile-first content hub, the new video age provides a twofold opportunity. Firstly, media companies can extend existing content for new audiences; and secondly, they can increase public interaction with new content and video interactions.
Dive deep into the highly competitive OTT world without wasting time and money with the wrong planning risks. This whitepaper details five smart strategies to give product owners the trust and authority to build a good OTT bid:

1. Defined clearly a unique strategy of content.

Great content brings even more energy to the video format. Having an oriented and convincing programming approach as the basis for an OTT release is therefore important.
The drastic increase in the number of networks and formats that could target smaller audiences more profoundly was a characteristic of the pay TV era. This phenomenon is exacerbated by digital video. Content creators currently produce programs of all colors, each with a creative vision that speaks to a particular audience.

While some shows may expand their appeal and increase their variety over time, others may flourish as desirable niche offerings. It speaks to OTT’s major advantage over transmitting networks. It is likely or perhaps appropriate that your material speaks to a smaller audience more profoundly than is economically feasible in the traditional TV model.

Note also that you do not need to restrict your OTT content strategy to a linear schedule or a single device. Indeed, one of OTT’s compelling aspects is that your content strategy can offer opportunities to attract audiences across two or three different viewing behaviors. For example, if you have a catalog of dramas worthy of binge viewing on a large screen TV, your OTT service may also offer viewers the opportunity to snack in a promotional run-up to a new release on short-form mobile videos.

2. Build toward maximum business model agility.

Using a mix of free, ad-based subscription and transactional business models, media companies have flourished. Flexibility of the business model is also critical in the OTT ecosystem.

Netflix, Hulu and Amazon all made use of distinct, innovative consumer models that led to their multi-screen TV services being adopted. Hulu launched on the PC as a free, ad-supported service. One of their first upgrades was the ability to stream connected TVs. A select-your-own ad format enhanced user experience and altered the system of ad sales. More recently, a “No Commercials” tier has been added to give viewers even more control and choice regarding their ad exposure.

OTT providers would likely need to play with a combination of business models as media companies have done during the past. The following table provides an overview of the various pricing strategies to be considered.

3. Design a distribution roadmap across platforms and screen sizes.

Video and TV insiders have speculated over the past decade about how many different screen sizes viewers would watch on a regular basis. While the largest screen also covers a plurality of traditional television viewing hours, there are three new monitors in the OTT environment that deserve attention.
Each screen presents a different viewing environment for users. While on every device all types of content are watched, each screen also plays a special role in the overall video experience of the consumer. Media owners need to expose their content assets creatively across this four-screen canvas to drive loyalty and engagement and aim to find a way to effectively and scalably program these experiences.

The Four Screen Experiences:
– TV–THE BIG SCREEN Despite the rapid uptake of desktop and mobile video viewing, the original and largest screen (TV) remains the source of the video market’s largest pool of revenue and value. While not every OTT service has sufficient compelling content to drive premium, immersive and “lean-back” viewing experiences, this traditional TV viewing experience will remain a core value driver for OTT offers. 95 % of ad views on TV-connected OTT devices contain live or long-form TV content, indicating the large screen’s lean-back value.
– SMARTPHONE–THE FIRST Computer While smartphones are commonly used to display long-form information, they produce 63% of their ad views from short-form content. Yet smartphones are also vital to searching, posting, or even creating content. Tune-in alerts and tailored social networking of mobile devices are an established best practice in media companies. From there, another button on the remote smartphone and compelling content can be viewed on the nearest connected screen.
– SCREEN–THE PORTABLE SCREEN The screen has proven particularly appealing for moments in the “lean-back” genre of Television. Live or long-form entertainment accounts for 69 percent of tablet views14. In the four-screen landscape, this gives the tablet a powerful position. While the tablet is convenient with a friend or family member for personalized viewing experiences, it can also be viewed. And while the tablet has mobile features that make it ideal to search, purchase so share entertainment, it also makes for a more comfortable, lean-back viewing experience that can attract viewers into luxury, immersive TV content. A recent report from Digitalsmiths revealed that 37.1 % of respondents who own an iPad or tablet watch video on their device and 90 % of respondents watch video on a weekly basis. The main content categories we watch include premium movies, TV shows, and movie and TV show previews / trailers.
– PC— THE VERSATILE SCREEN The desktop / laptop also drives major content consumption despite its reputation as a more “lean-forward” efficient use setting. According to Freewheel, 40 percent of all video content advertisements are viewed on a desktop or laptop computer. The PC environment is particularly suitable for all content types, with 26% of ad views in live content, 38% in material longer than 20 minutes, and 36% in content shorter than 20 minutes. Most of the leading web video brands with OTT product channels, including YouTube, began of solid browser-based video experiences they keep nurturing.

Mapping a comprehensive four-screen distribution strategy that takes advantage of each screen’s particular strengths will give your OTT brand additional spark when it starts.

4. Adapt TV advertising strategies for your OTT audience to discover, cultivate and create.

Pay TV distribution provides a “built-in” audience level to programmers. Viewers must be engaged in marketing across a range of channels and messaging touchpoints in the OTT model.

Platforms for digital, mobile and TV will help raise awareness. Alternative outlets, however, can also be instrumental in driving growth, including eCommerce, catalog and other physical channels.

Here are five tactics from traditional television marketing operations that OTT providers have adopted:
– ON-AIR PROMOTION. For linear television, on-air promotions remain one of the most valuable driving tactics for viewers. Many local broadcasters have used on-screen talent callouts to drive downloads of apps successfully. Similarly, to promote other videos and channels, successful YouTube channels often use in-video clickable links. And some OTT services have created barker channels for YouTube to promote new services.
– PUBLICITY AND PERIODICALS. It can help to generate buzz by promoting partnerships with entertainment publications. For example, Crackle has collaborated on several marketing campaigns with Entertainment Weekly. Crackle subscribers are offered four free registration issues; and Crackle has been promoted by Entertainment Weekly on its digital platforms, including Facebook.
– SOCIAL. Social networks such as YouTube and Twitter have an increasing role to play in building buzz and driving tune-in for major media brands such as the NBA. Social apps and smartphone push notifications also provide compelling tune-in tactics for OTT services, particularly those with programming strategies to debut VOD content and stream live events.
– TARGETED ADVERTISING. As addressable and programmatic TV advertising systems mature, they will not only assist you in monetizing your service, but should also be seen as an effective channel for driving viewership. The purchase of advertisements through these new platforms can enable you to raise awareness among specific audiences.

Streaming websites themselves are an important marketing tool for OTT services. Roku offers, for instance, a rich array of marketing and promotional features, integrating these resources directly into its operating system. Throughout new user signup, in the channel shop, on the home page of the app, and through video ads, content providers on the Roku network can advertise their services to consumers. The Roku Ad Framework (RAF) allows channels and shows to be promoted across the board –content providers can target their audience with ads promoting new programming or channels, allowing users to click through and follow the promoted MyFeed feature of Roku or download their channel from the

Channel Store.

ECOMMERCE Today’s top media brands, including OTT’s new rising stars, often add merchandise or retail to their marketing plans. Tying content with merchandise increases top-line revenue and has a positive spillover effect for brand awareness and affinity as well. The DailyBurn online store, where vitamins and other health-oriented goods are sold, is a good example.

5. Plan, release and refine in a single, iterative effort the video and software solution.

In the past, it took quarters and years for OTT systems to plan, develop and launch.

Next, a group that looks to the market outlines a plan for the product bid. It defines an approach architect’s design specifications, which then describe the conceptual blocks needed to complete an end-to-end system. EOLBREAK There are several vendors for each operational block that can fulfill the defined specifications. Providing all possible features is uncommon for a device, and custom coding may be needed, resulting in multiple implementation and development efforts. The overall solution needs to be well defined and for it to be sustained and funded, usually skilled personnel need to be equipped.

Sadly, these dynamics make it particularly hard to draw up roadmaps, which translates into a poor level of flexibility and market resilience.

Brightcove has been a pioneer in the OVP category and over the years we have partnered with some of the world’s leading media companies to launch successful OTT services. We have witnessed the pressurized challenges that organizations face in order to quickly get to market or risk losing out to competitors.

As a result, we are delighted to present Brightcove OTT Flow-powered by Accedo, a revolutionary digital platform that allows entertainment and internet providers to deploy new OTT offerings easily and seamlessly. Brightcove OTT Flow is a joint offer with Accedo, the leader in the design and development of multi-platform applications. Accedo’s App Grid management console power apps for many of the world’s leading media brands, and Brightcove Video Cloud has been tightly integrated with the App Grid framework to create an easy workflow for our customers.
We have merged our industry-leading video consumption, encoding, storage, playout and monetization with the best-class consumer app development of Accedo to allow our customers to rapidly release world-class OTT solutions — and with the faith of both their brand and finance teams. This is the formula for success in fast-moving markets: mutually introduce a successful customer offer and solution and review both as trends change over time.

Pay TV providers need to accumulate multiple video sources to search and guide features for content. This can benefit the customer as well as the provider.

The customer gains:
• Easy content access irrespective of source. Consider, for example, how Amazon allows its video source and quality to be chosen. Customers can not only select high definition versus standard definition, but they can also select their preferred content provider. So if Lord of the Rings is offered by two different content providers and one version includes deleted scenes but the other version includes the commentary of the director, then the provider should allow the customer to choose between versions.
• Natural voice controls to quickly identify content without a keyboard.
• New content based on history viewing and surfing channel behaviour.

Providers benefit from:
• Streaming package upselling.
• Distribution of other online subscription services and new models of revenue sharing.
• Marketing free product outlets funded by advertising.

To build a digital platform for their programming services, pay TV distributors need to push beyond the set-top box. Within ten years, the set-top box will become obsolete— and providers need to migrate their video service to an existing content consolidator via a video interface (which can also be linked to the smart home).

Pay TV providers should also strive to create and label their own content as well as media company acquisitions.

Where conventional pay TV services are unable to procure a content provider or competition for social media, they must work with OTTs to combine content into a single platform, enabling a seamless transition between standard (broadcast) TV and OTT content. Customers might want to channel surfing between Star Trek Discovery on CBS, Orange is the New Black on Netflix, and Game of Thrones on HBO Go, for example.

Therefore, data space in the cloud should be combined into a single DVR, both live and on the OTT networks. With the ability to store any desired content, these platforms should be easily searchable.
Pay TV providers will be able to advertise and distribute exclusive content across social platforms by exploiting a consolidated video service, thus growing the reach for both their social media affiliates and their own pay TV channels. Pay TV providers, for example, could allow players in social media to stream content in exchange for advertising rights.


All of this provides viewers with the option of watching the games on a regular satellite / cable app or on the social media platform where they can live-Tweet and comment on the game.

Over- the-top, or OTT, channels are now all the rage in the media and entertainment industry as every media company, content producer and distributor battles in an increasingly crowded market of audiences. After Netflix’s growth, most of the modern OTT systems were modeled after it, but there are also Pay-Per-View and advertising-based versions. Through all this, content remains queen, perhaps even more so than before because OTT’s contract-free nature means that users can add or remove products as they wish. As the hype behind OTT wears down, business models will evolve and hybrid advertising models are likely to become the standard.

One of the biggest mistakes sharing companies are making today are waiting until they finish producing & buying product and then just looking at what market leaders are doing, taking the same path to their sales plan. I don’t believe that YouTube wouldn’t be YouTube if I started charging for every video you watched on your page! Or if the annual fee is dropped by Netflix. Would it then be possible to meet quality standards? Would it still deliver at no cost new, interesting content?

For a successful video streaming business, the biggest insights are buried deep within its revenue model and content strategy. The revenue model of a company, quite clearly, is how it makes money. The revenue model of your streaming business depends largely on the type of content you put in it. It also relies on knowing the needs of your customers how and what to choose as your OTT business revenue strategy. The revenue model, evaluated carefully, can be a very powerful tool to determine the nature of the performance of your market. You can make or break the entire base of your video streaming business by choosing the right revenue model.

Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD)

This is the most common revenue model used today by many online video streaming firms. Consider Netflix or Hulu Plus as an example, where users pay a fixed subscription fee once a month and have unlimited access to a variety of video content on that platform. When users have paid for their subscriptions, they can surf at any time and anywhere and watch their content choice. They can also pause and play, move quickly forward, rewind, stop and record programming at their convenience.
Subscriptions may be of any duration, monthly, quarterly, semi-annual and annual. Usually subscriptions are auto-renewable and users can cancel them at any time. It offers the audience with a simple opt-in and opt-out option to be able to cancel the subscription at any time.

Usually subscriptions are continued at the same price, so users can get to access the content until their next subscription times. SVOD comes with a flat fee and sites with different content items can not usually determine different prices. Nonetheless, with pay-per-view and Ad models, SVOD can be easily clubbed and can be monetized further.

Subscription models are good for platforms with a wide variety of video entertainment content such as pay TV programming, movies, drama series and other series to engage their audience on a long-term basis, linked to a subscription fee.

Transactional Video on Demand (TVOD) or Pay Per View (PPV)

Recall, how we used to go and buy / rent films to the actual rental shops. Transactional model works just like those rental stores, except we buy / rent movies online here (also any other videos). It’s like a purchase where viewers charge to buy any piece of content they consume from your online store.
Buying helps them to own the specific piece of content so keep it to their personal devices either on the service or online. Renting allows them to use a piece of content permitted for a specific period of time. So, for example, when I rent a movie from an online video streaming platform for a week, I can watch that movie for a week, any number of times, and I won’t have access to that movie again after my rental period ends.

This TVOD system is also sometimes labeled as its other popular names such as EST and DTO or DTR–Digital Sell Through (EST) (often known as “Subscribe to Own” or DTO) where consumers pay a fixed fee to buy a piece of video that they subscribe to their phones and are able to watch over and over again, any number of times. Instead audiences own their content, usually a movie, television show or a particular sport where they retain the right on watch it at any time.

Download to Rent (DTR) while, for a certain period of time, leasing the same product at a fee is likely to cost less than selling by.

Pay per view also works with special events and live programming, where viewers buy a specific program to view and the broadcaster streams the same event to all those who purchased the event at a specific time. Pay Per View is the best income model for different sporting events and live sports streaming. For ages, WWE has been streaming PPV and was very successful at it! In general, TVOD services will try to retain their customers by offering special discounts and attractive prices on selected content, skim the cream with the latest releases and offering hot buzz on the market.

Consider iTunes, Google Play as popular examples of TVOD / PPV models.

Advertisement-supported Video on Demand (AVOD)

Advertising is another common form of monetization on streaming videos, where you make the content available for free viewing, but add certain advertising into your watching, receiving advertisers ‘ profit. Now, instead of credit cards, the audiences pay to their eyeballs. Advertisements are strong, and advertisers are going to pay a lot to show their advertisements on your on-demand site. You can even pick your price based on the type of content to be chosen for the ad and the success of your website. Ad-supported is traditional television programming, clubbed with the template of subscription. It is not, however, video on demand.

YouTube is the best example of video-on-demand advertising.

The most discussed alternative in video-on-demand OTT space is ad-supported. Nevertheless, traditional Television is entirely based on this concept. Through user data and their actions accessible from insights to media owners, a wide range of tests opens up in front of them to tailor commercials and impact viewers through the power of advertising.

Video on demand advertisements are broadly categorized into Pre-Roll, Mid-Roll and Post-Roll advertisements. Pre-Roll–One that plays at the beginning of a video. Mid-Roll–One that plays in the middle of a video.

In addition, these advertisements can be skipped or not skipped based on how the advertiser and the ad network choose to keep them. VOD ads are shorter in length and are often inferior to TV ads. With the advent and popularity of smart TVs and the consumption of VOD content on them, however, advertisers are opening their wallets to spend more if the ad is aimed at a smart TV versus a laptop or mobile phone.

Having seen 30% of growth year-on-year, in the coming future, VOD ads will be seen to be huge. AdoTube, Videology, Brightroll, Google Adsense are some of the advertising services that can save you worry.

Hybrid of SVOD-TVOD or any other such combination

If you think you’ve got a big video library and your platform gets hotter every day, you definitely need a hybrid of different revenue strategies that can help you monetize your videos the right way and make the most of it. You can choose to monetize by inserting ads into a subscription model or into a transactional model, or you can even use pay-per-view (PPV) to work with subscription.

If your market pool is deferred and you want a different monetization approach to suit different consumer desires, categorizing and choosing a hybrid VOD revenue model is easiest. There will be people who would prefer to opt for a monthly subscription and have unlimited access to your content library such as families, and there will be customers who just want to buy a specific piece of content and therefore PPV will work best for them. You’ll also have a large audience who won’t pay for viewing entertainment content but won’t mind watching ads in between and can be served by ad-based models in tandem with other tactics.

OTT Playout

OTT Directory – lists of key vendors and capabilities

Technology is constantly innovating and developing. This reality hits home the most as we update, link and make much more open the tools that we frequently use. For example, take the TV. The TV industry was at the forefront of this relentless global revolution. The technological revolution of the media and entertainment sector has resulted in a number of OTT streaming services to compete with existing pay-TV powerhouses.

The number of players in the OTT streaming market around the world is steadily increasing. Participants include major global competitors such as Amazon and Netflix as well as local channels such as TVF Play and Spuul. The international Over the Top (OTT) market is therefore being unfair and overcrowded.

Major Key Players:

Some of the OTT content market’s key players include Apple, Inc. (U.S.), Facebook (U.S.), Tencent Holdings Limited (China), Netflix, Inc. (U.S.), ActiveVideo Networks, Inc. (U.S.), Google, Inc. (U.S.), Brightcove Inc. (U.S.), Hulu LLC. (U.S.), Limelight Networks, Inc. (India), Microsoft Corporation (U.S.), Nimbuzz (Netherlands), Roku, Inc. (USA).

Market Segments:

The market was divided into voice over IP (VoIP), texts and images, videos and music streaming on the basis of content. The market was segmented into on cloud and premise based on deployment. The market was divided into gaming consoles, OTT streaming devices, smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, and others based on device or platform. In North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the rest of the world, the market is segmented by region.

Regional Insights:

Regional analysis findings reflect that the OTT content market will continue to dominate North America. Factors such as the availability of high-speed connectivity and the presence of established content creators and providers in the region can be credited with this continued market prepotence. Meanwhile, during the forecast period, Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing OTT content market.

This is mainly due to the growing number of viewers and a steady but significant increase in local content creators and providers.

A whopping 300 hours of video are actually posted per minute on YouTube; half a billion people watch Facebook video every day and Netflix has more than 110 million subscribers–the latter are on track to see a huge upswing due to the current increase in demand for original content. The appetite was fueled by many by a quarter of the global population–2 billion of which are under 25, creating considerable room for growth across all video delivery channels.

India, one of the world’s largest growth markets, saw the number of paid online users double to 2 million in 2018, up from the previous year’s 1 million. It is projected that this figure will double to 4 million users by 2020. Growth is powered by a large market for handsets, the world’s second largest. Access to high-speed bandwidth has helped Indian brands to unleash an avalanche of video content to capture millennial mind space, rising to 3.9 GB every month with exponential data consumption. With 70 percent of the content and 30 percent assigned to local outlets, Hindi language continues to dominate on the Indian market. Language only has a tiny portion of it.

According to Digital TV Analysis, from current levels of about USD 50 billion, international OTT sales and movie revenues will hit USD 129 billion by 2023, showing the growth opportunities ahead. While the US would account for about USD 50 billion with a market share of 37 percent, China is expected to increase its sales to USD 26 billion, bringing its market share to 20 percent. International OTT subscribers are expected to reach nearly 470 million in 2018 itself, a respectable 20 percent increase over the previous year.

The OTT market is dominated by Amazon Prime and Netflix led by Apple and Twitter. In comparison, Tencent Holdings Limited of China, ActiveVideo Networks, Inc. of the United States, Hulu LLC. Of the United States, Nimbuzz of the Netherlands, Limelight Networks of India are some of the world’s largest OTT networks.

By acquisitions or the introduction of their own channels, many large media companies have capitalized on demand. For example, in January, Viacom, a multi-national media company in the United States, purchased Pluto TV, a US-based free streaming television service worth 340 million dollars. The streaming platform has over 100 channels and a large selection of on-demand content that covers TV series, movie, news and children’s programming with more than 12 million active monthly users.
Xstream A / S, a Danish operating cloud-based OTT video and TV platform for broadcasters and telecom providers, has recently been acquired by Seachange, a US-based multinational, for USD 5.5 million. Comcast Cable will launch the OTT service and offer over 50 million subscribers free services. Brightcove, a streaming service based in the United States, has purchased Ooyala Inc (video content management and publishing) for USD 15.2 million.

Altice France, a subsidiary of Altice Europe, France’s largest mobile and entertainment provider, is currently negotiating to buy a majority stake in Molotov OTT network, a platform of 7 million subscribers. The synergies are self-defining.

UEFA is taping the fan base of football fans as it plans to have a streaming service later this year, with coverage of women’s and youth soccer games increasing its spectatorship.

StarzPlay Arabi has beaten Netflix in its own territories in the Middle East and secured investment to the tune of USD 125 million and more than 700,000 users. Britbox, BBC’s benefit division, now has 500,000 customers in the UK, one of the biggest OTT markets, doubling its audience in just one year. Although it is well below the 25 million subscribers, its growth reveals scope.

With nearly 70 percent market share, Hotstar is the clear market leader in India, while SonyLiv and Voot command another 20 percent. Homegrown Zee Media is one of the largest television networks and is rapidly expanding its ZEE5 OTT platform service. While Amazon Prime is the global market leader, India is still behind. In fact, Netflix and Amazon, two of the world’s largest OTT players, will compete for a significant piece of the anticipated USD billion market by 2023, which is ten times the level of 2018, according to Boston Consulting Group’s global consultancy.

This jump is partly due to the growth of hand-held devices, the Indian government’s increasing digital drive, and rising disposable income helped by urbanization. OTT players are planning to spend nearly $4 billion in the next three years, with a particular focus on increasing regional content. The 400 million audiences in the world can see major contributions in both domestic players and foreign OTT companies. According to Pwc-Assocham (an business chamber), the scale of India’s demand is projected to be around USD 1 billion over the next three years, with a substantial rate of growth.

Key vendors

DAZN
DAZN is a new way of watching sport. It is a Perform Group-owned subscription video streaming service. The network is devoted to athletics, providing live streaming and on-demand games from different properties. It launched for the first time in August 2016 in Austria, Germany, Japan, and Switzerland, and the following year in Canada. It was launched in 2018 in the United States and Italy and will be launched in 2019 in Spain and Brazil. More than 100 boxing nights a year from Matchroom USA, Golden Boy Promotions, Bellator, World Boxing Super Series and Combate Americas. Plus access to ChangeUp, the new live feel of DAZNxMLB every night at the baseball series.

Amazon
Amazon Video is an on-demand Internet video service developed and run by Amazon. It offers a rental or purchase of TV shows and movies. Amazon has pursued a number of exclusive content deals to distinguish its service from its competitors, including a multi-year HBO licensing deal. Amazon video is available in the United States, the UK, Japan, Germany and Austria, and the company plans to expand its video service to India in the near future.

Youtube
YouTube is a California-based American video-sharing website. The latest video technology is used to display a wide range of user-generated and corporate media videos. Video clips, TV show clips, music videos, audio recordings, film trailers, and other content such as video blogging, original short videos, and educational videos are included. Individuals upload most of the content on YouTube, but media companies including CBS, the BBC, Vevo, Hulu and other organizations also offer some of their material via YouTube.

Netflix
Netflix Inc. is a multinational entertainment business in the United States. It specializes in and delivers on-demand streaming media and video online and mail DVD. Netflix added production of film and television as well as online distribution in 2013. Now, through its online film and television library, it offers its “Netflix Original” content. Netflix reported more than 83 million subscribers worldwide as of July.

Hulu
Hulu is an American on-demand video subscription service owned by Hulu Inc. It focuses primarily on TV series, providing episodes from a number of programs from the various TV networks and other media providers of its operators. Hulu set up a joint partnership with Yahoo in 2016! In 2017, Yahoo! saw and also revealed that it plans to release a live TV service.
Other prominent vendors

Apple
Apple Inc. is a California-based American multinational software company that designs, produces and markets online services, computer software, and consumer electronics. In addition to music and games, Apple iTunes, a media player and library, provides movies and tv shows that can be bought or downloaded. Apple is the world’s largest IT business by sales, the world’s largest technology company by total assets, and the world’s second largest producer of mobile phones.

TalkTalk TV Store
TalkTalk TV Shop, formerly Blinkbox, is a UK-based transactional video-on-demand (VoD) service available on Macintosh and Microsoft Windows machines, games consoles, tablet computers and smart TVs. Content is usually streamed and is currently available for download on Windows PC / laptop.

CinemaNow
CinemaNow is a global over – the-top (OTT) network of on-demand Internet streaming media that is free to audiences in the U.S., Canada, and the UK. Established in 1999, the company is based in California. The CinemaNow app is available on iOS and Android mobile devices, Xbox and PlayStation game consoles and CE devices from Apple, LG, Panasonic and Toshiba.

Cox Communications
Cox Communications is a division of Cox Enterprises providing services in the United States for digital cable television, broadband and home automation. It is the third largest cable television network with more than 6.2 million customers, with 2.9 million digital cable subscribers, 3.5 million Internet subscribers and almost 3.2 million traditional telecommunications subscribers, making it the country’s seventh largest telephone carrier.

Crackle
Crackle is a producer of original web series, movies and television shows online. Founded as a Grouper in the early 2000s, Crackle was purchased by Sony Pictures Entertainment and rebranded in 2007. The service is free of charge with commercials on all channels sponsored.

Deutsche Telecom
With approximately 156 million mobile customers, 29 million fixed-network lines and more than 18 million broadband lines, Deutsche Telekom is one of the world’s leading integrated telecommunications companies. The company provides fixed-network / broadband, mobile communications, Internet and IPTV products and services for consumers, and ICT solutions for ICT.

DirecTV
DirecTV is an American provider and broadcaster of direct broadcast cable content and an AT&T subsidiary. DirecTV offers satellite video and audio services to customers and hundreds of channels are available to subscribers.

IndieFlix
Indieflix, Inc is an independent, Seattle, Washington-based video distributor and online streaming company. IndieFlix provides access from film festivals around the world to thousands of high-quality movie shorts, movies, documentaries, and web series. Its service is available on Fire TV, Roku, Xbox and all internet-connected devices including smartphones, smart TVs and tablets.

Popcorn Flix
Popcornflix LLC is a website and OTT product that provides free, ad-supported movie and webisodes streaming video. Vision Media Enterprises owns it. The platform primarily features independent feature films, many of which come from the archive of Screen Media. The service is currently available in the U.S. and Canada and the organization plans to expand in the future.

Rovi
The U.S.-based Rovi Company provides copy protection, technology licenses, and “scan tips” for products like set-top boxes, digital video recorders, TVs, and mobile devices and tablets. Entertainment metadata from Rovi is used by businesses such as consumer electronics producers, cable operators, blogs and social networks to provide their own digital video content.

SnagFilms
SnagFilms, founded in 2008, offers documentary and independent films supported by advertising. On the website, which contains a library of more than 5,000 films, films are streamed. Furthermore, filmmakers can submit their own documentaries for consideration.

Vudu
Vudu, Inc. is a video and tv content provider. A peer-to-peer content delivery network is used by the company to distribute full-length videos to U.S. viewers over the Internet. Vudu is also available from PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, ipod, TiVo Roamio, and most smartphones via the Vudu app. In 2010 Walmart purchased Vudu.