What’s so common about Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney Hotstar?
All are the OTT apps that work on your Android/iOS compatible LED television sets or your Mobile devices and Smartphones. And, you can very easily access your favorite shows, movies, teleseries, sports, games, news, etc. from any of your app-based devices. Your choicest media & entertainment lies now on your OTT Mobile app. Nowadays, even big-banner movies are released on OTT, as going to theatre seems a distant reality now. People are going berserk for entertainment as the pandemic has crippled normal life around the world. So, you see, a big business opportunity lies before you! Create your OTT app, launch on your favorite platform (iOS, Android, Cross-Platform), and get started!
Quick Stats
- The global market size of the OTT ( Over-the-top ) is going to rise over $438.5billion, at a CAGR of 19.1%, by the year 2026 (Research Dive Report)
- The worldwide OTT services market is estimated to rise from $44.54 billion in 2021 to a massive $139.00 billion in the year 2028, at 17.7% CAGR in the forecast period (Fortune Business Insights Report)
- OTT Media Revenue is estimated to cross $ 210 billion by the year 2026 (Statista Report)
What is OTT
OTT or the Over-the-Top technology refers to providing content, like film, television content, by using an internet ( high-speed)connection, and there’s no requirement of a cable or a satellite provider.OTT is not free and needs a valid subscription to avail of its service.OTT is the audio-video technology that allows users to have multiple choices at their fingertips. As a provider, you can provide content on a variety of platforms, viz., mobile phones, Smart-TVs, computers, gaming consoles, tablets, and similar gadgets. Your users can access multiple channels and can go for an “app-switching” facility, too. They can have complete control over what they want to watch by going for a paid subscription.
Create & Launch
Artificial Intelligence(AI), micro-service architecture, and other advanced technologies empower OTT platforms making them scalable, online streaming apps over choicest devices. It depends on whether you want to build a next-generation online video streaming app or you want to develop a complete OTT platform that includes desktop apps, mobile apps, websites, Smart-TV apps.
OTT APP Types
TV Apps- You can build your OTT apps for Android-powered Smart TVs, and you don’t need coding for that. Yes, you just select your favorite template and customize it with your feature requirements. For instance, if you want to select a Netflix template, add any extra features as per your choice, remove those you don’t want, and get your customized app perfectly matching your requirement.
Web Apps – You need your OTT to be present across platforms and a web app is one of them. You can take the help of a web & mobile development company to address your OTT needs. They can help you create your own video streaming website very easily and cost-effectively.
Mobile Apps– You can create video streaming apps for varied mobile OS platforms like iOS, Android. Either you get it built from the scratch, or get a coding-free template, the choice is yours.
Desktop Apps – Some people love to be on their favorite desktops (though desktops seem to represent a traditional mindset, they cant detach with it). So, caring for their needs, you develop an OTT app for MAC, Windows operating systems and don’t worry about the codes. You can start today!
App Features
Your OTT app should have features consisting of awesome content and an attractive user interface. Important features you should consider are:
1. Multilingual Content – Your users, customers, or subscribers want to see movies, shows, programs, in their regional languages only. You can customize your app by choosing this multilingual feature for your massive content. For example, your audience can watch Star Wars or Cindrella in English, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, French, Spanish languages just anytime, and if required, at the same time on different devices. So, keeping your target audience demographics in your mind, you can design your app with multilingual features.
2. Personalized User Profile ID – Let me explain to you from my experience.
I have a Netflix subscription and at my home, we are four users. We all four users have our unique profile ID. I prefer watching on my Android-based smart TV, while the other three users simultaneously access Netflix on their laptops and mobile sets. We all watch our favorite shows, even the same shows streaming live but on different machines. Moreover, I have given this access authorization to my cousins living in other states. They have created their unique profile IDs. So, this is how you can leverage the power of an OTT app. This feature is very important if you want flexibility and power in your app.
3. Offline ASVOD Platform – Watching offline is possible out of this feature on your OTT app. If you want to access programs while traveling through remote areas, jungles, villages, you can avail of this option. You can provide this app feature wherein YouTube powered ASVOD(Ad-Supported Video On Demand) platform, will allow your subscribers to download videos, save them on some device and watch later.
4. Watch-List Feature – It happens that your user starts viewing a program but does not complete it In that case, the app feature of ‘watch-list comes in handy. And when the user comes back, he will get this option on-screen – ‘Resume’. That’s how this feature is an important addition to your app.
5. Multiple Categories of Content – This feature will allow your users to choose from varied content categories. Means, categories like movies, web series, shows, news, games, kids, all the choices are there. There are theme-based, popularity-based content categories, too. Users can navigate them and watch as per their likes.
6. AI-Powered Recommendations – AI, Ml, NLP are the super digital technologies that drive an app to the next level. AI-enabled recommendations help users to make a decision. For example, currently, if you are selecting a specific kid’s show, song, tune, the app will give you other options matching your selected one.
Components for OTT Platforms
You need to collect varied components for building your OTT platform.
1. Hosting
You have a choice between hosting videos on your ‘server’ or a ‘cloud’ while building your own OTT platform. Cloud white label hosting platform, for example, gives additional benefits in the form of zero latency solutions, expandable storage, and so on.
2. CDN Support
Your CDN (Content Delivery Network)support chosen for your OTT platform development facilitates a balancing act for addressing users’ unique demands from across the globe. An efficient CDN helps to reduce core network traffic leading to low latency-level. This enables a smooth, seamless delivery of content.
3. Multiple Streaming Protocols
There are multiple streaming protocols for ott video delivery but the ideal choice would be a platform that integrates HTTP and RTMP protocols for live streaming. In a way, you are opting for a multi-channelized-OTT- Video-Service for best viewing.
4. Transcoder
Transcoder converts video and audio as per requirement(encoding/decoding methods). It provides an option to auto-adjust with web, TV, or mobile assuring compatibility quotient.
5. Cross-Platform OTT Service
This component or cross-platform OTT service helps to stream videos across the platforms in an uninterrupted manner. One can view videos beyond one device.
6. Custome-Built API
An efficient, custom-built API component assures seamless distribution of content across devices & platforms. A very cost-effective infrastructure is guaranteed, too.
7. Encrypted DRM Platform
Strong encryption for the DRM platform assures its cyber security. You need to see how to safeguard your platform from cyber threats and attacks.
Conclusion
What makes you think now? Look at the immense business opportunities beckoning you!
The benefits are massive. As a content creator using your unique app-based OTT streaming platform, you can expect to reach your audience directly, without any mediator like satellite or cable. A better engaged, enthralled, happy customer base is what you will need once you establish your OTT app business leveraging digital technologies available now.
OTT is an exclusive and very niche market and it requires holistic Ideation right from OTT app development to hosting and marketing it to larger markets. Read our success story with Tough Crowd. Contact us to know more.
Broadcast Media are an indispensable part of mass media. Earlier, the broadcast media would mean electronic media, viz., television and radio, whose job was to transmit content in audio and video formats to the mass audience. They gradually took their position alongside an already existing print media, together forming a powerful combination to be later termed as traditional media.
The journey of broadcast media did not end here. A massive digital wave was about to explode. The consequence is what we see today – a convergence of broadcast media and digital media! Digital technology acts as a solid foundation where the present media industry stands. Thus, today when we speak about broadcast media, we mean television (digital & analogue), internet media (podcasts, blogs, websites), radio, online streaming (Netflix, Amazon, Prime, Hotstar, Voot, Disney Hotstar).The industry is actively adopting Cloud based technologies like Over-The-Top (OTT) Services, thereby enhancing their business models and workflows to the tune of modern demand-supply chain. As per STATISTA’s report, the number of users in the OTT Video segment is expected to rise to 2,923.6million by 2025.
Technologies like Augmented Reality, Virtual reality, Artificial Intelligence, Deep Learning, Voice-control devices are determining the way broadcast media are disseminating information today. Lets’ analyze how modern technologies are influencing broadcast media as a whole –
The NextGen TV – ATSC 3.0 Technology
ATS-3.0 is the broadcasting next generation technology, the newest version of Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) inc. standards .It helps define how television signals are really broadcast as well as interpreted. It is an up- gradation of the Over-The-Air (OTA) or antenna based TV system and along with an internet access provides high definition interactive experience to users. We can watch broadcast videos not only on TV but even on our mobile phones, tablets, and in cars as well! Android compatible devices like Sony, Samsung and LG are already adopting this new ATS-3.0 model in the TV world .The latest news on this technology is from OKLAHOMA CITY (OKC) in the US, where five TV stations have announced the deployment of ATS-3.0 technology .Earlier, the deployments took place in Austin ,Texas. ABC, NBC, FOX are the names we can connect with so easily! They are a part of media giants like Hearst, Sinclair, Nexstar and the likes, who are incorporating the NextGen TV ATS-3.0 technology.
Augmented Reality Graphics (AR-GFX)
Augmented Reality Graphics (AR-GFX) is one of the hottest trends going on in broadcast media. Broadcasters are now creating Virtual Environments where Virtual Objects do appear as if they are actually present in the studio!
Virtual Sets, Elections-telecast, News-telecast, e-Sports, all kinds of live broadcasts are following the real time data integration using AR graphics tools & technology. Television broadcasters, live streamers, now use AR based real-time 3D broadcast graphic solutions that work for enhancing creativity and simplifying production workflow.
Key benefits of AR-GFX are –
- Connecting content to the environments.
- Dramatic reduction of the entire production cost.
- No more hassles due to Chroma keys and lighting set up because AR graphics are a modern substitutes for the hard sets!
- Telling a complex story in a very visual way is the underlying attraction here.
- Enhancing storytelling & presenting styles where presenters and graphics- objects interact in a way that facilitates visual engagement and memorable experience for audience.
Be it the 2020 Presidential debates in the US, the IPL matches in the UAE, or the just concluded Roland Garros Grand Slam tournament, their live streaming wouldn’t be possible without an appropriate application of the Augmented Reality Graphics models or AR GFX tools in the broadcast media.
The Virtual CLOUD Technology
Well, can we deny that Broadcasting & Information Technology (IT) are almost twins? Don’t they both deal with communication and information? To be lucid, broadcast media have already started using the IT enabled technology called CLOUD .Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Rackspace, and Microsoft Azure are providing public & private types of Cloud services. Internet connection is mandatory to avail of this service. Wi-fi or mobile data services are enabling radio consumers to listen on smart phones or connected devices like smart speakers instead of the real radios. How Exciting!
Various mass media conglomerates are transitioning to the Cloud technology so that they have a seamless experience while generating, sharing and syndicating content as well as managing cost and time, both.
Over-The-Top (OTT) Technology
Broadcast industry has undergone a revolutionary change with the arrival of OTT . Advanced picture quality, an instant time- to- air provision and reaching audiences across all the channels of digital communication, OTT has given a complete makeover to the broadcast media.
How OTT works?
It is a novel way of delivering content –TV or film or music – over the internet. It does not require a traditional cable-system or any satellite based pay-tv service. In order to access to an OTT content, we just have to have an internet connection and a compatible device like Mobile phone, PC or Smart TV. Once we download the OTT apps, we can start streaming our favorite videos and audios .No hassle of downloading media files!
How can we resist the live streaming of our favorite artists and bands when live concerts are a big No in the pandemic? Billboard rankers are tweeting their itinerary of live streaming and fans are getting crazier than ever before!
Artificial Intelligence
Robot Reporters are arriving (or already arrived?), and journalist fraternity are fearing competitions from AI-enabled robots .Hang on, they are existing to the confines of newsrooms, just to accelerate the production process. Of-course, they cannot have the knack of reporting live where human intelligence only counts.
AI is helping journalists in analyzing data and detecting trends emanating from multiple sources of information .Reuters agency has NEWS TRACER. Then, Associated Press has NEWSWHIP. All these are the AI-based tools which detect trends on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Pinterest thereby facilitating timely production of content.
The paradigm shift in the consumer viewing habits has triggered the inevitable adoption of modern technologies by the broadcast media. Moreover, in the current scenario when we are confined to our homes, we need flexibility and personal control over what we want to see, what we want to hear, be it a music video or breaking news, we want control in our hands. Certainly, digital technologies are fulfilling our ever growing demands of the quality content and broadcast media are serving as the genuine service providers to us!
Willing to explore what is possible with Digital and Media. Contact us
Read Also – Top Mobile App Development Companies in India
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