The Increasing Curve of OTT Streaming Services Amid Covid 19 Pandemic

Industry analysts and media experts may have been declaring the age of OTT media for a while now but it took a pandemic for the era to truly arrive. Given the existing scenario across the globe where minimum cinema halls are into play, video streaming platforms are having their moment in the sun. With millions of viewers cooped up at home or following social distancing guidelines, OTT consumption has skyrocketed through the roof. 

Undoubtedly, the internet revolution has driven the popularity of Over-The-Top Streaming services in recent years. The greater convenience offered by such platforms is worthy of recognition. On-demand media streaming services have made it easier for users to access content from any device- from smart TVs and computers to mobile phones and tablets. Another crucial consideration is has been the low price plans offered by OTT platforms and service providers and in the duration of 2020-2021, we’ve witnessed its adoption like never before.

When contemplating the massive growth of OTT platforms, Netflix is one such classic example. It started in 1997 with a library of approximately 900 rental titles. By 2013, it had started producing original programs and that period marked an enormous growth in user subscriptions. Four years later, the subscriber count of Netflix had surpassed the total number of cable TV subscribers in the US alone, reflecting a humongous trajectory in its growth. 

Offering original programs has furnished considerable opportunities to OTT platforms as it enabled the acquisition of a wider user base. In this article, we will discuss how this technology’s trajectory is going to look in the future era.

Also Read: Role-Based Access Control With Enterprise Video Streaming
Entertainment and Media Landscape During COVID-19 Pandemic

According to recent research reports, the global OTT streaming market is predicted to rise from the current $141.17 billion to $257.37 billion in 2025 at a CAGR of 16%. 

With the global pandemic resulting in work from home routines, the content and media consumption on OTT platforms has spiked with a massive surge of 134%. Naturally, family content and animated videos have also continued to be popular. 

The increasing change in users’ social behavior, which is rapidly shifting from traditional broadcasting solutions to on-demand media subscriptions is fueling the growth of OTT streaming in the forecast period. Various segments of the population have already commenced using video streaming services in place of regular television for entertainment because of the added benefits such as ease of access and all-time availability of on-demand content. Streaming on 4K televisions is one of the hottest trends in the OTT streaming market. Also known as UHD or Ultra-High Definition, 4K resolution is typically 3840x2160 pixels and is the highest level of HD video quality available to television, film, and sports viewers these days. 

Opportunities & Challenges

Despite the colossal leaps made by the giant OTT players, they still face fierce competition in the market space from the local players. Therefore media streaming providers have started heavily investing in creating original content in many languages. 

The overall consumption and the rise in subscribers have also led to a few common challenges for OTT platforms, the bottleneck effect is one of them. Internet limitations have been generating bottleneck effects and bandwidth choke points have made it essential to create better solutions such as dynamic adaptive screening over HTTP or DASH. 

Partnership with telecommunication conglomerates is also entering into the scene of offering subscriptions for on-demand content. It has served as an exciting model to expand the existing customer base. In order to overcome the associated challenges with on-demand media streaming, service providers are now opting for OTT app development services to augment their business processes further.

What Lies Next?

Tech advances such as immersive technology and 5G are all set to reinforce public interest in online video streaming. Other avenues such as online education and eGaming can also furnish lucrative opportunities for OTT services to proliferate their usage across the globe. 

Nevertheless, OTT app development services have reflected impressive growth curves in recent times and the Covid-19 pandemic has only catalyzed its magnification. All digital media streaming trends incessantly point towards a brighter future for the on-demand media streaming industry.

If you are looking to jump on the bandwagon of OTT app development, connect with our experts. We will assist in building your digital presence in the entertainment and media industry while enabling you to garner more viewers with interactive streaming applications.

Top 5 OTT Streaming Trends To Watch Out In 2021

 

The OTT industry is proliferating at an unprecedented rate. While the past year has indubitably been a wild ride, most of us are incessantly bent on leaving 2020 in the dust. The streaming media landscape is projecting both fragmented and consolidated predictions for a new era of direct-to-consumer streaming, as new players signal to emerge in the competitive sphere.

As the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant lockdowns constricted our lives, it has also catapulted us five years forward in the global adoption of businesses and online consumers. The neoteric emergence of digital trends has repurposed the OTT use cases while keeping Zoom calls, telemedicine, and user-generated content at the forefront. 

In this article, we will explore 5 Over-The-Top video streaming trends in 2021. Let’s begin.

 

• Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Pushes Forward

Last year disseminated both the actual and predictable aspects of AI in the sphere of media, with Google’s and Facebook’s algorithms sending shockwaves for regulations. However, as a frequent contender on the streaming trends lists in the past few years, artificial intelligence will continue to secure prominence in 2021. AI and ML counterintuitively nurtured an appreciation for user-generated content (UGC) and as a result, media companies began strictly focusing on UGC’s power on the mobile platforms. 

These are the following predictions and developments for AI and ML in OTT:

• Automated translation and captioning
• Automated content-aware encoding
• Core product features for live streams
• Automated metadata extraction
• Context-aware advertising
• Object/ motion detection and notification

 

• 5G Will Be Changing The Game

In terms of Top OTT video streaming trends in 2021, we envisage witnessing 5G internet becoming a staple standard, especially in the urban areas. This future-focused and next-gen cellular network technology will offer more reliable and much faster internet speeds. 5G is expected to be 100x faster than the existing 4G LTE networks. 

OTT video streaming will be 5G’s killer apps and gains will be more noticeable in the video streaming landscape in the coming months. 5G will also be an elixir for live events and sports streaming solutions when low latency is critical for apparent gains.

For instance, research suggests that 29% of users would pay an added premium if 5G decreased buffering and provided a high-quality video on mobile devices. 

Also Read: Understanding All About OTT App Development

 

• CTV will Mark its High Popularity

CTV or Connected TV refers to streaming on televisions through OTT video development services. This has gained both name and fame over the years as viewers have commenced absorbing more content on TVs as opposed to mobile devices. The entire streaming journey has been made possible by gaming consoles, smart TVs, and dedicated streaming channels. 

However, it is interesting to note that the rise in CTV streaming has not caused any significant decline in the number of streaming on tablets, computers, or smartphones. There were also some general preferences for mobile app video streaming, so it will be exciting to see how this trend shapes going forward. Some of the famous technology for CTV includes Roku, Amazon Firestick, Play Station, Apple TV, Nintendo Switch, and the Xbox.

 

• The Adoption of Live Commerce & Shoppable Media

Live commerce is a term used to define the combination of eCommerce and streaming video. While shoppable media and live commerce have been the most sought-after monetization method for a myriad of brands, the brick-and-mortar stores will undoubtedly utilize it in 2021.

As businesses seek to reach online customers, social commerce, live streams, shoppable ad formats, and virtual consultations will be the fastest-growing advertising categories. For the record, live stream-generated sales are anticipated to double to a massive $120 billion worldwide this year. 

 

• Smarter about Security

With technology providers continuing to innovate and construct new ways to empower organizations against online safety threats, the security industry is ablaze with the latest trends and techniques. This is no different for OTT streaming solutions as the businesses continue to grow and add more users to signup for these services. Protecting and safeguarding content becomes more crucial than ever as use cases grow and privacy concerns continue to increase. At Oodles Technologies, we predict the following advances in the content-encryption and online security this year.

• Expansion of video streaming and security adoption
• Encryption at all levels to secure monetization
• Cloud security will become the most sought-after security standard

 

Summing Up

OTT is colossal and the industry continues to snowball rapidly. This year is foreseen to be a strong timeline for UGC, with opportunities for higher quality content for multiple platforms gaining traction. When it comes to the upcoming OTT trends, we are seeing an increase in formats such as CMAF which has the capability to shake things up further.

If you wish to learn more about OTT and online video streaming solutions, you can follow us here. For more information on OTT app development services, feel free to talk to our experts.