The Rise of OTT Streaming Solutions Amid Covid 19 Pandemic
Posted by Neeraj Charaya on May 13th, 2021
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 1.17 billion to 7.37 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.