IPTV/OTT services are a buzzword due to popular video streaming providers like Netflix, Hulu, or Disney+. Viewers and businesses love them for many reasons. They are convenient in use for consumers and are beneficial to businesses. It’s a win-win situation!
Let’s observe some facts about IPTV/OTT services that businesses might like.
If you want to create your video streaming platform, we recommend you contact the Setplex team. The company can offer you streaming solutions for OTT or IPTV service and help launch.
Facts About IPTV/OTT Platforms That Businesses Can Take Advantage Of
#1 SSAI
Advertising is one of the monetization models that is widely used. Businesses use this monetization approach to let viewers watch content without a fee. They generate revenue by allowing third-party companies to advertise on their platforms.
Businesses appreciate this monetization approach because targeting on IPTV/OTT platforms is more accurate. There are more chances that a person who is indeed interested in a product or service advertised will check it and, consequently, buy.
But many viewers use ad-blockers which prevent platforms from earning money. For such occasions, video streaming solution providers developed the SSAI advertising (server-side ad insertion).
SSAI allows you to stitch an ad into a video so that an ad-blocker “thinks” that it is a part of a video. So the advertisement doesn’t get blocked.
#2 Monetization
IPTV/OTT solutions are created so that businesses can monetize their content and generate a lot of revenue. The most common monetization models are:
- Advertising. In this case, a provider usually doesn’t charge a fee from visitors. The content creator makes money by allowing third-party companies to use their platform to show ads to viewers. As we already said above, advertising can be more profitable on IPTV/OTT services as advertisements can be shown to users who are actually interested in a product or service. The targeting is more accurate.
- Subscriptions. It is one of the most popular monetization models. Netflix and similar services use it. A viewer purchases a subscription once in a period. For example, once a month or a year. After the subscription is paid, the viewer gets unlimited access to video content on the platform. It should be noted that recently, the subscription fatigue phenomenon has been observed. People get tired of purchasing all the subscriptions and move to advertisement-based services.
- Transactions. Transactions allow viewers to purchase one single piece of content. When one video is purchased, the rest of the videos remain inaccessible. So, viewers can pay for one video, watch it, and never come back.
Now, experts are talking about the rise of a hybrid monetization approach. For example, content providers use a combination of advertising and subscriptions. They offer people free content but with ads, or viewers can purchase a fee and enjoy ad-free content.
All these monetization models can bring you profit. It’s up to you to decide which one to choose.
#3 CDN and apps
Besides monetization models, IPTV/OTT platforms offer you more opportunities to generate revenue. For example, the company developing a solution for video streaming can provide applications and CDN.
Applications will help you cover more devices as your viewers use different ones. Some prefer watching videos on smartphones, but others want a high-quality picture on a big Smart TV screen. So, if you want to generate more revenue, it is better to offer applications for different platforms and devices.
CDN is a Content Delivery Network. It helps you deliver content over long distances with low latencies. For example, your original server is located in the USA, and a viewer from France wants to watch your videos. If a video is delivered directly from the original server, the delivery will be slow. The viewer might lose patience and leave your service.
CDN will allow the delivery of a video from a server that is located closer to the user. So, the video is transferred faster, and the viewer is more satisfied with the service.
Conclusion
IPTV/OTT solutions are created so that businesses can benefit from them. Developers work hard on implementing new functionality and optimizing their solutions so that a business generates more revenue and has more satisfied customers.