What are OTT platforms?
Experts predict that in the United States from 2017 to 2023, the OTT platforms services market revenue will double from $22.9 billion to $48 billion, and the revenue of IPTV operators will decline from $9 billion in 2015 to $4.7 in 2023.
Billion will happen. So we can speculate that OTT platforms will soon replace IPTV services. This opportunity to explain why the demand for OTT services is increasing and how these services differ.
What is OTT Platform?
An OTT platform (a streaming platform) is an online service where video on demand, linear television and other types of media are available.
In most cases, it is a cheaper alternative to cable and satellite TV. There is usually a subscription fee to access the service.
OTT service users do not need to waste time downloading files. All the content has already been uploaded on the web server.
The information is displayed in real time using Box TV (Apple TV and Android TV), PC, tablet, smartphone (Android or iOS) and game consoles (PlayStation and Xbox).
How OTT Platform Works?
Access to the Service is through websites and applications. OTT services offer: movies, TV shows, TV, music and radio.
There are many models of OTT. The AVOD (Ad VOD) model provides free video content, but includes open access advertising.
The SVoD (VoD subscription) model provides access to content for a set period of time. The user pays a subscription and selects content from the operator’s.
OTT services provide access to retail content, means that the subscriber pays only for the videos they are interested.
For example, EST model (electronic selling) the user buys a digital copy, while in the TVOD model he rents TV programs (access to the content is provided for several days).
What does the acronym OTT mean?
OTT stands for “over-the-top”.
What is the difference between OTT and IPTV?
IPTV services use IP protocol technology.
The service operator controls the distribution of content and independently determines the content of the subscription package (for example, the number of TV channels) and sets the corresponding tariff.
Customers of the IPTV service provider cannot watch the content while on vacation, traveling or commuting to work. The transmission of content is tied to the hardware address of the device.
OTT services work in the same way, but the communication channel between the operator and the subscriber does not depend on the ISP.
This means that the user of the service has access to the content anywhere in the world where Internet access is available.
How many OTT services are there?
The number of service providers is one thousand.
According to official statistics, there are over 600 services registered in Europe and the United States alone. According to experts, by 2020 the number of active users of services will reach 650 million people.
OTT services spend less on infrastructure maintenance, so the subscription price for the service is lower than that of satellite or cable TV packages.
It is more convenient to use OTT platform. With them, you can watch your favorite TV shows and movies wherever you have internet access and a playback unit.
What is OTT? Is this the next step in the evolution of any type of televisions ?
For a long time the operation of television was linear and relied on an intermediary.
This is the case with cable television, satellite television or IP television: in all these cases, a provider provides content through its own infrastructure.
Using traditional television as an example, a cable operator installs the cable and the user can then see what the cable company is broadcasting at that time.
The type of content as well as the broadcast time is always decided arbitrarily from above. OTT – an abbreviation for over-the-top or bypass service in French – circumvents this system altogether.
Welcome and use of OTT
In what direction is television currently developing?
Lying Between Traditional Television and OTT: What is IPTV?
With increasingly efficient Internet bandwidth and the shift from ISDN to ADSL, cable television has seen the rise of a serious competitor to IP television.
The first step towards expanding what television offers, especially with playback functions that allow you to watch broadcasts based on delay.
Was the IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) protocol.
This has improved the programming offering and opened up the possibility of accessing paid video-on-demand services. But again, this new form of television was broadcast through an intermediary.
Large IPTV providers such as Vodafone, SFR or Sky offer their own services, although they require their own equipment, such as your own set-top box.
OTT, a clear next step for television
The next logical step in the evolution of IPTV is OTT services.
OTT stands for Over-the-Top and refers to content delivered over an Internet connection, but over which the Internet Service Provider has no control or influence.
There is also talk of bypass service. The OTT services are then diverted from the infrastructure provider. The main OTT providers in the market are Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, DAZN and Eurosport Player.
In order to enjoy streaming services, users must have an internet connection and install an application usually offered by an OTT provider.
With this application they can access the content they want at any time, as long as they have a terminal connected to the Internet.
This can be sports reports, movies, series, video games in real-time streaming or video on demand. It gives users complete control over their TV and can customize the content.
While IPTV providers like Sky, SFR and Vodafone only offer a very limited number of VODs, Over-the-Top is able to provide its users with a vast library with thousands of content, which is available 24/7.
Welcome and use of OTT
OTT providers make content available to their users through streaming. Databases of OTT providers, such as Netflix and Amazon, are located on centralized servers.
As soon as a user decides to stream a movie, the data is transmitted to him in an IP packet. This transfer takes place using the infrastructure of the Internet Service Provider.
Over-the-top service uses this infrastructure as a means of transfer. And since the ISP only transfers the data, it has no legal responsibility for the content used.
To stream HD quality content, you need to have a stable, high-performance internet connection between the OTT content broadcaster and the user.
If the transfer rate is too low or the DSL network is overloaded, there may be quality loss in the stream or even interruptions during video playback.
If you have a good network and good speeds, however, nothing will stand in the way of receiving OTT content.
Unlike IPTV, users are not limited to the use of specific hardware. Any terminal connected to the Internet can read the content transmitted by OTT applications.
You can use a tablet, laptop, notebook or your desktop computer. So internet users can freely decide when they want to stream their favorite content. As the new mobile phone screen shows higher and higher resolution.
However, a significant portion of the OTT content can be viewed on smartphones.
Applications from OTT providers
Of course be installed on Smart TVs. If the technical characteristics of the TV do not allow the installation of the application, it is quite possible to consider adding a TV-Stick to the TV.
The Amazon Fire TV Stick, for example, can be plugged into a USB socket on the TV, allowing the user to access a variety of pre-installed OTT applications.
A feature of most OTT content is that it varies depending on the country you are in. For example, the titles available on Netflix in France will not be the same as the Netflix offerings in Germany.
Thus libraries differ from country to country.
As some private TV channels, national cable TVs or pay-TV companies have acquired the broadcasting rights for certain movies, series or sporting events over the years, some content cannot be transferred to OTT during the first few years.
Then these OTT services track the user’s IP address. If the rights to view the film are restricted, or if there are regulatory restrictions in that country for its broadcast, the content will not be accessible to the user.
OTT also provides quality content from its own production. Netflix, Amazon and Hulu gradually became the producers of major films and series.
Netflix is the best known and most popular OTT provider, but there are other providers with a supply of interesting content. In our comparison article, find out which platforms are worth exploring.
In what direction is television currently developing?
Competition from OTT has become so intense that traditional TV channels with a linear TV offering are seeing a decline in their audience.
Given the response from some mainstream and IP TV channels, it’s understandable that they saw the real problem.
In France, for example, TF1, M6 and France Television Group are joining forces to jointly create their own French OTT platform:
SALTO. TV5 Monde is working on a bypass service, which should be launched by 2020. Arte also plans to launch a European platform with ARD, ZDF and France Télévisions.
TF1 Group has acquired a stake in Studio71, a production and production studio that provides content viewed by millions of Internet users every month in France.
The presentation of these hybrid model platforms is similar to the OTT suppliers found across the Atlantic in the United States.
The fact that traditional broadcasters are responding by providing offers and formats to Internet users who want more variety than traditional television shows the direction in which television will develop in the coming years.
However, the demise of cable, satellite and IP television is difficult to predict. However, one thing is certain that the internet will fundamentally change the television industry.
Wireless, satellite, cable, ADSL and OTT networks: where are we now?
Times change and television never stops evolving. We’ve come a long way from our old ultra pixel CRT screen
televisions, which only offered a network of terrestrial channels, to ultra-flat 4K ultra-high definition with the amount of video we see today. can buy a screen. , program. And other entertainment in sight.
And even today you can watch a video on your smartphone, tablet or computer.
Satellite, Cable, ADSL, FAI Box (Internet Service Provider) are still in play and still attract spectators but less than the OTTs that take up space and are increasingly needed.
Many more thanks to the Internet. Take the example of Google Chromecast or Apple TV which allows you to watch YouTube videos on our TV.
The latter wants to be connected as much as possible (that’s why we are talking about Smart TV). With all this, it is clear that it is much more convenient to have access to an unlimited amount of programs and channels.
The main advantage of OTT is being able to benefit from a single portal without having to juggle France 2, CanalSat or Free. In this regard, France Television found it difficult to keep up with the momentum of smart TVs in 2016.
OTT forced media groups to renew themselves
Furthermore, in 2015, Bertrant Mehet, CEO of Canal + Group, realized that only OTT could make Canal + an essential tool for all audiences.
To face the US giant Netflix in a fierce battle for subscribers, Canal launched its first OTT box: Cube S. It was a small decoder that could work with any Internet connection and be carried anywhere.
A wise choice for the group because with the creation of the Cube it freed itself from a specific IPTV platform for each Internet service provider.
Furthermore, it was the first time that a full television package was accessible via the Internet and for free through an ISP.
Viewers could then connect CanalSat’s television only to numericable’s Internet, which was not possible until now, or take advantage of what the television offers with an alternative ISP such as OVH or FDN.
The offer has now evolved into the TNT Cube and MyCANAL multiscreen service, the program of which is available on https://www.canalplus.com.
With OTT, media groups have realized that television is no longer a simple stream of programs that can be accessed from a single terminal.
Today, television channels must be able to renew themselves to cope with the complexity and diversity of the Internet.
Local media groups must resist competition from American winemakers who intend to make TV boring in the eyes of viewers. To react, they are adopting new experiences for viewers and internet users.
Molotov: OTT revolution
Established in July 2016, Molotov TV provides access not only to TV channels. In fact, this French service is free and accessible from any connected device (smartphone, smart TV, tablet, computer), including Android and iOS devices.
The main idea of the Molotov founders is to allow viewers to enjoy an extremely simple interface that allows them to access all channels regardless of their source, paid and free.
In the summer of 2016, Molotov launched on Apple TV and then extended its app to Android, Google Chromecast, and LG and Samsung smart TVs.
So what’s in OTT and why is it becoming more and more popular?
In OTT, there is everything available on the internet but all the video on demand options like:
- Video-on-Demand (SVOD) subscription service
- Video on Demand (TVOD) subscription purchased from ACT
- Video on demand (AVOD) with ad-supported free subscription
- Streaming platforms (Vimeo, YouTube, etc.)
Previously, this was just a bonus for our classic television, but now the trend has changed and reversed. We spend a lot more time watching videos on our cell phones than on our televisions.
But the bottom line is that OTT is winning more and more viewers because it gives you a choice. You can choose to watch the video whenever and wherever you want.
This is what differentiates it from traditional television and its frozen programs which leave little or no flexibility, unlike OTT.
However, traditional TV channels are waking up and collaborating or at least trying to catch up on OTT, the new television standard that has taken over traditional TV.
historical
OCT? But what do these three letters mean?
In English, over the top (OTT) means “over the top”, “excessive”, “above” but here OTT refers to direct access to the Internet. This is an alternative service offering.
Indeed, we are talking about accessing video and other types of media on the Internet without the involvement of a cable, telephone or satellite operator.
So it is completely different from Pay Television or Movies on Demand which depends on the aforementioned operator.
For OTT we can add for example Netflix which is a real bypass service. Netflix content is not related to any network operator. So let’s talk about this OTT, the new television standard that is dominating traditional TV.
Pay TV and OTT
At a time when OTT is taking up more and more space on our television, Pay TV is still a minor success and continues to defend itself. Rather, it is traditional TV channels that are struggling to keep up.
What’s more common today than having a connected television (or smart TV) that allows you to easily access the internet and have a wide range of programs, videos, movies and series to watch on our televisions.
Previously, we were happy with the box offers offered by Orange, Free or SFR (among others) because we had not (yet) thought about connecting our televisions to the Internet for even more options.
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