Firstly, what is OTT?
OTT is an online video streaming app that provides the viewers through the internet. Videos streaming on an OTT app can be watched anywhere and anytime according to our convenience since OTT platforms are accessible through phones, laptops, tablets and smart TV’s unlike watching it on traditional cable where keeping the track of time can get difficult amid the busy schedule.
There are various factors such as the cost, accessibility, control over the content that one wants to watch along with many other factors that make such apps popular among the viewers these days. One of the major reasons why OTT platforms are so popular currently is because of the Covid-19 pandemic due to which the theaters are shut and hence the releases of movies have been taking place on various OTT platforms.
But, the question is how to build a successful OTT video streaming app?
So let’s understand in detail on how one can do so.
While the option of hosting on your server is available it is always advisable for one very important reason to host on a cloud based server that cloud based solutions can help your OTT app extend the scalability of your platform and keep your viewers engaged which ultimately increases the revenue.
CDN stands for “content delivery network.” The CDN stores, or caches, the various video streams, packaged for each device format. It then streams them on-demand to connected user devices. CDN cache servers can be hosted in data centers called PoPs (Points of Presence). These are located close to end users so as to minimise delivery time, or latency. CDNs also act as a shield to protect origin servers from multiple requests. This takes the workload off the origin server. The CDN is a part of the content distribution infrastructure that needs to scale as the user base grows.
A video streaming protocol is a standardized delivery method for breaking up a video into chunks, sending it to the viewer, and reassembling it.
A good web/app is known by the uniformity it shows over various browser platforms. Whether the OTT can work in the same manner on different browsers like Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera, etc.
One of the most critical part of the entire scope as your asset is the content. And you must protect it in all ways. DRM is the way to protect your content from any theft.
Let us also discuss the benefits of building OTT video streaming app
OTT platforms provide a direct interaction between content creators and their audiences which increases the engagement by the audience. By doing this, your audience will start to find your content familiar.
Watching content online has become quite a popular thing among the audience which therefore increases the brand awareness and also the interest of the viewers leading to customer loyalty.
Cloud based solutions can help your OTT app extend the scalability of your platform and keep your viewers engaged which increases the revenue. It also helps in anticipating the demands on the server.
Though, there are certain things which are to be considered before building your OTT platform. Those are explained below:
It is very important to firstly identify the kind of audience you are willing to provide or create content for. The next step would be to identify their preferences. Hence, targeting your audience would be the first and the most basic thing to do in order to build your OTT app.
Once you’ve identified the kind of audience you want to target and the kind of content they would prefer, having a good judgement over selecting and putting out the right kind of content for your viewers is also very vital. Getting your content licensed shows the authenticity of your content as well of your platform which would help in pulling more and more viewers towards your platform.
Uniformity into deciding the revenue models isn’t something that would be advisable for your OTT video streaming app. Revenue models could be according to the content requirements or your plan or it also could also be based on the subscription, ads, pay per-view or any other way of your choice.
The content that is created has to be promoted in a very efficient manner. Marketing your content well is equally important as creating it. It can be promoted with the help of various social media platforms and recommendation engines. By doing this it spreads awareness about the content and gather interest from the viewers.
There are currently 40 providers of OTT in India, which distribute streaming videos over the internet. In 2018, the OTT market in India was worth ₹2150 crores and its value grew to ₹35 billion in 2019.
Clearly, OTT has become quite popular.
