OTT Apps 101: Reaching a Next Level in Content Distribution

Broadcast television is changing. OTT viewership is on the rise. But we know that already… and if you’re here to learn about OTT Apps, you know the impact online video had on the Media Industry, and are looking to extend your offer.

How’s business?

Broadcasters, ISPs, Publishers, and content-creators want to stay relevant and keep up with the latest video tech trends while offering a platform that meets their audience’s expectations for a personalized, high-quality media experience. 

The number of OTT services has been growing exponentially and viewers keep wanting more. And more means delivering content all around the world on all connected devices.

What is an OTT app?

It is getting less and less unlikely that viewers will continue to watch movies and series through cable or satellite as much as they used to. Video on Demand is here to stay, and we’re spending more and more time on smaller devices such as smartphones, tablets, and computers. It has become essential to have the possibility to watch content on multiple screens and switch between them according to our needs. 

And if that’s not enough, we also want to cast your favorite show on our brand-new Smart TV. Because why not, right? With this, no matter where we are, we can stream whatever content we want.

In conclusion, OTT apps deliver streaming content to audiences over the internet to any device (smart TV, laptop, smartphone, tablet), bypassing traditional broadcast, cable, and satellite platforms. As poetic as it might sound, OTT apps will be the (very near) future of television and online streaming services.  If you’re entering the online streaming service in any way, OTT TV and mobile apps will surely play a part in your business. 

What can you gain from it?

What makes OTT apps so appealing is the fact that consumers can watch their favorite content on their own conditions: anywhere, anytime, on any device. 

Think about it, with OTT Apps your content is instantly available not only when your audience is sitting in front of a TV or computer, but also when they’re on the move and holding their smartphones and tablets: daily work commute, coffee line, lunch brake, you name it. 

From the business perspective, OTT apps offer the chance of turning viewers into paying subscribers, meaning you will have control over your content monetization, with different payment structures and advertising strategies that you can’t have when dealing with the traditional models.

And finally, OTT apps are not a technology reserved for multi-billion-dollar media companies. Thousands of small and medium-sized media businesses and content creators are launching their own OTT apps every day. 

Who is watching OTT content?

If you’re worried your content won’t have any views, forget that idea. OTT apps are becoming a necessity for any content creator entering the OTT business. Either delivering for a big audience or just a small niche, you’ll be able to grow your revenue and your audience if making your content available on multiple devices.

Get to know your audience, what they like, and what kind of content they’re more likely to subscribe to. 

Viewer’s Data is your friend here, especially when choosing what devices they’re more likely to engage. This means that you’ll likely start by choosing the apps that will better target your viewers. Your OTT platform’s analytics can gather a lot of data based on your viewers behaviours and will help you decide where to invest next. 

OTT providers usually start with apps for mobile phones and tablets (Android and iOS) as statistically this is where a significant slice of OTT users are. 

What do you need to launch your content to OTT apps?

Developing OTT apps may take some time and to decide to go forward with it, you need to clarify some important things:

1. Is your audience going to benefit from streaming on their devices?
2. Are your brand and message clear?
3. Is your price and monetization strategy reliable?
4. What apps are most used – so you can focus on those first (iOS or Android? Amazon TV, Roku, Apple TV?)

Having doubts? Let us highlight some stats about the rapidly evolving world of live and streaming video:

• Experts believe OTT app usage will grow to a $120 billion industry by 2022;
• The average OTT user streams content across three devices and uses three different OTT services.
• Having a branded app increases subscription by 20%;
• 50% of OTT users have multiple subscriptions. 

So, if you are now ready to capitalize on OTT, let’s see how it can be done.

How to create an OTT app: 

1. Hire an app developer 

There are plenty of agencies and freelancers who specialize in creating OTT apps. Better still, they can build it from scratch to your specifications.

Depending on your budget and time, the prices may differ. You can contract a low-cost agency to do the job… or if you want a high-end developer (or agency), you must consider that is not going to be cheap and it’s going to take a right amount of time. 

2. Partner with an OTT Provider

OTT services, like Vizzi, ensures that the people involved in the developing are experienced in video distribution.

 Benefiting of an OTT service that already offers white-labeled OTT apps for a variety of devices, data and rights protection, CDNs for a global distribution, hosting and storage can make this process easier and faster for you.

Vizzi OTT-TV – Turnkey OTT-TV Platform

Vizzi is a powerful, robust and cost-effective, end-to-end video platform that combines in one place all the flexible and scalable tools that Media companies, Broadcasters, Mobile service providers, Telecoms, ISP´s and Pay TV operators to need, for the dynamic delivery of Live TV and VOD services, across any IP-based device, deployed on the cloud, on-premises or using a hybrid architecture.

Vizzi includes everything you need for content acquisition and ingest, asset management, publishing, user management, monetization, advertising, reporting, and analytics, all built in-house and pre-integrated to bring you unique platform features for a quick time-to-market and efficient operations. With Vizzi, you can expect your TV and Video business to grow and differentiate yourself from the competition. 

A fully-branded OTT app

Provide us with your requirements like your logo and brand colors and MOG development team will prepare your OTT platform customized to fit your branding and business needs.

With Vizzi OTT we can engage with your viewers anywhere, as it is compatible with mutiple devices such as:

• Safari, Chrome, Edge, FireFox;
• AndroidTV, Apple TV, Amazon FireTV, Chromecast, Roku, Samsung, LG and Sony;
• iOS, Android.

But, and although we recommend having an OTT app, it’s important to know that to fully engage with your audience you need to first set your streaming platform. Make sure your offer is stable and growing and don’t rush. Only then consider moving to the next stage: OTT Apps.