Tag: ott

By The Numbers: The Imminent Future Of OTT Market

Posted on by Richard Yao

With the rapid rise of content-streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, terms like “cord-cutting” and “over-the-top (OTT) services” have also entered our lexicon. But how far will those new OTT services go in transforming the way we consume media content? Let’s look at two telling graphics from our recently published white paper on the OTT market.

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As the chart indicates, connected platforms supporting OTT services are clearly forecasted to increase. “Smart” connect TVs, in particular, will see significant adoption in the next few years, thanks to the increasingly common partnerships between television manufacturers and streaming device makers like Roku.

Screen Shot 2014-09-17 at 12.53.53 PM

The proliferation of OTT platforms and services means a gradual decrease in the number of total traditional multichannel subscribers, with 2014 potentially being the tipping point. If these predications stand, the industry would soon be feeling the huge impact of OTT companies.

For more in-depth analysis and insight on the OTT market, download our white paper here.

Roku: 10 Million Sold; Most Popular Streaming Device

Posted on by Lab Team

Roku announced today that it has sold 10 million of its set-top boxes in the United States, claiming itself as “the most popular choice among streaming players”. Launched in May 2008, Roku caught the rising tide of OTT market and has been standing strong against a tsunami of formidable competitors, including Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Google Chromecast. Seeking to expand its revenue stream, Roku has even teamed up with manufacturers to produce TV sets with built-in Roku service.

What the Living Room Revolution Means to Brands

Posted on by Lab Team

Download the whitepaper “OTT: What The Living Room Revolution Means to Brands”

Television has been the core medium for the advertising industry for decades. While other media such as web and mobile-based content have eaten into its share of audience attention, it still offers brands the widest reach. Moreover, the audience’s desire to relax on the couch with their families and be entertained by a big HD screen is a unique desirable experience that newer mediums can’t replace.

What is beginning to change, however, is the underlying structure of Television. The idea that TV shows are arranged in linear numbered channels is no longer a technical requirement. A generation is rising that is less receptive to the concepts of expensive bundles, traditional interruptive ad breaks, and being locked into accessing certain content on some screens but not others.

In an on-demand, de-bundled, cord-cut world, the big question is “What now for marketers?”

In this paper we attempt to lay out the current landscape, the promising technologies that are budding, and the exciting future possibilities that lie ahead.

Download the whitepaper “OTT: What The Living Room Revolution Means to Brands”

Everybody Wants To Rule The World Of OTT Calling

Posted on by Richard Yao

Last week, Apple’s announcement that they would enable WiFi-based calls in iOS 8 sparked interest, but people have been enjoying free phone calls by using various OTT services for years. However, the market is currently undergoing a major shake-up, as telecom companies enter the market previously dominated by third-party VoIP apps.

VoIP Apps

Released back in 2003, Skype was among the earliest third-party apps to support Voice Over IP (VoIP) service. Although reasonably priced, the charges for calling landlines and mobile phones limited the scale of Skype’s VoIP usage, leaving the door open for other mobile apps like Tango and Viber to complete with better mobile user experiences and lower pricing. And earlier this year, a Singapore-based startup introduced Nanu, an app that supports free calls to non-Nanu users by playing a short ad over the connecting ringtone. Google also recently updated its Hangouts app to add Google Voice integration, which allows users to dial and receive VoIP calls.

The Telecom Companies

With the popularization of smartphones and high-speed mobile data connectivity, the movement towards OTT communication has reached a tipping point. Verizon and T-Mobile started with Voice over LTE (VoLTE) that allows carrying phone calls over the high-speed LTE networks. Apple’s announcement prompted major carriers like T-Mobile and AT&T to announce upcoming WiFi calling services soon after. And unlike VoIP that most third-party apps use, WiFi calling could jump from the carrier network to Wi-Fi seamlessly.

The Dark Horse

At this point, mobile carriers aren’t the only ones jumping on the OTT calling wagon— WhatsApp, the Facebook-owned messaging app, is reportedly set to add Internet-based voice calls soon. And with over 600 million monthly active users, it might just become one of the major players in the increasingly saturated OTT calling market.

Verizon Plans To Introduce Internet-Based TV Service

Posted on by Lab Team

Watch out, Netflix! Your archrival Verizon might be entering your turf soon. The telecom giant is reportedly working on an Internet-based TV service will arrive sometime in mid-2015. Most significantly, the service would adopt the “a la carte” model and let users freely customize their channel subscription. If implemented as such, this might just be the next stage of the cord-cutting movement.

CBS CEO Admits Live TV Viewing “Virtually Irrelevant Now”

Posted on by Lab Team

At the Goldman Sachs Annual Communacopia Conference, head of CBS TV Les Moonves confirmed what we already know: “overnight ratings are virtually irrelevant now.” While stressing that CBS is still “monetizing the majority” of the time-shifted audience, the executive also praised OTT service Netflix for facilitating year-round programming, which CBS has been dipping its toes into. After this rather candid remark, it will be interesting to see how the broadcaster will continue to evolve its business model.

What U2’s Apple Deal Means For The Music Industry

Posted on by Lab Team

By now you’ve probably heard that Apple is giving away U2’s new album away for free via iTunes. But U2 is obviously no charity; Apple is licensingthe Irish band’s new music, for an estimated $100 million,  as a “free gift” to the iTunes customers, along with the right to use the lead single off the album in its upcoming global ad campaign. Apple gets an extra selling point and a promotional tool; U2 gets enormous exposure through mass sampling and “the world’s largest album launch;” iTunes users get free music. Apple’s move heralds a paradigm shift in the music industry, where merchandise and tour ticket sales replacing music sales as the main revenue channel.

Analyst: Standalone HBOGo Could Bring In $600 Million Per Year

Posted on by Lab Team

According to a report from Barclays Capital, if HBO offered its streaming service as a standalone online service, it could theoretically bring in $600 million of annual revenue for the premium channel. The analysis lays out a couple of different ways that HBO could this without angering its cable-provider partners, the major opponents of HBO selling its programming online. As the OTT market continues to rise, it might be time that HBO seriously consider meeting this popular demand.

Update 10/15/2014: HBO CEO Richard Plepler has confirmed the company plans to launch a “standalone, over-the-top” HBO Go subscription offering at some point in 2015.

TV Still Rules, But OTT On The Rise

Posted on by Lab Team

According to a new global survey conducted by London-based GlobalWebIndex, TV still rules as the No.1 channel for media consumption, taking up 23% of total media time on a global average. The U.S. audience tops the list of most daily TV time with an average of 4.33 hours per day.

However, the study also reveals a rising usurper likely to end TV’s reign. As over-the-air TV viewing continues to rise (now at nearly an hour of daily viewing on average in the US), OTT video service is growing popular, particularly among the young adults. It has reportedly taken up one-third of total TV time among 16- to 24-year-olds across the world. If the viewing preference of young people indicates future media viewing habits, the traditional TV industry will need to keep up.

Is SoundCloud Turning Into Spotify-lite?

Posted on by Lab Team

Following yesterday’s news that Snapchat is planning to add ads to its offering, SoundCloud, the popular audio-sharing platform, is now launching an ad-supported On SoundCloud program to let music and podcast creators monetize the audio they post. The program will have users “see and hear” commercials alongside sponsored tracks. In addition, it announced plans to launch a subscription service to allow listeners to opt out those ads. Essentially, it’s slowly turning into Spotify-lite, just with fewer music licenses. And as long as it doesn’t annoy the users, its popularity will pay off.