The OTT Solutions Industry is in the State of Upheaval in 2021

We just returned from NAB 2021 a couple of weeks ago. Whew! 100,000 professionals from the media, technology, streaming solutions, and entertainment industries gathered in one place for the event. Teradek's new wireless 4K solutions were also on exhibit, along with other exciting new technology.

Of course, we could chat all day about excellent new cameras and broadcast gear. However, the focus of this paper will be on the OTT solutions business.

We are witnessing the maturation of the OTT solutions business in 2021. The present condition of the OTT market will be discussed in this blog article. Then we'll go over some of 2021's important news. Finally, we'll consider what the future holds for over-the-top television.

OTT Solutions Overview:

The "internet first" approach is becoming more common in the distribution of industry media. This demonstrates how quickly OTT is gaining market share. Businesses are investing an increasing amount of money in over-the-top (OTT) solutions these days.

Broadcasting's genuine superpowers include Netflix, Amazon, and Apple. Traditional players, such as CBS and ABC, have maintained considerable market shares by leveraging their brands and capital.

The small and medium-sized OTT industry has witnessed the most change in recent years. Businesses can find large specialized audiences willing to subscribe to a new platform in these areas.

OTT Industry Stats:

People love streaming video services, according to OTT industry statistics. They are also willing to pay. Sixty per cent of people in the United States watch subscription-based OTT video services daily.

The market is approaching saturation. At present, more than 69 per cent of homes in the United States have subscribed to at least one OTT service. In terms of statistics, this equates to almost 51 million households. Furthermore, 38% of American homes have two or more subscriptions.

Subscriptions are becoming more and more popular. According to some estimates, more than a third of professional broadcasters use subscription models to monetize their programming commercialize their programmes through subscription models.

Power Moves in 2021:

The OTT business has already had a busy start to the year. With that in mind, let's look at a couple of the most recent headlines and how they might affect the industry's future.

OTT Solutions Market:

We may see additional consolidation on the hosting side. The market is still highly fragmented, resulting in several inefficiencies. Further mergers will likely occur.

As the technology improves, we'll see more feature parity among OTT services. Customer service, ease of use, and integrations will become increasingly essential differentiators.

Technological Developments:

On a technical level, 2022 is expected to be the year that H.264 gets overtaken. With faster encoding speeds, it's conceivable that AV1 will start climbing inexorably. However, how long this will take remains to be seen. It took years for H.264 to reach market share.

We should also expect to witness a gradual increase in 4K broadcasting, VR, and 360o video. The arrival of 5G internet will very certainly accelerate this adoption curve.

Growth of the OTT Industry:

The numbers are typical for the OTT industry in terms of growth. To put it another way, they're mind-boggling. The rate of expansion continues to be rapid.

In several countries, the OTT market is increasing at a rate of more than 30% each year.
By 2024, 310 million households worldwide are expected to subscribe to at least one OTT service.
By 2023, global OTT revenue is estimated to reach $83.4 billion.
Global OTT video spending will also get $559 billion by 2022.

Trends in Monetization:

OTT solution providers are increasingly using subscription models to monetize their services. According to some estimates, more than a third of professional broadcasters use subscription models to monetize their programming.

However, it's feasible that the audience will tyre out in the future. In the United States, there are almost 100 subscription platform providers. You won't be able to subscribe to all of them.

Advertising and pay-per-view may be ready to make a comeback due to this "OTT fatigue." Advertising is already a substantial source of revenue for several OTT companies. We can probably expect this to grow in the future.

There are, however, forces working in the opposite direction. Adblockers prevent roughly 40% of adverts from viewers, which is an argument for PPV and subscriptions. And there's no sign that a solution to the problem is on the way.

As a result of ad blocking and OTT weariness, pay-per-view could become the way of the future. Some form of micropayment technology may become widely used.

Finally, we may anticipate an increase in the use of free trials. According to Glenn Hower of Parks Associates, "free OTT trials are effective in turning a large portion of trial users into customers."

Final thought:

We wanted to present an overview of the OTT industry in 2021 in this post. We've also discussed several significant current trends and future opportunities.

Modern organizations can't afford to ignore OTT because of the magnitude of the market, how quickly it's developing, and how vital it is to people's lives. You don't have to go it alone, though! We hope this article helps you with an introduction to the world of OTT video and some of the OTT platforms that enable it.

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