The OTT Revolution is here. Are you prepared?
We’re seeing it take place in front of our very own eyes; in our homes, as we travel, while we entertain our kids, as we work. The OTT revolution has well and truly arrived and is drastically changing the way we consume video content.
In a challenge to the likes of Netflix and Amazon, major player Sky recently announced that it will soon be making all of its channels and content available online.
While the broadcaster has said that it will not stop broadcasting by satellite and that customers will still have a choice, surely the intent is clear.
Sky’s 22.9 million customers will soon then have the option to view all its content online (currently they have access to limited online content via Sky Go, Now TV and through Sky boxes), and has said, according to a BBC report, that it hopes the move will let it enter more markets and increase revenue and profits. Italy is the first country to be earmarked, with Austria next and the UK tipped to follow later in 2018 / 2019.
This news comes as analysts, Dataxis, publish new research showing that European linear OTT pay-TV subscribers reached 7.4 million in 2017.
September 2017’s figures demonstrated a 13% rise on the previous quarter and with broadcasters, such as Sky, evolving their content distribution models, these figures are only set to climb further.
Meanwhile, Stateside, media research group Kagan predicts that an estimated 37.2 million homes are expected to become broadband-only by 2022, just slightly less than double the 2017 total of 19 million. This equates to 29.2% of U.S. occupied households becoming broadband-only by 2022. According to TV Technology, traditional multichannel penetration is likely to be in the low 60% range at that time.
So, what’s driving this shift? Looking at Europe, Dataxis has pinpointed that it is specialised content that’s responsible, and specifically sports and kids’ content. The rise in sports platforms is catering to an audience that represented 25% of the total linear OTT subscribers in Q3 2017, according to Dataxis’ latest report. And it appears that Western European countries are leading the way with this trend, with Germany responsible for 35% of the market, France 25% and the UK, 15%.
With streaming and downloading becoming the default method of consumption for audiences, broadcasters and content owners must embrace flexible and innovative solutions to meet viewer demands. The CAPEX heavy, on-premise paradigm, that served traditional over-the-air broadcasting and content distribution, is no longer fit for purpose within this rapidly changing landscape. Shifting market forces necessitate nimble and responsive services, offering ever greater quality of experience.
M2A Media’s public cloud-based solutions are perfectly positioned to enable media enterprises to leverage these changes in consumption, offering resilient, scalable and smart cloud-based solutions for managing and publishing video. If you’d like to learn more about our solutions and how they can benefit your business, talk to us today.
