Over the Top (OTT) services are rapidly growing in popularity around the globe due to the several advantages they provide over the conventional television services. OTT apps are becoming a lucrative field for entrepreneurs due to the growing market for online streaming services. Let us take a look at the basics which one should be aware of before going for OTT app development services.
Types of OTT
Based on content, there are four major types of OTT services:
- Video
- Audio
- VOIP
- Messaging
Video streaming is undoubtedly the most popular and lucrative type of OTT currently. A number of app development companies are offering services for OTT video app development lately. Based on the monetisation type, OTT video on demand platforms can again be divided into 3 types:
- SVOD: In this model, the users pay a certain subscription amount to gain access to a select category or library of content.
- TVOD: Transactional video on demand refers to the pay per watch view model. Here the users pay for a specific video or video package.
- AVOD: As the name suggests, ad-based video on demand models are monetised via ads. Some of the AVOD services are free while some are free with an option for a paid ad-free experience.
The global OTT market at a glance
- The global OTT market is expected to grow to $332.52 billion by 2025, with a rapidly growing popularity across various countries. Even the countries where OTT services are hard to launch due to problems in internet connectivity are undergoing infrastructural development and are expected to become new markets.
- The OTT market can be divided into 3 segments based on device type, such as smartphones, PCs and Laptops, smart TVs, gaming consoles, etc. The smartphone segment clearly dominated the market, followed by laptops and PCs. This is due to the booming number of smartphone users and the trend is expected to continue in the near future.
Features of a good OTT video app
When developing an app for OTT services, it is important to emphasize highly on user experience in order to beat the competition. Here are some of the features crucial for delivering a great user experience:
- User profiles: Allowing every user create a profile would allow them to sync the app across multiple devices. Moreover, user profiles are crucial to add another important feature: suggesting content based on their watch history.
- Multilingual: Providing video content in only one language would greatly restrict your potential audience. The leading OTTs provide multilingual videos to cater to wider demographics.
- Shareability: Adding options to share the content across social media would be a prime mode of free advertising. With people sharing your content with their contacts, your userbase would grow.
- Interface: The app must come with a sleek and easy to use interface in order to ensure a smooth streaming experience. These include proper categorization of content, search function with filter options, gist of each content, etc.
Cost of OTT video app development
Various app development companies offer their services at different costs. The cost for building an OTT video app depends on a number of factors such as:
- Number of platforms
- Features provided in the app
- Geographical location of the development company
- Quality of the development services
In the process to leverage the power of OTT, Razorse Software Pvt Ltd, a leading software company, has been collaborating with brands and entrepreneurs to build promising OTT video streaming apps. You may reach out to us for developing your OTT video app.