The global Over-The-Top (OTT) media services market was valued at US$117.59 billion in 2021 and projected to register a CAGR of 14.56% through 2028, according to The Business Research Company. If you’re a media owner looking at tapping on this market and launching a video streaming service, one of the key decisions you have to make is choosing a vendor to power your video stack. It is important as you will be partnering with this vendor to translate your business requirements into a technology solution that will deliver your content seamlessly and help you differentiate your service.
In this blog we cover 4 key considerations to choosing the right video streaming tech vendor. There are a plethora of options to choose from and these factors are important in making the right choice.
- Video value proposition
- Obligations to content owner
- Business model
- Service management requirements
Video Value Proposition
A media owner needs to consider its video value proposition to end users and choose a set of streaming vendors that can support this proposition. This could be a combination of premium VOD features, low latency live streaming, multi audio, closed captions, device reach, bandwidth efficiency and others.
If you have a smaller portfolio of content with simple predictable workflows, you can work with a vendor that has a solution off the shelf that requires low or zero touch. These sometimes come with a simple CMS (content management system) attached. However, if you have a large content library, specialised workflows or differentiation needs, you will require a streaming platform which can be customised and managed by the video engineering teams via well documented APIs.
Obligations to Content Owners
The second consideration is the obligation to your content rights owners, which could include video security requirements like DRM, watermarking and session control. These typically involve adding other vendors to your video pipeline provider so integration and ongoing licensing costs need to be considered.
Business Models
As a media owner, you need to investigate and decide which business models work best for your country, target audience and content genre. For example, in the UK, SVOD (Subscription-Video-On-Demand) is the main driver of growth in the streaming video market. UK consumers held 50 million streaming subscriptions in 2022 with SVOD growing at 17.66% year-on-year, according to the British Association for Screen Entertainment and Futuresource Consulting. In the US, SVOD services accounted for 53% of all streaming traffic as at February 2022, according to Nielsen.
Once you have decided on your own business model, you can work out which vendors fit within the budget envelope that your monetisation model allows. If your business model is primarily AVOD (Advertising-Video-On-Demand) or FAST (Free-Ad-Supported-Television), it is likely you will not be able to budget video features and video technology providers that a premium SVOD or TVOD (Transaction-Video-On-Demand) service will be able to.
Service Management Requirements
Lastly, you will need to consider whether the vendor will be able to manage and prioritise customer servicing in production over the contract period with enough attention to your specific needs.
Specific needs change over time so it is important to consider a video streaming vendor who has some flexibility to work with other video technology partners if required. This is especially if you are expecting to scale your business quickly. It is challenging to change the video stack while the business is running, so it is best to think about these areas in advance and plan ahead.
Whether it is a new content library to onboard, new devices entering the market, usage spike from live events or someone illegally retransmitting your stream, there is plenty for a video technology team to work on. Choosing a vendor who has a compelling roadmap, is able to advise based on region specific experience and has a team available to help when unforeseen incidents happen, are key.
Choose the right video streaming vendor to ensure success
The video streaming market is dynamic and competitive, so choosing the right vendor is key to driving success for your business and should be carefully considered. Once you have decided on the video value proposition, business model, understand your obligations to your content owner and service management requirements, it will be easier to identify vendors who meet your requirements.
At DIAGNAL, we understand the challenges that you may be facing when creating and launching your streaming video service, and we have the technology capabilities and experience to cater to different customers’ needs. To find out more about how we can help, please reach out to us.
