Vivek PatilThinking of building a Netflix-style video streaming service?
Launching your own OTT service is not a smooth sailing voyage unless you’ve got a trusted OTT service provider.
The right OTT vendor can ease your pain with its rich platform and business monetization solutions.
It’s like having a great film production team who are proactively setting up and maintaining the theatre production equipment, so you as a director worry less about the behind-scene hustle.
Similarly, while you think of starting your OTT business, you must have the best OTT service with a strong technical team backing you every moment. So you as a business owner are less concerned about your streaming service.
Since you’re already here, let's understand how to create an OTT platform as good as Netflix (if not better).
But before that, let’s start with the basics:
What is an OTT Service?
OTT or Over-The-Top streaming is a service that allows you to watch video content over the internet.
The best example of an OTT service? Netflix. Your favorite movie shows, sitcoms, and webisodes are all delivered online on Netflix.
OTT services can be accessed through various platforms such as an app or a website.
To check more about what is an OTT service, you can hover through Ventuno to know how to seamlessly create your OTT platform.
What are the different types of OTT business models?
There are three ways or business models for you to monetize your OTT service.
1. Subscription Video On Demand (SVOD) Model
Here you’re asked to subscribe by paying a small amount every month or year (can also be once in 3 or 6 months in some cases). For instance, Netflix is monetized with the SVOD model.
SVOD offers uninterrupted ad-free streaming to users wherein you’ve got full control over the subscription and the huge collection of video content.
That means you can watch what you want and when you want.
2. Advertising Video On Demand (AVOD) Model
You might’ve subscribed to some channels on YouTube for free. The free video content that you view is monetized with ads.
The AVOD model is well suited for creators who can get a lot of views for their videos. Otherwise, you won’t be able to make much money through ads.
For creators who have a small viewership, the SVOD and TVOD model suits them better.
3. Transaction Video On Demand (TVOD) Model
In transactional video-on-demand, users have to purchase the video content before they view it. It’s available only for a limited time, let’s say for a week or two.
Instead of watching ads, users prefer paying upfront for specific video content. You only buy/rent the shows you want to watch.
Unlike subscriptions, where you pay a recurring fee every month/ year, you pay a one-time fee for watching a video or a show.
It is also called pay-per-view VOD. It is best suited for live events such as concerts, sporting events, award shows, conferences, or press releases.
How to start an OTT Service Like Netflix?
For launching anything new, the general conception is we need to start from zero. But building an OTT platform from scratch can be overwhelming.
For example, you would need to hire developers to integrate or develop multiple tools (video player, CMS, ad-server, payment gateway, user management, CDN, servers, and more).
And don’t think that all your worries are over once you have developed your OTT service! You would still need a team of developers, testers, and project managers to manage and update the apps.
Don’t worry!
All your pain points will be solved through this blog article.
You don’t need much investment to start an OTT service like Netflix if you use a SaaS OTT platform like Ventuno.
Let’s understand the step-by-step process to build and launch your OTT service:
1. Choose the right OTT service provider
The first step is to choose your video streaming service provider.
It is highly recommended to choose a provider that has a one-stop solution for managing your entire video operations - right from uploading and organizing videos and live streams, templates for launching your website and apps, ability to monetize with ads, subscriptions, and pay-per-view, and provision to view in-depth analytics and understand more about your business.
Here’s the checklist before you commit to any OTT vendor:
#1. Allows you to develop a customizable website, mobile apps, and connected TV apps (no coding).
#2.A simple Video CMS to upload and organize your videos and live streams
#3. Helps you monetize your video content with subscriptions, ads, and/or pay-per-view.
#4. Easy to manage and view analytics.
#5. Allows you to integrate your preferred payment gateway and accept global payments.
#6. Quick to launch your video streaming website and apps (preferably within 30-60 days).
With Ventuno, you get a single platform where you can manage all the above tasks.
2. Select your monetization model
You can choose any of the below three monetization models based on your business requirement.
SVOD
TVOD
AVOD
You can monetize both live streamings as well as on-demand video content.
Talk to us if you need any kind of assistance related to choosing the VOD business model.
3. Create your video streaming website
You might’ve seen how effortless it is to build your website using WordPress. There are tons of themes to choose from and customize.
Similarly, Ventuno helps you design your website with your brand. You need zero technical knowledge to build your while-label video streaming website.
Website elements like color, font, size, logo, buttons, and images can be easily customized. Hence, maintaining the overall brand consistency.
4. Build your mobile and OTT apps
Viewers love to watch their favorite content instantly on their mobile and smart TV devices. They’re willing to pay more for on-demand video content that is easy-to-access.
Your audience is already watching content on:
Smartphones (Android & Apple)
Streaming boxes
Smart Televisions
There are many ways in which viewers can stream movies and web-series directly on the TV. Popular amongst them are Android TV box, Roku, AppleTV, and Amazon Fire TV.
You can launch your native apps for all these platforms using Ventuno.
Initially, you can create an app that is popular in your country. For instance, the Android TV app is widely used in India, whereas Roku is most popular in the US.
Remember, by choosing the right app you’re testing it on a large audience to further scale your business.
We at Ventuno help you create the following mobile and OTT apps:
#1. Android
#2.iOS
#3. Amazon Fire TV
#4.Apple TV
#5.Android TV
#6.Roku
#7.Samsung TV
#8.LG webOS TV
How can you make money by starting your OTT service?
There’s a swift transition in the OTT user base as more users are moving from traditional media distribution towards OTT platforms.
So, building your OTT platform means having creative freedom. For instance, you can decide the type of content and its pricing you want to have.
Before you launch your video streaming business, analyze who’s your audience.
Are they ready for a long-term commitment (subscription model)?
There are various ways like ads (video, banner, native, and interstitial), subscriptions, transactions, rentals, or a combination of these models, where you can make money.
The SVOD model works best when you’ve got a loyal fan base. For instance, if you’re a film producer or a social media influencer, or a YouTuber, SVOD might work well because you got a loyal fan following, who would be eager to watch your content.
So, they will buy your monthly/yearly subscription, which would give you a steady flow of income.
The most common way of enticing customers in the OTT space is by offering a free trial (preferably 7-15 days). Once the end-users love your content, it tempts them to subscribe to your services.
Further, you can upsell & cross-sell your plans or offer them coupons and promotions. So, they’re hooked to your OTT platform.
In the case of AVOD, your work is to find the advertiser who is ready to run ads on your video content.
VOD Advertisements are classified into 3 categories –
Pre-roll – at the beginning
Mid-roll – at the mid
Post-roll – at the end
Therefore, the quality of your video content will decide whether the user watches all ads. And, hence get maximum views to generate ad-based revenue.
Once your product (which is your streaming app) is strong, you worry less about customers. Your focus should be on creating exclusive content and setting aggressive pricing plans.
How is Ventuno different from other OTT service providers?
When a strong foundation is laid, it becomes easy to focus on the business. And, we at Ventuno make your job simple. Ventuno provides a strong OTT platform that helps you launch and manage your OTT service from a single place.
Advantages of Ventuno:
- One-stop solution to upload and organize videos, launch apps, monetize them, view analytics, and more
- Hassle-free platform - No coding required
- No long-term commitment – if you don’t like the platform cancel the subscription anytime
- Simple CMS that can be easily used by the video production team
- Flexible monetization options
- Extensive analytics
- Rich features such as adaptive bit-rate streaming, watermarking, security, customizable themes, and more
- Affordable pricing
- Dedicated account manager
- Stream live events and 24/7 Live TV channels.
Final Thoughts
Now I am sure you must have a clear picture of how to launch your OTT service.
You might've got a huge library of premium video content, but you might be falling short of a reliable OTT platform.
Don’t worry! We can take care of everything for you,
Additionally, our video experts team can help you with your launch and monetization strategy.
Interested to learn more? Sign-up for our free trial or contact us.
What are your thoughts on this article? reach out to us at info@ventunotech.com if you would like to discuss!
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