What is OTT TV?: The Ultimate Guide for Businesses

The market for video content is booming, but it’s becoming particularly strong in the OTT TV market. More viewers than ever are shifting from traditional broadcast television to internet-based, over-the-top streaming in order to consume their favorite content on their terms. 

In fact, part of the reason for such a significant shift is because audiences have full control over the viewing experience. It’s possible for them to watch whatever they want, whenever they want – and while that’s a huge step up for consumers, it also represents a powerful opportunity for businesses looking to get their video content in front of an enthusiastic viewership.

So, in this post, we’ll look at OTT TV and how you can fully utilize this vital channel to distribute your video content and boost your business’s bottom line!

Table of Contents

• What is OTT TV?
• Why is OTT Important?
  • OTT vs CTV
• Top 5 Features of an OTT Platform for Enterprises
  • Ease of Use
  • Security
  • Scalability
  • Compatibility
  • Monetization
• How to Choose the Right Online Video Platform (OVP) for OTT
• Work with Maestro
  • What is Maestro?

What is OTT TV?

OTT TV (over-the-top television) is a way to distribute video content to televisions and other devices through the internet, bypassing traditional cable or other broadcast TV services. OTT is a flexible way for viewers to access video content, both on-demand and through live streaming. 

Popular examples of consumer-facing OTT platforms include Netflix, Hulu, YouTube Live, and Roku channel. It’s also possible to create your own branded OTT app.

Why is OTT Important?

It’s important to recognize that the demand for video content is only going up – and as a business, your job is to meet your ideal audience where they are. Increasingly, where they’re watching is OTT TV.

So, why is OTT important for your business? Here are a few reasons why your video content strategy should include OTT:

• Larger reach - By sharing your content through an OTT platform, you can reach viewers all over the world, many of whom wouldn’t be able to access your content via traditional television.

• Diverse monetization - An OTT platform allows you to monetize your content through a number of different methods, from subscriptions to ad revenue to transactional Video on Demand (VOD). At the same time, you can get a lot more granular with targeting for a higher ROI. 
  
  
• Greater control - As a business, you get to control when and how your content is distributed via OTT. You can even choose to create a branded smart TV app to serve as the exclusive home for your video content.

The best thing about OTT is that it puts the power back in your hands. Whether you’re a B2B or D2C brand, there are ways to derive value from the video content you’re creating and distributing over-the-top.

OTT vs CTV

We’re going to talk more about OTT and how to use it to distribute your content, but first, let’s briefly talk about the difference between over-the-top (OTT) and a similar term, connected TV.

The term “over-the-top” describes a way of delivering video content over the web, as opposed to through traditional broadcast television methods like cable or satellite. OTT specifically refers to how consumers can access online content through virtually any internet-connected device, such as a phone, computer, tablet, media streaming device, or smart TV. 

By comparison, connected TV (CTV) is a subset of OTT that’s specifically focused around televisions that can connect to the internet and display video live or on-demand. In the end, CTV is all about replicating a “TV-like” experience through linear (live) content or nonlinear (on-demand) content, while OTT simply describes making your content available for viewing over the internet on any device. 

Top 5 Features of an OTT Platform for Enterprises

So, now that we’ve looked at what OTT TV is, let’s talk about the features you should look for in an OTT platform that will help you deliver your content to audiences at scale.

To be clear, we’re talking about finding a white-label platform – or creating your own – that’s capable of distributing OTT content directly to consumers, as opposed to a third-party OTT service like Netflix or Amazon Prime Video. While you can certainly aim to get your video content accepted on these popular platforms, you should still make sure you can get your content out there without a gatekeeper.

With that in mind, here are the top 5 features to look out for!

1) Ease of Use

Your OTT platform of choice should have an ease of use for both viewers and administrators. That means a user interface that’s easy to navigate, which will lead to more time spent viewing your content. 

It also means an efficient content management system (CMS) so you and your team can efficiently upload, schedule, and manage all of your video content.

2) Security

A quality platform should provide top-notch security to protect your content, your audience, and your intellectual property. Important security features to watch for include built-in digital rights management (DRM), data encryption, and user authentication. 

Taken together, these will ensure that only authorized people are seeing your content and that sensitive information is always protected.

3) Scalability

Live content is becoming more important. Not only should you be able to host on-demand video, but you should work with a platform that can support a growing base of live viewers. 

It’s important to have an infrastructure that can scale up or down seamlessly based on demand – this usually requires a content delivery network (CDN), intelligent load balancing, and a global infrastructure.

4) Compatibility

Your OTT platform needs to be compatible with a wide range of devices, from smartphones and tablets to smart TVs and computers. 

One of the biggest benefits of OTT is the ability to access content from any device, operating system, and web browser – so make sure your OTT platform can support that kind of flexibility and reach.  

5) Monetization

OTT gives you a wide menu of monetization options that you wouldn’t get with traditional TV. However, you still need to work with a platform that supports the different models, including subscription (SVOD), ad-based (AVOD), transactional (TVOD), tipping, live shopping, or a combination of these. 

Secondarily, you’ll want a platform that provides detailed analytics on metrics ranging from viewer engagement to ad performance. 

If you can work with a robust OTT platform with these features, you’ll have the tools and resources you need to distribute, manage, and monetize your video content with OTT.

How to Choose the Right Online Video Platform (OVP) for OTT

We’ve touched on what OTT is and what to look for in an OTT platform. Now, let’s talk about how this all works in practice for an enterprise.

The reality is, you need a way to maintain control over not just your content, but the entire viewing experience. To pull that off, you’ll want to host your VOD and live content in alignment with your business’s brand identity – and that means choosing an online video platform (OVP). 

An OVP will also help you monetize, measure, and deploy interactive features like polls and Q&As to maximize user engagement and gather valuable insights. After you have the right OVP, then you can work with them to develop a branded OTT app – either from scratch or white-label – to deploy on all of the devices where you want people to find your content. These will likely include Android, iOS, and Roku devices, as well as smart TVs, smart phones, and computers. 

At this stage, you can also consider whether it’s worth getting your content distributed through established OTT services like Amazon Prime Video or Apple TV+.

Work With Maestro

The OVP is a foundational step in getting your content out there via OTT channels. So, how do you choose the right online video platform for your business? 

Well, it’s important to do your research, but we hope you’ll take a look at Maestro! We’re an online video platform with multi-device support, detailed analytics, and powerful monetization options that will help you achieve what you’re looking for from OTT TV!

What is Maestro?

Maestro is one of the most popular and reliable online video platforms on the market. Our service isn’t just a way to customize the front-end for your videos, but a fully-featured platform with advanced monetization options, in-depth analytics, robust security features, and interactive tools that cater to enterprise-level businesses.

Now, we’re pleased to announce that we’ve opened up a whole new opportunity for reaching your customers using OTT TV and smart TV apps. Help your content reach a wider audience with an enhanced viewing experience. 

Are you ready to reach your customers over OTT with Maestro? Our team is here to help. Contact us now to find out more and get your content out there via OTT!

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