The Empowering Streaming Era and Rise of OTT Platforms

Content in the form of motion pictures has in recent times trumped all other kinds. From social media (TikTok, Instagram, YouTube) to OTT platforms.

But let’s see some numbers first:

• The influencer marketing industry is on track to be worth up to $15 billion by 2022 (Source: BusinessInsider)
• Video streaming and downloads will drive almost 82% of global internet traffic by 2022. (Source: CISCO)
• Global OTT services market size is expected to reach $179.9 billion by 2025. (Source: ReportLinker)
• Even though there are 600 million active blogs globally in 2020, blogging is the third most common content marketing strategy, after video and eBooks. (Source: Growthbadger)

As I was reading through the streaming behavior in the USA, a special report by HULU, made me reflect on a few thoughts of my own:

OTT Empowerment:

Streaming services have empowered viewers by giving them the choice of non-fiction docu-series from Vice or others like Explained, Connected, and some like the Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj that often blurs the line between independent journalism and stand-up comedy.

While in the opposite spectrum there remains no dearth of pure-play entertaining content like The Umbrella Academy or The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel that has the potential to spike the viewership of the respective platforms with every new season.

 

Good content makes us social:

Unless a friend, one can’t talk more than 3 mins to someone. Well, let me give you my secret weapon — break a conversation about your best drama series and bam! you have switched the gear of those small talks to an engaging and long conversation — miracles of life!

From being an instant mood uplifter to driving social engagements — good content are game-changers.

 

Limited by Time:

According to CISCO, by the end of this year, there will be almost a million minutes of video per second crossing the internet. I am quite sure we have surpassed this number, thanks to COVID!

The crux, time is limited and we have a lot to watch. Short attention span and quick breaks in addition to the overall time constraint are increasing the demand for ‘under 30 mins’ content.

 

The Slowdown:

Video streaming giants such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video have begun confronting the first signs of market saturation. With the entry of new competition and frequent price hikes, consumer loyalty will be put to test.

 

Original is rare:

There is a problem of overselling a formula that works. Selling ‘nostalgia’ can be a brilliant idea. But a well-crafted mash-up of supernatural, teen romance, horror genre set in 80s retro backdrop, like Stranger Things, cannot be recreated every day. Plus, once done it is not a ‘fresh, new idea’ anymore and risks viewer fatigue.

 

A Couple Big Challenges:

Limited information:

Viewers have loads of choices but lack suggestions about what is more suitable for them to watch. It’s like going to a buffet and getting confused about whether to fill yourself with seafood or dessert, whether to queue-up at the crowded counter or just explore what fascinates you.

This gives rise to two major types of viewers — enthusiasts, who watch a lot across genre and languages, and the rest, who primarily watch what is popular.

Territory locked:

The hurdle of geographic restrictions of the viewership rights is something I get most bugged about. Like some of the most popular series on Amazon Prime like Bosch or The Boys are not available in Singapore, immediately raising the question ‘whether I should be subscribing to this platform or not?’

I know VPN can solve the problem, but guess what not everyone is a VPN friendly audience!

 

Solution:

In my opinion, a good solution would be a suggestion platform that can help viewers choose the most suitable content, remember those TV guide magazines?

Throw in the magic of machine learning and you can have a smart platform that can suggest you titles based on your viewing history and intents, something like what Netflix is already doing but in a much larger and cross-platform format.

Alternatively, some of the apps like JustWatch, Reelgood, TV Time, Simkl, Watchworthy, Wander, and VUniverse can simply step up, add in geography wise classification, and viola! the wealth of data will make your toes curl!

 

Cause I am a marketer:

For marketers knowing what content the target audience like (I didn’t get enough of the baby Yoda memes!) in addition to usage and platform affinity can be helpful in developing an effective content marketing plan, especially now as the dollar is moving out of the pockets of traditional to streaming media.

 

Conclusion:

The biggest positive — in a world where ‘stars have limited shelf life’, the growing CTV (connected TV) industry and its demand for content will bring back a lot of vintage actors and create creative opportunities for the experienced.

It will also create a large pool of ‘mediocre’ content as all race towards bagging enough content.

The bottom line is ‘Entertainment’, as long as the audience is in sync with the creative euphoria of the director, all will work out!