What Are the Differences Between OTT And VOD?
OTT’s technology is called Internet Protocol TV (IPTV). It’s somewhat similar to VOD in terms of its functions, but it’s newer, more mobile, and better compatible with other technologies.
OTT takes advantage of different protocols and media formats. It uses the Streaming Protocol (SPT), developed by the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS). It uses MPEG-2, MPEG-4, MPEG-4 AVC, and H.264.
OTT is typically more expensive than VOD. OTT is a more advanced technology, so it costs more than VOD. The costs can vary depending on the features you want, but typically, OTT costs anywhere from $20 to $40 per month, compared to VOD, which costs between $5 and $10 per month.
OTT is a more interactive experience. OTT allows you to switch channels, control the volume, and choose to watch a program in high definition. VOD, on the other hand, can’t give you these types of features.
What’s an OTT Streaming service?
Today, OTT platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hotstar, etc., are competing with the traditional cable networks and are taking a large share of revenues. Moreover, leading cable operators such as Comcast, DirecTV, and Verizon are launching their own OTT services.
The leading OTT platform, Netflix, made $9.4 billion in 2017 and expected the revenues to reach $11.5 billion in 2018. Moreover, the number of subscribers to the Netflix platform increased to approximately 98 million in 2017.
Amazon Video, the second-largest OTT platform, generated $1.2 billion in 2017 and expected the revenue to cross $1.5 billion in 2018. Moreover, Amazon Video has a subscriber base of 135 million.
Hotstar, the leading Indian OTT platform, reported a revenue of $250 million in 2017 and expected the revenue to cross $350 million in 2018. Moreover, Hotstar has a subscriber base of 74 million.
Hulu, the leading US OTT platform, generated $1.2 billion in 2017 and expected the revenue to cross $1.5 billion in 2018. Moreover, Hulu has a subscriber base of 11 million.
While OTT is a newer concept, content distribution companies have been offering streaming services for years. These streaming services have been very popular and have gained a lot of popularity recently.
Most OTT platforms can be watched through an app, web browser, or dedicated app. This has been a major draw for viewers. They don’t need cable subscriptions anymore. They also don’t have to watch on smaller screens.
The rise of OTT platforms has been challenging for cable companies, and Netflix is the main culprit. Thanks to Netflix, the number of cord-cutters has risen, especially in the US. Last year, 5.3 million Americans had cut the cord. That’s 17% of cable subscribers, which equals 12.5 million.
Netflix is the major player in the US. It currently controls 65% of the market, followed by Amazon with 18%. The company’s stock price jumped from $31.80 to $316.50 between December 2015 and December 2016. Today, Netflix is valued at $137.53 billion.
Netflix’s upward trajectory has been a huge threat for cable companies, so they are now fighting back. That is why most cable companies are investing in OTT platforms. Hence, in this article, we will discuss some of the OTT platforms, like Netflix, Hulu, and Sling TV.
What’s a VOD Streaming service?
If you are familiar with the concept of VOD, you probably also know that VOD platforms mostly focus on video-on-demand. Video-on-demand is a concept that has grown to be extremely popular in the last few decades.
The technology Video on Demand (VOD), as you might guess, involves watching video on demand.
First, the VOD technology applies to more than just video. It is the underlying technology behind many forms of media delivery, including music, pictures, and text.
What’s the Difference: OTT Vs. VOD?
If you want to understand the difference between OTT and VOD, it helps to think about the last movie you saw.
You probably saw the movie through an online streaming service like Netflix, which delivers the movie through the Internet to your computer. Streaming services use OTT to transmit the movie from your computer to Netflix’s servers, which deliver it to your computer.
The movie companies use VOD to transmit the movie from Netflix’s servers to a satellite, which transmits it to your home satellite dish. The satellite then transmits the movie to your TV, while your computer receives the movie over the Internet.
VOD, you see, is way more efficient. OTT is very expensive for services such as Netflix: it costs a lot to deliver movies to customers’ computers.
VOD costs a lot less. Satellites distribute movies to millions of people, and VOD uses this to its advantage. The satellite dish sends movie data right to thousands of homes at once rather than delivering that data individually to each home. This is more efficient than OTT and much cheaper.
The advantage of VOD is less obvious for TV channels. Cable and satellite TV are VOD, in a way, because every TV channel is transmitted to every TV in your home, all the time. OTT channels work the same way: they send a signal to your computer, broadcasting the signal to any of your TVs. But VOD and OTT are fundamentally different.
What Are Video Conferencing Apps?
Video conferencing is a new technology. It is particularly valuable when the people involved are remote from each other.
The technology is simple. You each have a video camera, a microphone, and a screen. You connect via cable or the Internet. You both see the same thing, and you can talk back and forth.
One problem standing in the way of widespread use is the software. At the moment, the video conferencing apps are wildly different. Some let you record video, and others don’t. Some let you send text chats, and others don’t. Some let you watch multiple people at once, and others don’t.
The diverse applications likewise have various interfaces. One application makes you dial in with a code, and another advises you to dial in with a number. One application shows a rundown of individuals, and another shows you a thumbnail of each. One uses a basic framework design, and another utilizes selected windows.
The difference between video conferencing apps and web browsers is the difference between Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator.
The video conferencing apps are nice, but they are complicated. They ask users to do too much.
The video conferencing app company should create a single, simple app. It should record video, text chat and let you watch multiple people at once. It should let you send files. It should let you add friends, and it should let you add contacts. The app should be universal, and it should work with both Macs and PCs. It should support both Mac and Windows versions, and it should let you change the look of the interface.
What Are Video Streaming Apps?
Each week, we see new streaming services pop up. Some disappear after a few months, while others stick around for years.
As streaming technology improves, consumers have more and more choices. From big names like Netflix to smaller streaming services, you know there’s bound to be something that will suit you.
But with so many streaming apps on the market, it can be tough to know which one is right for you.
Conclusion
Two types of content are increasingly popular: short, highly viewable content and long, highly consumable content. VOD platforms tend to serve the former, while OTT platforms tend to serve the latter.
The VOD platforms are already quite sophisticated in the way they allow viewers to access their content. They typically encourage people to watch whole seasons rather than individual episodes and to offer easy ways to pause and rewind. They are designed to distribute large numbers of small files rather than single large ones.
But OTT platforms, mostly designed for mobile devices, tend to focus on individual videos rather than entire series. The OTT platforms present their content as small, single files rather than large files. Because they are designed for mobile devices, they offer simpler, more mobile-friendly interfaces. For example, they may limit the number of options, giving the viewer the fewest possible choices.
So, the customer may prefer an interface focused on single videos rather than an interface allowing the viewer to select the entire series. That seems to be the preference of customers on OTT platforms. And on VOD platforms, it appears that broadcasters are adopting a similar approach, with cable and satellite providers reorganizing themselves more around the concept of VOD and abandoning the idea of providing OTT.
