Summer has not been a quiet time for the OTT market. Within the past few weeks alone, Disney announced that it would end its distribution deal with Netflix and plans to launch its own streaming service in 2019. Netflix signed powerhouse producer Shonda Rhimes to produce exclusive shows and content for its platform, and Amazon announced a new deal with the creator of “The Walking Dead”.
Clearly there will be no shortage of great content for OTT audiences as the market grows ($64B forecast in revenue by 2021) but competition will intensify as traditional broadcasters and new media companies battle for talent, content, and viewers.
For content owners to capitalize on this projected revenue growth and succeed in a competitive market, a smart and nimble monetization strategy is critical. To that end, we’ve created a whitepaper that provides a comprehensive guide on the two primary OTT revenue models, ads and subscriptions, and includes tips and insights on how to address some of the challenges associated with each model, best practices, and case studies of providers who are succeeding.
You can download the whitepaper for free here. In the meantime, here’s a snapshot of some best practices:
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Strike the right balance between content length and ad load. If a piece of content is two to five minutes in length, the data shows that viewers won’t tolerate several 30-second pre-roll ads and will drop off. Also, consider showing a lighter ad load to new viewers, and increasing it gradually as they show signs of loyalty. Viewers who have come to appreciate your content library won’t react badly if you increase the pre-roll from one to two 30-second ads, or two to three 15-second ads.
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Leverage server-side ad insertion (SSAI). For AVOD OTT services SSAI is a way to mitigate the impact of ad blockers, ensure device reach and extend session length. In the whitepaper we document how MediaWorks, New Zealand’s largest independent broadcaster, increased their ad inventory by 35% by implementing SSAI.
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Seek out great content for your library. The best way to keep subscribers loyal is to offer quality content that viewers are passionate about. While Netflix and Amazon have huge budgets to establish broad video libraries and buy quality content, smaller SVOD services like Acorn TV are also having success with a more focused and specialized approach, attracting loyal viewers who are passionate about their content.
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Establish a content security policy. Securing and protecting your content is paramount for maximizing value. Invest in a platform that can protect your content from being pirated, honors content owner rights, and manages account authentication concurrency without impacting the ability for viewers to consume content across their suite of web, mobile, and connected TV platforms.
Get more best practices as well as real world examples from UKTV, Walter Presents and more. Whether you are launching a new OTT service or evaluating the profitability of your current service, this whitepaper will help guide and adapt your monetization strategy.