Over the Top Media and Its Evolution

Are you obsessed with OTT as well?

Over The Top media, more commonly known as OTT, refers to the delivery of audio, video and other media over the internet without the direct involvement of a telecommunication company. Although this term was originally limited to the delivery of audio and video, recently, it has expanded to cover any service that is available over the internet. A subscriber for OTT services is free to access his subscribed media from anywhere in the world at any time and eventually over any access technology.

The Future of OTT media: To Hope or Not to Hope?

The number of factors has sprung over the years that have created a favourable environment for the advancement of OTT media. On the one hand, the availability of the internet facility at an affordable cost has certainly played a major role in it. On the other hand, the deviation of many millennials from the traditional television schedule and their preference for selecting what and when to watch have certainly helped.

Moreover, since there are no cancellation costs, more people prefer these services.

The OTT the market is estimated to double by the end of 2019.

Apple,Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, Skype, Facebook, Dropbox, and Twitter are some of the OTT services provided by the leaders in the industry.

Why is it necessary to do market research?

Market research enables any service provider to recognize the unique challenges presented by the target clientele. The provider will also be able to identify information such as a would-be-clients opinion towards a free ad-supported service compared with an expensive service with no advertisements. It is also important to note that clients may have highly specific ideas about how they want to pay for the services they receive which would create more opportunities to service providers to monetize their service.

                      

Different Methods of Market Research for OTT

1.       Qualitative Research

This method of research is primarily used to gain an understanding of non-numerical data such as reasons, ideas, and opinions. This can also be used to identify the rising trends in opinions and thoughts. Researchers who use the qualitative method to analyze data use a wide array of techniques to find out how people become conscious of their social realities. Online ethnography, unstructured interviews, focus groups and online surveys with more open-ended questions are some of the examples for qualitative research methods.

Qualitative research is able to provide in-depth answers to what makes a consumer subscribe to a service. It also provides an insight into what makes a consumer subscribe to a particular service and reject another. Moreover, through qualitative research, a link can be formed to identify the actual thinking process behind the stated opinion of a consumer. Simply stated, this method allows a user to acquire rich, descriptive information from consumers.

2.       Quantitative Research

This method uses numerical, measurable data to develop facts and identify patterns. That data used for quantitative research is in the form of numbers and statistics often arranged in graphs, charts, and other non-textual forms. This research method includes a range of data-extracting techniques such as online polls, mobile and app surveys, kiosk surveys, systematic observations, etc.

An advantage of quantitative research is that the data collected through this method are reliable when it comes to acquiring data of a large population. Besides, the outcome of this research is relatively easy to measure compared with the qualitative method. A major advantage of quantitative research is the ability to easily convert its outcome into highly-accurate predictions.

3.       Desk Research

Also known as secondary research, desk research refers to an accumulation of data that already exist somewhere. These data may exist as published government reports, company records, newspaper, and magazine information or you can simply obtain them from the internet.

Desk Research is advantageous due to the availability of data at any time.  It is also freely accessible.

Issues faced by Competitors in the OTT Industry

Although the streaming is still dominated by Netflix, more and more content owners are publishing their content across various platforms. As the competition increases within this field, it would get more difficult with time to get noticed. Somehow, all the competitors want their apps on a home screen of a smartphone.

One way or the other, OTT has become a revolutionary giant in the field of entertainment.