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Digital Video Infrastructure: The Complete Guide

Linear live streaming has taken off in the past couple of years. As an ever increasing number of vMVPD (virtual multichannel video programming distributor) options become available to viewers, more people continue to switch from traditional pay TV to linear live streaming services, such as PlutoTV and Sling TV. These services gain millions of subscribers each year and present a massive opportunity for brands to increase their video reach.

At Zype, we have a wealth of experience helping Enterprise video teams develop, distribute, and monetize IP-based linear channels, so we’ve compiled our top tips to help you be successful. 

Key 1: Prioritize Content Quality Control  

Content Quality Control is critical when it comes to stitching together VOD assets into a linear channel.  The underlying assets need to be properly encoded, keyframe aligned, and use the same audio codecs & bitrate ladder to ensure that content transitions smoothly from one asset, slate, or ad insertion to another for the best possible viewing experience. 

Key 2: Distribute to Multiple Syndication Partners

There’s a significant benefit to distributing to multiple vMVPD partners.  Doing so allows you to capture a diversity of new audiences with a sizable built-in reach.  Additionally, you can sell sponsorships and run targeted  advertising campaigns on the different platforms such as SamsungTV Plus, Pluto TV or Sling TV. In addition to selling specific audiences, you can also put together packages at higher effective CPMs. For example, a brand advertiser can sponsor the “24 Hour Special Western Movie Marathon” on Samsung TVplus. 

Key 3: Measure Engagement with Linear Playout Analytics

Determining which videos have the most engagement is key. Linear streams have engagement curves, much like traditional TV.  Engagement is lower during the early morning hours and peaks during primetime.  Analytics that can track individual assets on a linear stream can help inform content teams and producers of these trends.  This leads to better decisions on content production, licensing, and programming. Without this level of engagement granularity, it’s difficult to really understand how well your content is performing or if you need to make changes.

Key 4: Partner with an Experienced and Scalable Linear Playout Platform

Distribution partners (Pluto TV, SamsungTV, Sling TV, etc) have unique stream and VOD acquisition requirements, much like Apple TV or Roku have in the application publishing world.  Understanding these requirements and the internal QA processes of each respective syndication provider can prove a challenge. Working with a seasoned linear playout platform that understands these processes and can provide guidance will reduce time to market considerably.  Scale is also important. Always prepare for success - the large built-in audiences that vMVPDs provide are an opportunity to scale reach - your linear playout platform should have the scale to maintain quality and high performance in stream start times, viewability, and latency.

The online linear space holds tons of potential for Enterprises to expand their distribution and increase their video engagement. It can also serve as a great discovery tool for brands as new viewers come across their linear channels via vMVPDS, they can act as a gateway--leading them to content on owned and operated websites and apps. 

Focusing on content quality control, utilizing multiple vMVPD endpoints, prioritizing engagement analytics to make content decisions, and most importantly, choosing the right playout platform are key to scaling successful linear live channels.  

Want to learn more about linear live distribution? Check out how Vevo is using Zype Playout to stream billions of hours of music videos to viewers everywhere here. 

4 Keys to Linear Live Streaming Success

Zype's Director of Account Management, Taylor Kirchwehm, hosted a workshop on forecasting ad revenue for multi-platform distribution using Zype's AVOD Model at the virtual OTTX Summit.

BUSINESS & DISTRIBUTION – HOW TO USE A FORECAST MODEL FOR PLANNING AD REV IN THE MULTI-PLATFORM AGE

OTTX Summit: How to Use a Forecast Model for Planning Ad Revenue in the Multi-Platform Age

The first half of 2020 saw unprecedented streaming growth. Netflix nears 200 million subscribers, and Disney+ racks up 60 million in record time, there seems to be no end in sight for the streaming wars. As Americans continue to spend the majority of their days at home, more and more time is being spent behind screens. 

We’ve put together a round up of major linear TV and OTT statistics to help you keep up with it all, starting with an overview of the industry.

The OTT industry is growing faster than most people expected. The switch from traditional TV to either an ad-supported or subscription-based streaming service is becoming more and more common, especially in the US. In April alone, there was a 198% increase in OTT traffic. It’s important to note that viewers use multiple devices to consume content. On average, OTT users access video content on three devices across three different OTT services. (OpenX), so both consumer and device level analytics are a must for leaders in the space.

There are over 300 OTT providers in the U.S. ( LemonLight)

As of June 2020, 69.8 million US homes use OTT services. (Comscore)

The top five OTT services by number of subscribers are ( Fox Business)

80% of US homes have at least one Internet-Connected TV device. (Leichtman Research)

68% (up from 47% in 2019) of US Wi-Fi households have an OTT device ( Marketing Charts)

42.2 million OTT households use streaming boxes/sticks, making it the most popular OTT device. (Marketing Charts)

On average, OTT users access video content on three devices across three different OTT services. (OpenX)

According to eMarketer, 55.1 million people will no longer watch traditional pay TV by 2022

Money is to be made and spent in OTT. While there is some apprehension around how many OTT services can realistically coexist, as we just covered, consumers are craving more content and are willing to pay for what they want. This demand is pushing OTT services to spend more, but with the potential to reap some major financial benefits. 

Disney+ is the top spender in OTT content at $27.8 billion spent in 2019. (Variety)

Netflix is second in spending at $15 billion. (Variety)

Global OTT revenues are predicted to grow by $16 billion in 2020 (Media Post) with 40% of consumers willing to spend at least $20 a month on streaming services (Marketing Charts)

OTT ad spend will reach $5 billion in 2020 ( SpotX) and OTT ad revenue is expected to reach over $158 billion by 2024 (Forbes)

Original content is king in the world of OTT. This makes investing in a single, easy-to-use video platform for distributing and monetizing OTT content key. As content production continues to increase over the years, organization of content both on the users end and back-end system will be of the utmost importance.

Amazon Prime is number one in terms of library size with over 63,500 hours of content (Reviews.org). In comparison, Disney+ launched at the end of 2019 with less than 4,000 hours of content. (Screen Rant)

Out of the top 20 most streamed shows in 2019, only one was not on Netflix. ( Forbes)

So far in 2020, the Tiger King docu-series is the number one streamed show on Netflix. (Forbes) and The Mandalorian takes number one for Disney Plus (Business Insider)

In 2019, Netflix release 371 original shows and movies, which is a 54.6% from 2018. (Variety)

Quibi, one of the newest OTT players, is set to release 175 shows by the end of 2020 (Cnet).

It might not come as a surprise that the largest consumers of OTT services are Millennials and Generation Z, but adoption among other age groups continues to grow each year.  In fact, 27 percent of consumers aged 45 and older stream an SVOD service daily. (Forbes)

And it definitely shouldn’t be surprising to see dropping viewing time of traditional TV, as satellite and TV companies lost 6 million customers in 2019, according to Variety. 

An estimated 2 million Americans cut the cord in 2019 (Business Wire).

Average time spent watching OTT video content is set to reach 62 minutes a day this year, which is a 23% increase from 2019 (eMarketer).

Four-fifths of US Consumers have at least one streaming service. (Deloitte)

Consumers are most likely to select their streaming service based on its range of content and are most likely to cancel based on price point (Deloitte).

60% of viewers say that they spend more of their viewing time on an online source over a pay-TV service. (TV Technology)

Aside from Connected TV devices, mobile is leading in terms of video streaming minutes, but desktop saw higher growth year over year. (Comscore)

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OTTX Summit: How to Use a Forecast Model for Planning Ad Revenue in the Multi-Platform Age

Harness the power of Zype's video infrastructure

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