While ad-supported streaming is not a new concept (think Youtube), the past couple of years have shown major growth in the space. From Xumo to PlutoTV, more and more players are joining the ad supported video and AVOD space, but it’s still uncharted territory for many. 

The most critical question for any business looking to launch an ad-supported streaming service is how much money they can expect to make. It can be intimidating to enter a new video space, so Zype has developed the Video Advertising (AVOD) Revenue and Expense Model for Video Streaming Infrastructure to make things easier. 

Zype’s Video Advertising Model allows businesses to forecast their advertising revenue and expenses prior to launching their service in order to present detailed forecasts to stakeholders, management, and creators in their network.

It’s important to note that in order for the model to be useful, estimates must be realistic and based on your own assumptions on your current performance and forecasts data,

Make a copy of the model for your own use by going to File > Make a Copy or File > Download as > Microsoft Excel

Input estimates you want to test into the blue cells (do not edit any cells that are not blue)

Be sure to also check out our Subscription Revenue Forecast Model to compare and contrast the different options for monetizing your video.

Want to learn more about Zype’s Video Advertising connectors and capabilities? Request a demo today!

Forecast Earning Potential for Ad-Supported Streaming with Zype’s Video Advertising Revenue and Expense Model for Streaming Infrastructure

Since launching Zype Playout, we've been excited to show an in-depth look at the easiest way for video product teams to create, monetize, and distribute broadcast-quality, linear live IP-delivered streams. Awarded NAB Product of the Year Award for B2B Streaming at NAB Show 2019, Zype Playout boasts channel creation, program management, support for multiple monetization setups, among other exciting features. And we think it's pretty awesome that Zype Playout contributed meaningfully to Zype's full-stack video content management and distribution service, helping Zype secure the title of OTT Exec Company of the Year 2019.

With Zype Playout, you'll be able to build, program, and broadcast linear channels created from playlists of videos that already exist in your Zype library

 What are the key features of Zype Playout? 

Distribute to your Owned and Operated websites and video apps, plus OTT marketplaces

Syndicate to partners like YouTube, Twitch, and any other RTMP or HLS standard-based destination

Monetize O&O by using subscription and purchase paywalls

Gain more audience metadata by adding a registration wall

Keep your channel fresh by adding or editing your Playout channel rundown through your source playlist

For those of you who have configured Zype Live to broadcast a live event in the Zype platform, Zype Playout will be a synch. Even if you don't have familiarity with live events, we doubt you'll have any issues understanding the steps outlined below. Remember that with Zype Playout, you'll be able to build, program, and broadcast linear channels created from playlists of videos that already exist in your Zype library.

Step 1 - Determine where your channel will be distributed - Playout destinations determine where you'll distribute your Playout stream, whether it's to existing owned and operated websites and videos apps, to YouTube and Facebook Live, or to custom destinations.

Step 2 - Review and edit your channel rundown - Because your Playout channel is created from a playlist in your Zype library, you can use an existing playlist for your channel rundown, or build a new source playlist to use when you create your channel.

Step 3 - Create your channel - Once a Zype Playout channel is created, it exists in your Zype library just as a video or live event would. You can add or edit metadata like a custom thumbnail image, and test the broadcast to view your channel rundown (Zype Live customers will be familiar with this) right from the Manage Channels page.

Zype handles all of the complex underlying video packaging, broadcast server management, and infrastructure; we work to normalize video bitrates, renditions, and aspect ratios from different videos in your library to provide a cohesive, high-quality stream experience to successfully broadcast your Playout channel.

Glad you asked! We always recommend our Help Center as a good source of knowledge when trying to dig deeper. We've created a Zype Playout section covering playout destinations, playout channels, monetization, and more.

Visit the Zype Playout product page to for a high-level overview of the product and it's capabilities. If you aren't working with Zype today but would like to learn more, request a demo with our team.

Up Close and Personal with Zype Playout

We’re excited to announce the launch of Zype Playout, the easiest way for video product teams to create, monetize, and distribute broadcast-quality, linear live IP-delivered streams.

Zype Playout offers easy-to-use workflows for transforming playlists of videos into IP-delivered linear live streams, including:

Slate and ad timing management, scheduling, and packaging

Distribution to your Owned and Operated websites and video apps, plus OTT marketplaces

Syndication to partners like SlingTV, YouTube, Twitch, and any other RTMP or MPEG-TS standards-based destination.

With Zype Playout, customers have all the tools they need to build, program, and broadcast linear channels using playlists of videos from their Zype library.

Zype provides an easy to use flow for creating and managing Playout Destinations -- the streaming destinations where linear channels are being broadcasted or syndicated out to. Customers can store Playout Destination profiles for popular streaming targets like YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, and Periscope by entering stream URLs and keys for each destination. Or customers can create and manage custom Playout Destinations for any stream target that can accept RTMP, MPEG-TS, or HLS input.

Once Destinations are created, customers can then begin building Playout Channels. Playout Channels are collections of videos programmed in a specific order, which are transformed into linear live IP-delivered broadcasts. Playout Channels inherit ad timings managed within the Zype platform, allowing for easy integrated ad management. After customers have programmed Playout Channels and scheduled a start and end time for broadcast, they can assign which Destinations each channel should be broadcasted to.

Zype handles all of the complex underlying video packaging, broadcast server management, and infrastructure needed to successfully broadcast a Playout Channel. All customers need to do is ensure their Playout Destinations are configured to receive streams!

Schedule a live demo to learn how Zype Playout can help your VidOps team organize, plan, program, and distribute broadcast-quality linear video channels to increase audience engagement, and grow your distribution footprint.

If you’re not attending NAB, or would like to simply learn more today about working with Zype, please request a demo with our team!

Easily Launch IP-Based Linear Channels with Zype Playout

In this article, Guy Columbro, Sr. Account Executive at Zype, shares his first hand experience in the shift f rom the days of Blockbuster VHS to the direct-to-consumer, digital-first video landscape we have today. He documents what his "aha" moment was and why it still matters to keep your eye on the horizon.

I can still remember the day my father brought home our shiny new Dell desktop computer monitor and hard drive tower. We built the desk for it together and there it sat, glistening in the office lighting. Little did I know the about the powerful world that was placed in front of me. So, what did I do first? Download the two critical most components to benefit my social life, of course!

What do AOL-IM and an MP3 player download have to do with OTT? The over-the-top (OTT) media wave is new; until 4 years ago, many of us did not have a device to stream content in our home. Our experience with direct-to-consumer really started with very basic forms of digital interaction. I’ve had a chance to reflect on my journey from MP3 to OTT and am excited to tell you how it landed me as an AE at Zype.

It All Started With Music: Downloading MP3 Files

For many of us, the first shift towards digital began with instant messaging and the ability to download music (legally and illegally) from the internet directly to the computer. Like me, you may remember the “Folder to Folder” icon that would pass a piece of paper from one folder to another, representing the downloading process. And then...you’d begin your wait. While I unfortunately was not one of the first kids in school with a new iPod to listen to all my super cool MP3 file music, I can admit I almost immediately damaged the family computer downloading illegal files from any and every music website claiming to have the song I was looking for.

Having my music on the computer was novelty enough to me. I couldn’t possibly have imaged that one day, it would be in my pocket, available from my phone. Smartphones are too big a topic for me to cover in this one, but I will say that for me, streaming music was first gateway into streaming video.

Then We Moved Up in the World:  Streaming Content on Desktop

My next big experience with technology revolutionizing my media consumption methods was when I learned how to stream video files on my computer. No more running out to the theater to pay $20 for over-buttered popcorn and someone’s head in my way of the screen. I won’t confirm or deny the legality of it, but let’s just say finding feature length films available at the touch of a download button seemed to top it all.

There was a slight drawback however; the content I was steaming wasn’t exactly quality . To put this in perspective for all those used to a millisecond load time and zero lag, let’s look at some riveting tech data. From 1990-2004, there were essentially 4 media players that allowed you to stream content from the internet (check out the image below for a good laugh). If you had any experience with them at all, you will remember that the stream was typically inconsistent, buffered frequently and ultimately you probably clicked out of the window to move on with you day. So not exactly living like a king, but hey, I was watching at home! How cool is that?

Followed by the Emergence of Mobile Streaming & Netflix

So I have music on my computer, and now I have a couple of choppy stolen - uh, downloaded - videos, but for the consistent movie experience, I’m still completely loyal to Blockbuster. On a Friday night, I’m rushing to the neighborhood Blockbuster with my friends to try and rent the latest games and movie, and grab a huge box of Sour Patch Kids. It really doesn’t occur to me that there are massive overhauls on the horizon.

My real “aha” moment came with two things. First, the release of the iPhone in 2007, and second, the new DVD rental service Netflix. I was certain Netflix was a fad, impossible to sustain. Mailing DVDs seemed like a ridiculous hassle to me, and completely impersonal compared to the Blockbuster-night experience I had grown up with and love.

And in a way, I was right. Netflix’s DVD rental service collapsed. Of course, little did I know about the plans for world dominance that Netflix had in store. Once the streaming platform subscription was released, everyone I knew quickly flocked to purchase an OTT device.

I will admit, I was pretty hesitant to jump onboard with a Netflix subscription initially. I was used to traditional cable providers with thousands of channels, access to premium channels like HBO, Starz and Cinemax with nothing to watch. Why was OTT going to be any different?

But it seemed like consumers were yearning for something new all along. Netflix surprised me again with original content and basically zero buffering time, and soon enough I was a subscriber and I, too, had a streaming device.

I don’t need to tell you how the iPhone transformed the way we think about the internet, communication, and access to music. But it’s not just that. Today, with apps like Netflix, HBO, and others, people are streaming more content on their phone than ever before.

As we all become more accustomed to a life of on-demand media, I think it is important to remember the luxury of high speed internet connection and endless video content consumption options. We live in a time of extreme change, and connectivity. I think it will be imperative to empower people to create content that will help improve, educate and bring together our world creatively, in a socially responsible way.

Growing up with OTT

 In this article, Michael Smith, the Director of Support for Zype, explores what he learned coming into Zype as a SaaS Support Engineer, without specific video infrastructure expertise. He digs into the key concepts he learned that allowed him to scale the support team at Zype and achieve 50+ NPS and 98%+ CSAT for the last 4 quarters. 

Beginning my professional career in 2014, I worked for a year as a call-center support specialist on a team of 30+ people, taking 40-50 phone calls a day while logging support tickets for each call. I then moved on to a different role at the company, starting a new team internally. The team was built to work with customers through BETA testing of new products, document successful strategies, then train the larger onboarding team on the onboarding processes we built. Having a couple of years of call-center style customer support and SaaS platform onboarding under my belt, I thought I knew it all.

I was hired at Zype in November of 2016, filling the need for someone who could work directly with customers to operate any function from support, onboarding, and even account management. When I got hired, I felt confident in my abilities to communicate effectively, document and log support tickets, and teach customers how to use a product. What I severely underestimated was the complexity of video technology, and the learning curve I was about to experience. In my 2+ years at Zype, I’ve learned a few key concepts about what it takes to learn an industry, a product, our customers, and what it takes to support video businesses.

Learn the industry lingo, and learn it fast

My previous support experience was at a booking SaaS platform, primarily geared towards salons and spas. I was able to talk to customers confidently about how to set up discounts for pedicures, set up appointment confirmation emails with your customer information auto-populated, and integrate your POS hardware. That should translate to video technology, right?

What I couldn’t do was talk about SVOD pricing plans, ad tag macro implementation, transcoding, or HLS manifests. I knew I needed to understand the technology I was going to be supporting, or I wouldn’t be successful. It’s crucial to be able to provide good support, and I was a video technology newbie.

I memorized the Zype glossary, in order to learn the language customers will be speaking to me. I spent time reading anything I could find on the internet about live streaming, monetization models, and the video industry as a whole. Zype’s customers are video experts, and I had to be also. I began learning the industry jargon, and it felt great to understand the language I’d be speaking every day.

Hang out with the engineers, become a product expert

Ask me to take a look at an MRSS feed today, and it’s like I’m looking at the back of my hand. If you asked me to look at an MRSS feed my third week at Zype, I wouldn’t have had a clue about where to start when the XML file populated a browser on my 13-inch MacBook screen. Well, guess what, I was asked to do just that. It’s my third week on the job, and I’m tasked with reviewing a new customer’s MRSS feed because they're having issues ingesting it to the platform. This may have been the first MRSS feed I’d seen in my life, and I was completely lost. I ask the VP of Engineering at the time for some help, he takes a glance and says “the word title is misspelled in the item blocks,” and walks away after looking at it for, let’s say 10 seconds, which is a high estimate.

This moment sticks with me to this day. I realized how much I had to learn and how knowledgeable the people around me were, and I knew I had to get there. I made it a point from this day forward to spend time in the Zype fishbowl, the office where our engineers used to have to play desk Tetris to fit them comfortably (don’t worry, it’s been since upgraded!). I would pair with engineers on bug investigations, demonstrating how to replicate them, while learning how that feature was built in our platform. While we were upgrading our transcoding systems I listened to the daily product and engineering conversations, “ What happens when a rendition fails? Do we want to consider auto-scaling to make the system more efficient? When should the video source become active?” In doing so, I gained a deep understanding of how the technology was going to work, our technology was going to work . I can’t stress enough how productive I became after learning the Zype APIs. I spent an enormous amount of time with our app developers, learning how the Zype app templates use the APIs, and learning what tools to use when using them. I made sure that I could troubleshoot and provide guidance on how to use the APIs on my own, without having to consult with a developer each time a simple question came in.

I found myself becoming extremely comfortable with the product, inside and out, and being able to talk about the Zype platform confidently (even MRSS feeds!). Absorb what the engineers know, be a sponge and use the information you learn from them to support customers.

Consumers need their content, and they need it now!

Supporting a video business is unlike supporting any other. Consumers need their content, and they need it now. Unlike other SaaS platforms, the urgency that comes with supporting a video infrastructure platform is unmatched.

The APIs are responding slowly? Now 300 consumers are very unhappy because they tried to watch their after-work cooking show and couldn’t load the website. The video player is constantly buffering? A group of subscribers just canceled because their first $9.99 paid experience was not what they expected. A platform misconfiguration is causing the Roku app to crash? 30 consumers just deleted the app, and may never download it again.

Understanding the urgency under which video businesses operate changed my mindset for the better. Every second matters to a video business, because every second that something doesn’t work perfectly is a poor experience for the consumer. Consumer experience drives video businesses, and you have to be ready to respond with urgency and get issues resolved as quickly as you can.

Being a support engineer for a video infrastructure is no easy task. Every day brings new challenges, and you have to be prepared to face any number of issues or questions that may come your way. If you are dedicated to becoming an industry and product expert, and you understand the impact you have on people’s everyday lives, you will be successful. It won’t happen overnight, and that’s okay! To this day, I still leave work every day and ask myself “What did you learn today?” In an ever-changing industry, there is an unlimited amount of information to be learned. I’m glad that I was able to learn what would make me successful, and I’m happy that I could pass this information along to you.

The 3 Secrets that Transformed me into a video infrastructure support leader with 50+ NPS

 In this article, Anna Hughes, Product Manager at Zype, shares 3 mistakes that video content owners typically make when publishing video apps on the Roku Channel Store, and how to avoid them. 

In the sea of distribution options, one of the most popular destinations for an OTT app is the Roku Channel Store. In business since 2002, Roku Inc. manufactures Roku digital media players for streaming video content and provides one of the leading marketplaces for accessing video-content based apps; in the last two years alone, Roku has grown from 11 to 27 million monthly active accounts.*

In my last two years at Zype, working closely with customers and our product development team, I’ve seen some repeat snags when customers prepare to publish on the Roku Channel Store. In this post, I’ll explore what the most common blunders are when creating and publishing your Roku app, and how you can avoid them.

 Pitfall #1 - Roku Has Some Weird Image Borders 

If you don’t know what I’m talking about from the title of this section - you would have fallen into this trap! Roku’s SDK is configured to allow your graphics to render optimally according to their image settings. The issue is, your graphic designer might not know what those settings are, so your graphics might not be “Roku optimized”. We see this most often with video thumbnail images:

See how the borders of the thumbnail look great as a small video, but when enlarged, the borders change and the text is cut off?? Yikes.

There is nothing worse than having your app UI look messy (or unintentional); your user’s first experience in your app needs to be pleasant and entice them to stay longer and return often.

Anna’s Solution: Make sure you review Roku’s image “safe zones” before finalizing your image assets. Additionally, you may want to pay special attention to playlist and video thumbnail images that include text because it can easily get cut off.

Read these docs from Roku to get detailed specs:

Graphics info - note Safe Zones section >

 Pitfall#2 - If You Build It, They Will [Not] Come 

We jest...but not really. Getting your app live isn’t enough to get viewers; you need to promote it as well. Not only that, but Roku requires you to allow them to promote it, too. Seems awesome right?? Well not so fast - they won’t exactly plug your content for free, but they do require you to build your app to support “deep linking,” a feature that allows direct access to your content from the Roku homepage or search page.

The somewhat annoying news: you’ll need to be sure your app properly supports deep linking

The totally good news: it’s actually pretty simple to configure deep linking to pass Roku’s requirements AND if you want...you can dig into Roku’s advertising options to have your content appear on their homepage.

Anna’s Solution: Do your research on deep linking *ehem, Zype’s Roku SDK supports this out of the box* and consider taking advantage of Roku’s advertising resources.

“For developers” documentation (most recent) >

 Pitfall #3 - Not Recognizing the Publishing, Testing, and Approval Timeline 

Missing the intended launch date is a major snag for a lot of folks, and it isn’t entirely their fault. If you want to distribute on Roku, you’ll need a developer account and you’ll need to enroll in their billing program - both of which take some time to finalize. Additionally, Roku’s review window is lengthy, about 4-6x longer than other marketplace review times.

It might seem obvious but can’t hurt to say it - you need have all your content and your app build ready before you submit your app to the Roku Channel Store. This means all videos uploaded and organized, all branding and graphics uploaded to Roku’s specifications (see Pitfall#1) and the app built to Roku’s requirements (see Pitfall#2).

Don’t wait for the last minute to set up your Roku developer account and submit your app. You won’t be able to rely on expedited publishing here, and you don’t want to risk your launch.

Anna’s Solution: Use the calendar to your advantage! Assign actual, hard due dates for your team. Work backwards from your launch goal and consider holidays, weekends, and your resources. When in doubt, EMAIL ROKU about your billing status (billing@roku.com) or your submission status (partnersuccess@roku.com).

Launch Date [minus] 4 weeks for Roku review [equals] Date to submit your Roku app

App Submission Date [minus] 2 weeks for billing approval [equals] Date to create your developer account and enroll in Roku Billing

So in practice...let’s say our target Launch Date is March 1st. That translates to the following outline:

Create your developer account and enroll in Roku Billing

Are you shocked that to comfortably hit a March 1st launch you need to start moving January 15th? You're not alone. Plan ahead to hit your goals! (and good thing you read this post…)

If you found this helpful, keep an eye out for our future posts sharing tips on publishing your Apple TV app, Amazon Fire TV app, iOS or Android mobile apps, and more!

Questions? Comments? Compliments? We’d love them all. Email me directly at anna@zype.com

Pitfalls to Avoid Before Distributing Video on the Roku Channel Store

3 Pitfalls to Avoid Before You Distribute Video on the Roku Channel Store

Free Ad Supported Streaming: Tap Into the Massive Audience Behind the Free TV Movement

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