Blog

According to a report by Parks Associates, Ooyala and Vindicia, many more companies have gotten into the OTT video streaming market this year. In the U.S. alone there are around 65 companies offering services or planning to offer services in the near future. In addition to the new companies that have joined the market, companies like Netflix and Hulu continue to spread themselves to more areas of the globe.

More OTT video companies providing content in 2015

According to the report, there has been plenty of action this year as far as launches of new OTT services. FOXTEL and Seven West Media created Presto TV in January. Later that month StreamCo released Stan SVOD. These two hit the market ahead of the Netflix Australia launch on March 15. Star India released a beta version of Hotstar, and Carrefour launched Nolim Films in France. In the U.S., Dish Network unveiled Sling TV, Nickelodeon introduced Noggin and CONtv. launched to give comic book fans access to a video streaming service.

"Around 70 percent of OTT service subscribers said they are interested in specific titles the services offer."

Existing players in the OTT market expand

Companies such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu are continuing to expand both their programming and reach around the globe, according to the report. An important struggle for these services will be adding and using unique features to stand out. This will differentiate them from the competition and make continued expansion possible. Around 70 percent of OTT service subscribers said they are interested in specific titles the services offer, and a significant portion of their viewers reported the size of the video library as the second-most important factor.

Recently, According to another study done by Parks and Associates, Netflix and Hulu have had some subscribers cancel their memberships to try some of the other options out on the market. This means competition in the OTT market will get tougher as more companies start providing quality video streaming options.

Globally OTT viewership will increase

The joint report showed that around 1.6 billion people watch video online via a number of devices. Of that 1.6 billion, an estimated 900 million people are watching TV and movies online. The 900 million online viewers of TV and movies is expected to grow steadily over the next few years and reach a number higher than 1.3 billion people by 2019. This is likely due to proliferation of Internet connected devices across the globe and the rising numbers of companies offering OTT companies.