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Vindicia, Ooyala and MTM research identifies driving forces behind OTT growth.

Redwood City, Calif. – July 14, 2015 – Vindicia, the leader in enterprise-class subscription billing, and Ooyala, a leading video, analytics and advertising technology provider, today released new research identifying the driving forces for over-the-top (OTT) growth in the U.S. Forty-five leading entertainment content and service providers participated in the study, offering their predictions and market indicators on the prospects for premium OTT.

International research and consultancy firm MTM conducted the study in May and June 2015. Industry participants believe that the U.S. market, driven primarily by Netflix in recent years, will continue to grow strongly during the next few years, as a result of three factors: significant investment, a proliferation of services, and intense competition. Consumer demand for premium OTT services is likely to increase, as the range and quality of services improves and as viewing continues to shift towards non-linear services.

“By 2018, the U.S. OTT market will exceed $8 billion in revenue, driven by new market entrants and growing consumer demand,” said Caitlin Spaan, vice president of marketing, Ooyala. “While large MVPDs own large portions of OTT audience today, industry experts predict 15-20 specialist services will grab subscribers’ attention. For these niche providers, there’s tremendous fan-base potential in providing entertainment focused on sports, personal hobbies, kids’ entertainment, indie, specialized film and television, and expatriate or multicultural programming.”

“More than 40 percent of U.S. TV households subscribed to at least one premium OTT service at the end of 2014* and our research validates that we’ll continue to see strong growth in the years to come,” said Bryta Schulz, senior vice president of marketing, Vindicia. “Bundling premium content with existing membership subscriptions is just one of the opportunities that will help providers increase revenue and differentiate their product offerings, especially as OTT providers seek access to new customer bases and MVPDs look to court cord cutters and the cord nevers.”

*Nielsen, Total Audience Report (2015)

Additional findings include:

• Strong market growth forecast, driven by Netflix and new market entrants. Niche services are also expected to grow significantly, although from a low base.
• Prices for premium offerings are set to increase, both from existing providers and new entrants. This is already proving to be true with Netflix’s $11.99 per month family plan and HBO’s $14.99 per month plan.
• Broadcasters are responding to the rapid growth of OTT in various ways, seeking to retain control of their content and brands in the premium OTT market and launching services of their own. Similarly, pay-TV providers are pursuing various strategies, bringing OTT offerings onto their platforms and launching new OTT products and services to defend their existing services and capitalize on growing consumer demand.

As the market develops, a small number of major providers is likely to dominate the mass market, with many households subscribing to multiple offerings – a pay-TV bundle, a mass-market OTT service, and various niche offerings. Content, price, flexibility and ease-of-use will remain key differentiators.

The research was structured around a program of research and analysis, in-depth interviews with senior industry executives, and two specifically convened seminars held in New York and Los Angeles, attended by 45 leading entertainment, content, and service providers, allowing a broad range of industry perspective to be explored. Seminar participants included: BBC Worldwide, DIRECTV, FOX, Lionsgate, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Starz, Verizon, and many others.

The full report can be downloaded here.

About Ooyala

Ooyala helps deliver content that connects. A US-based subsidiary of global telecommunications and IT services company Telstra, Ooyala's comprehensive suite of offerings includes one of the world's largest premium video platforms and a leading ad serving solution. Built with superior analytics capabilities for advanced business intelligence and a strong commitment to customers success, Ooyala's industry-leading end-to-end solutions help large-scale broadcasters, operators, media companies, enterprises and brands build more engaged and more profitable audiences, and monetize video and TV with personalized, interactive experiences across any screen.

ESPN, Univision, Sky Sports (U.K.), Foxtel (Australia), NBCUniversal, RTL Group (Germany), M6 (France), TV4 (Sweden), Mediaset (Spain) and STV (U.K.): these are just a few of the hundreds of broadcasters and media companies who choose Ooyala. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Ooyala has offices in New York, London, Dallas, Stockholm, Sydney, Tokyo, Singapore and Guadalajara. It has sales operations in dozens of other countries across the globe. For more information, visit www.ooyala.com

About Vindicia

Vindicia brings enterprise-class innovation to consumer-facing subscription billing to help digital companies acquire and retain more customers by making payments seamless, secure, and easy. Vindicia keeps customers connected to the subscriptions they love, and companies connected to the revenues they need. Vindicia has processed more than $21 billion globally and generates over $90 million in annual incremental revenue for clients. Clients include TransUnion Interactive, IAC, Vimeo, Next Issue Media, and more. Vindicia was recently ranked the number one billing software solution on the market by Business-Software.com, and recognized as a “Top 100 Promising Tech Companies” by CIOReview magazine. For more information, visit www.vindicia.com.