5 considerations for launching a subscription video streaming service
We’ve been building the platform for the future of video and open sourcing everything you’ll need to launch your own video streaming service along the way.
With the rise of OTT (over-the-top) video subscription services such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime, many content creators and publishers are considering launching their own streaming services to get their cut of the pie.
Rightfully so, since the size of the OTT pie is expected to reach $64.8 billion by 2021. Endless use cases exist for deploying content onto small screens, big screens, and every screen in between. Video is everywhere, and it’s being consumed at an unprecedented rate by viewers on every device. On average, the US adult consumes 5.5 hours watching video per day and that number is only growing.
Content
So, you want to launch a subscription video streaming service? We’ve all heard the expression, “content is king” and for the most part that’s true. No one pays a monthly fee for poorly created and curated content… actually, scratch that — lot’s of people do, it’s called cable TV. None the less you need compelling content to attract and retain an audience. Netflix is a content powerhouse and provides a wide range of categories and original content (like my new favorite show @Stranger_Things). If you’re trying to compete with the “Big 3” then I wish you the best of luck, otherwise you most likely have appealing niche content with a loyal following.
A great example is a company called ITPro.tv that produces educational video content for on demand access to IT training. They charge for either a monthly or annual subscription, with added features for choosing the latter. This content is accessible on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Android Mobile/Tablet, iOS Mobile/Tablet and will be coming soon to Apple TV.
Another example is Levin TV which produces a daily conservative talk show for it’s viewers and is only available online. Subscribers get the added benefit of accessing the content on devices like iOS Mobile/Tablet, Android Mobile/Tablet, Roku, Fire TV and Apple TV.
Devices
Many people believe that they only need to target a couple of devices, with a focus mainly on Desktop, iOS and Android. While a large percentage of ads are consumed on these platforms, for subscription (SVOD) offerings you may want to reconsider. Another reason that Netflix has been so successful is that they’re everywhere. Samsung Smart TV’s come preloaded with Netflix, they’re on every major streaming platform and even the $29.99 DVD player you bought (who buys DVD’s anyway?) comes preloaded with Netflix. Successful SVOD offerings allow their users to consume their content anywhere and anytime. That said, there are opinions that longer form video content performs better on larger screens and shorter form video content performs better on mobile devices. If possible, you want to provide a ubiquitous experience for your viewers whenever possible. Long story short, there is no “one” platform when it comes down to it and it’s really about being everywhere.
Marketing
Just like a website, you have to direct people towards your streaming offering with marketing campaigns. At least websites have search engines that can help point people in the right direction — the larger issue with OTT comes with the fact that there is little to no search visibility on these devices. Formal marketing plans and efforts to push users to the OTT devices is absolutely essential. We are not in the movie Field of Dreams and thus the tagline, “If you build it they will come” does not apply here. There are platforms like Roku and XBOX that are making major strides in this arena by allowing users to deep link to your application from indexed content search results however, I wouldn’t bank on all platforms playing nice together to form a cross-platform search anytime soon.
Price
This consideration has two folds, the first being the more formal business model and the second being the actual pricing. Some try to mirror the Netflix business model where it’s a single fee and users are able to watch all content. Others use a freemium model where users can access some of the content for free (advertising supported) and then pay to upgrade to an ad-free experience or premium content access. Hulu has a very interesting business model in that even their paying subscribers still receive advertisements unless they pay for a higher ad-free tier. All in all, there is no right way to do this, it’s about exploring what works best for your own offering. Once you’ve decided on the model, then you have to determine how much to actually charge a subscriber. I’ve seen prices range from $0.99 per month all the way up to $75 per month. There is no right number here, but be willing to adjust.
Implementation
Now onto the fun part, how to actually go about launching your streaming service… OVP, CDN, DRM, HLS, M3U8, MP4, and many more acronyms probably have you thinking, “WTF?”. There are so many considerations within the technical implementation that it makes it extremely challenging, if not impossible for someone to launch their own branded streaming applications without a very large budget.
Easy as… Pie
Full disclosure, I work for Odd Networks — an online video company that has worked towards simplifying all of the above to the point that anyone can launch and manage their own streaming service, for free. We’ve been building the platform for the future of video and open sourcing everything you’ll need to launch your own streaming service along the way. If you’re interested in a platform that requires no technical experience to launch your own video streaming service, then look no further and sign up for beta access now.
