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Defining Over-The-Top (OTT) Digital Distribution

This document presents an overview of over-the-top (OTT) distribution and how it fits into the Internet protocol TV (IPTV) and video-on-demand (VOD) markets. It explains the principles of OTT, considers the differences between OTT and IPTV, looks at the various business models in the OTT space, and provides detailed answers to the key questions being asked about OTT.“Digital distribution” has become a general term referring to the delivery of entertainment content to the consumer through the internet as opposed to over-the-air broadcast, cable, telco, satellite, or discbased delivery. The reality is that there are a variety of types and models of “digital distribution,” and that content delivered by traditional cable, telco, and satellite operators can also be defined as “digital.”

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Aquarius Sports and Entertainment

Aquarius is an full-service sponsorship agency that helps our many Fortune 500 partners attract and retain customers by developing the most potent sports and entertainment experiences. We are privileged to have earned the trust of several of the most respected brands in financial services, insurance, healthcare, retail and consumer packaged goods, entertainment and charitable organizations.

OTHER ARTICLES
Virtualization

How blockchain is transforming online gaming for players

Article | June 21, 2021

For online gamers, in-game purchases made to buy special swords, guns, or other add-ons to play their adventure, warfare, and other games are one-time, non-transferable investments that lock them into their pretend worlds. That's something companies like Polyient Games want to change by registering those purchases using blockchain and transforming the previously one-way transactions into liquid assets which are transferable for cash.

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Media and Broadcasting, Business

Netflix versus Amazon Prime Video – depth versus breadth

Article | August 4, 2022

The first half of 2021 has been a year of continued change and disruption for subscription video. The global incumbent subscription video on demand (SVOD) leaders, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, have been busy signalling to the financial markets how they intend to entrench their market dominance in light of the ongoing market acquisition pushes unleashed by the D2C disruptors following the D2C ‘big bang’ moment of Q4 2019 – Q2 2021. Netflix announced in January that it was no longer going to borrow on the financial markets to fund its day-to-day operations – specifically for its content acquisition budget, which is now driven predominately by commissioning original content for its service. This leaves the SVOD leader with $14.9 billion of outstanding long-term debt to service as it seeks to live within its means by commissioning future content from its ongoing cashflow. In Q1 2021 alone Netflix spent $500 million on servicing this debt pile versus $1.7 billion in net income generated over the same period.

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Technologies, Business

First Look At Sony PlayStation 5 UI

Article | July 20, 2022

PlayStation 5 event date was previously postponed due to the intolerance and injustice that plagued the USA. While Sony lead the way, as a beacon of solidarity, several other companies followed. At that time, the best people could do is stand beside one another. However, recently some of the features of PS 5 were revealed. An advertisement on Twitch, along with an official post from PlayStation, confirmed the event date. Scheduled on June 11th, one can expect people to be extremely hyped up for this. The fact that everyone had to wait too long for PS 5 makes this news much more exciting.

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Media and Broadcasting

UGC vs. Premium: Is the video valuation bubble big enough to burst?

Article | May 21, 2021

The market disconnect between the proliferation of independent content creators and the consolidation of brand IP into the hands of ever-fewer major players is growing increasingly stark. On the one hand, independent artists are the fastest-growing sector of the music market. User-generated content (UGC) has proved a huge success during lockdown for the likes of TikTok and Roblox. The traditional brand celebrity spokesperson has ceded ground to the influencer, and even they to the micro-influencer. Content proliferation has driven increasingly niche content to niche audiences, finding smaller fan bases to resonate with instead of attempting the now nigh-impossible cut-through to mainstream popularity. This is the paradox of small: the long tail accounts for a growing share of content consumption, but the fractional economics of on-demand environments means that those in the long tail earn too little to be economically sustainable. Access to the means of distribution may have been democratised, but access to meaningful rights income has not.

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Virtualization

Applications of Virtual Reality in Healthcare

Article | June 21, 2021

For online gamers, in-game purchases made to buy special swords, guns, or other add-ons to play their adventure, warfare, and other games are one-time, non-transferable investments that lock them into their pretend worlds. That's something companies like Polyient Games want to change by registering those purchases using blockchain and transforming the previously one-way transactions into liquid assets which are transferable for cash.

Read More
Media and Broadcasting, Business

Boost Your B2B SaaS Business with Live Streaming

Article | August 4, 2022

The first half of 2021 has been a year of continued change and disruption for subscription video. The global incumbent subscription video on demand (SVOD) leaders, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, have been busy signalling to the financial markets how they intend to entrench their market dominance in light of the ongoing market acquisition pushes unleashed by the D2C disruptors following the D2C ‘big bang’ moment of Q4 2019 – Q2 2021. Netflix announced in January that it was no longer going to borrow on the financial markets to fund its day-to-day operations – specifically for its content acquisition budget, which is now driven predominately by commissioning original content for its service. This leaves the SVOD leader with $14.9 billion of outstanding long-term debt to service as it seeks to live within its means by commissioning future content from its ongoing cashflow. In Q1 2021 alone Netflix spent $500 million on servicing this debt pile versus $1.7 billion in net income generated over the same period.

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Technologies, Business

Discord: A Novel Medium for B2B Marketing

Article | July 20, 2022

PlayStation 5 event date was previously postponed due to the intolerance and injustice that plagued the USA. While Sony lead the way, as a beacon of solidarity, several other companies followed. At that time, the best people could do is stand beside one another. However, recently some of the features of PS 5 were revealed. An advertisement on Twitch, along with an official post from PlayStation, confirmed the event date. Scheduled on June 11th, one can expect people to be extremely hyped up for this. The fact that everyone had to wait too long for PS 5 makes this news much more exciting.

Read More
Media and Broadcasting

UGC vs. Premium: Is the video valuation bubble big enough to burst?

Article | May 21, 2021

The market disconnect between the proliferation of independent content creators and the consolidation of brand IP into the hands of ever-fewer major players is growing increasingly stark. On the one hand, independent artists are the fastest-growing sector of the music market. User-generated content (UGC) has proved a huge success during lockdown for the likes of TikTok and Roblox. The traditional brand celebrity spokesperson has ceded ground to the influencer, and even they to the micro-influencer. Content proliferation has driven increasingly niche content to niche audiences, finding smaller fan bases to resonate with instead of attempting the now nigh-impossible cut-through to mainstream popularity. This is the paradox of small: the long tail accounts for a growing share of content consumption, but the fractional economics of on-demand environments means that those in the long tail earn too little to be economically sustainable. Access to the means of distribution may have been democratised, but access to meaningful rights income has not.

Read More
MORE ARTICLES

Spotlight

Aquarius Sports and Entertainment

Aquarius is an full-service sponsorship agency that helps our many Fortune 500 partners attract and retain customers by developing the most potent sports and entertainment experiences. We are privileged to have earned the trust of several of the most respected brands in financial services, insurance, healthcare, retail and consumer packaged goods, entertainment and charitable organizations.

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Business

Entravision adds Entravision Plus for Local Hispanic Reach Optimization

Entravision | February 21, 2023

Entravision, an advertising, media, and technology solutions provider, has recently launched its new solution Entravision Plus, enhancing the local Hispanic reach of companies through connected TV, CTV, and over-the-top OTT, streaming. It leverages performance-based data insights from Spanish-language publishers to optimize digital advertising outcomes. It has added Entravision Plus to its full suite of digital solutions for OTT, CTV, digital audio ads, display ads, SEM, digital out-of-home, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube Ads, Branded Content and Email Marketing, along with its television and radio services. It was found that about 90% of Hispanic consumers stream video on smart devices. This data is approximately 10% more than the video streaming behavior of non-Hispanic consumers. Additionally, on average, the Hispanic consumer spends about 26 hours per month on online video-watch. This states that they spend approximately seven hours more watching videos online than U.S. consumers on average. These statistics show that the rising Latino local household consumers can be targeted and reached through television advertising and Entravision Plus online video products. General Manager of Entravision US Digital, Jessica Martinez, said, “Advertisers need to reach their consumers. We can now offer our clients the ability to reach consumers not only through our television and radio assets, but also through an array of digital products.” She added, “Entravision Plus – our newest offering – provides advertisers with unique targeting, competitive ad separation and insightful analytics to reach all segments of the Latino consumers. We are excited to provide this premium solution, along with television and radio, to meet the needs of an evolving market. By leveraging Entravision Plus, we anticipate that our customers’ businesses will stand out and grow faster than ever before.” (Source – Business Wire) About Entravision Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Entravision, an advertising company, provides solutions for digital marketing, social commerce, CTV, application performance, audio programmatic services, Latam, VAS, user acquisition, growth, marketing automation, local marketing, content marketing, data services, mobile advertising and marketing, and media networking. It has been connecting advertising brands with consumers through media, ad tech, commerce and advertising solutions on different platforms and publishers. It partners with companies like TelevisaUnivision, LinkedIn, Spotify, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok and Grab for sales operations and financial and commercial services.

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Facebook Acquires Cloud Video Gaming Company PlayGiga

thurrott | December 19, 2019

Facebook seems to be working on a new vision for its gaming products. The company may not be a huge player in the gaming industry, but it has invested a ton into its gaming products for years. And now, Facebook has acquired Spanish cloud video gaming company PlayGiga to further expand its gaming efforts. The company confirmed the acquisition to CNBC, though it declined to reveal any details about the acquisition. Facebook was rumored to have acquired PlayGiga last week by Spanish business newspaper Cinco Dias. The acquisition reportedly cost Facebook approximately 70 million euros. PlayGiga previously ran a cloud gaming service in Europe after being founded in 2013, though the company’s service failed to gain any traction. “We are excited to announce that the PlayGiga team is moving on to something new. We are continuing our work in cloud gaming, now with a new mission. We want to thank all of our partners and customers for their support over the years,” PlayGiga said on its website.

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Vitec acquires OTT tech vendor T-21 Technologies

fiercevideo | January 28, 2019

Video encoding and streaming solutions company Vitec is sharpening its focus on OTT products for broadcasters by acquiring OTT tech vendor T-21 Technologies.The companies did not disclose financial terms for the transaction.Kevin Ancelin, founder and CEO of T-21 Technologies, will join Vitec as vice president of worldwide broadcast sales.“The acquisition of T-21 brings Kevin’s 32-year industry experience and knowledge to Vitec as we expand our product and strategy focus on the broadcast market,” said Mark D’Addio, senior vice president at Vitec, in a statement. “His expertise in product and market development will expedite our new product roadmap and sales efforts for leading broadcasters worldwide.”“I look forward to this new chapter and challenge in my career. Vitec’s technology and dedication to the IP video market is unmatched,” said Ancelin in a statement. “With Vitec’s GEN2+ innovation, the MGW Ace portable hardware encoder delivers no visible latency for the most sensitive video quality and low latency applications. As we develop our next generation of products and marketing, with a focus on broadcast applications, GEN2+ will further transform the contribution market.”

Read More

Business

Entravision adds Entravision Plus for Local Hispanic Reach Optimization

Entravision | February 21, 2023

Entravision, an advertising, media, and technology solutions provider, has recently launched its new solution Entravision Plus, enhancing the local Hispanic reach of companies through connected TV, CTV, and over-the-top OTT, streaming. It leverages performance-based data insights from Spanish-language publishers to optimize digital advertising outcomes. It has added Entravision Plus to its full suite of digital solutions for OTT, CTV, digital audio ads, display ads, SEM, digital out-of-home, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube Ads, Branded Content and Email Marketing, along with its television and radio services. It was found that about 90% of Hispanic consumers stream video on smart devices. This data is approximately 10% more than the video streaming behavior of non-Hispanic consumers. Additionally, on average, the Hispanic consumer spends about 26 hours per month on online video-watch. This states that they spend approximately seven hours more watching videos online than U.S. consumers on average. These statistics show that the rising Latino local household consumers can be targeted and reached through television advertising and Entravision Plus online video products. General Manager of Entravision US Digital, Jessica Martinez, said, “Advertisers need to reach their consumers. We can now offer our clients the ability to reach consumers not only through our television and radio assets, but also through an array of digital products.” She added, “Entravision Plus – our newest offering – provides advertisers with unique targeting, competitive ad separation and insightful analytics to reach all segments of the Latino consumers. We are excited to provide this premium solution, along with television and radio, to meet the needs of an evolving market. By leveraging Entravision Plus, we anticipate that our customers’ businesses will stand out and grow faster than ever before.” (Source – Business Wire) About Entravision Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Entravision, an advertising company, provides solutions for digital marketing, social commerce, CTV, application performance, audio programmatic services, Latam, VAS, user acquisition, growth, marketing automation, local marketing, content marketing, data services, mobile advertising and marketing, and media networking. It has been connecting advertising brands with consumers through media, ad tech, commerce and advertising solutions on different platforms and publishers. It partners with companies like TelevisaUnivision, LinkedIn, Spotify, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok and Grab for sales operations and financial and commercial services.

Read More

Facebook Acquires Cloud Video Gaming Company PlayGiga

thurrott | December 19, 2019

Facebook seems to be working on a new vision for its gaming products. The company may not be a huge player in the gaming industry, but it has invested a ton into its gaming products for years. And now, Facebook has acquired Spanish cloud video gaming company PlayGiga to further expand its gaming efforts. The company confirmed the acquisition to CNBC, though it declined to reveal any details about the acquisition. Facebook was rumored to have acquired PlayGiga last week by Spanish business newspaper Cinco Dias. The acquisition reportedly cost Facebook approximately 70 million euros. PlayGiga previously ran a cloud gaming service in Europe after being founded in 2013, though the company’s service failed to gain any traction. “We are excited to announce that the PlayGiga team is moving on to something new. We are continuing our work in cloud gaming, now with a new mission. We want to thank all of our partners and customers for their support over the years,” PlayGiga said on its website.

Read More

Vitec acquires OTT tech vendor T-21 Technologies

fiercevideo | January 28, 2019

Video encoding and streaming solutions company Vitec is sharpening its focus on OTT products for broadcasters by acquiring OTT tech vendor T-21 Technologies.The companies did not disclose financial terms for the transaction.Kevin Ancelin, founder and CEO of T-21 Technologies, will join Vitec as vice president of worldwide broadcast sales.“The acquisition of T-21 brings Kevin’s 32-year industry experience and knowledge to Vitec as we expand our product and strategy focus on the broadcast market,” said Mark D’Addio, senior vice president at Vitec, in a statement. “His expertise in product and market development will expedite our new product roadmap and sales efforts for leading broadcasters worldwide.”“I look forward to this new chapter and challenge in my career. Vitec’s technology and dedication to the IP video market is unmatched,” said Ancelin in a statement. “With Vitec’s GEN2+ innovation, the MGW Ace portable hardware encoder delivers no visible latency for the most sensitive video quality and low latency applications. As we develop our next generation of products and marketing, with a focus on broadcast applications, GEN2+ will further transform the contribution market.”

Read More

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