We're introducing a new series of insights from the ActiveVideo team - the Business of OTT. Hosted by Chris Linden, our COO, the Business of OTT introduces and explores some of the hottest trends, biggest themes and latest challenges for the OTT marketplace.
In this episode, Chris talks to Ed Lee, who looks after content strategy and partnerships, who is living and breathing the OTT app world every day! They discuss:
- The state of TV apps today
- Evolving OTT business models
- The impact of streaming on the bottom line
- The increasing prominence of AVOD
- Distribution challenges
Ed explains how the OTT business is really taking off, with lots of innovation, content choices and new services that are showing impressive subscriber acquisition. For OTT providers Ed explains that “because of the state of the entertainment business, streaming in-house will become front and centre for them from a business model standpoint”.
Ed also shares his view on how FAST - free ad supported TV services - is a category that's building with excitement and interesting revenue opportunities across the advertising side. But whilst, TVOD and SVOD have dominated for the last decade or so, AVOD is surging with the likes of Tubi and Pluto TV doing incredible work with their applications and ad tech capabilities. Ed expects AVOD to play an ever increasing role in the business model mix as we begin to hit what he describes as ‘SVOD fatigue’.
On the distribution side of things, the myriad of technology and platform options still requires OTT players to lean in and better understand the fragmentation that surrounds distribution. With carriage disputes emerging once more, this will be an interesting space to watch over the next year or so.
To check out more from the Business of OTT series, visit the Resources section of our website or take a look at the complete interview below