What is Over-the-Top (OTT)?
OTT, short for ‘Over-the-Top,’ refers to the practice of streaming television and film content directly over a high-speed internet connection, i.e. a service that goes ‘over-the-top’ of an existing satellite or cable provider. Examples of popular OTT providers include Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and Disney+. When using OTT services, customers may stream content on mobile devices, tablets, and PCs, as well as connected TVs.
What is a Connected TV (CTV)?
This invites the question: what is a connected TV? A CTV, or a ‘smart TV,’ is a television set that streams video content directly over the internet. A CTV may also represent a device that enables a TV to connect to the Internet, for example, game consoles, such as Xbox, Playstation, or Nintendo, or an Internet-connected device, such as Chromecast, Firestick, or Apple TV.
What is the difference between OTT and CTV?
While OTT is the delivery service that supplies TV content online, CTV is the device that is used to watch this content.
What is the best OTT provider?
The technological advances in cloud computing have revolutionized video streaming, and the sector is projected to yield a revenue of USD $71,237m in 2021. The global video streaming market is highly competitive, and there are many features to consider when choosing the perfect service provider. A good OTT solution will offer enhanced security features, monetization options, multi-platform capability, a powerful video content management system (CMS), dependable technical support, and a deep analytics feature.
Here, we help you to choose the best platform for your OTT business model by providing a summary of our top 10 OTT providers.
1. Dacast
Dacast offers clients an end-to-end, self-service platform to broadcast both live and on-demand content. Dacast is set apart from its competitors through its accessibility and easy-to-use interface. The platform provides its customers with a comprehensive list of features, including ad-free streaming, white-label service, 24/7 support, an analytics dashboard, and video monetization options.
Dacast ensures that its customers can broadcast their content securely, offering password protection, encryption, tokenized access, referrer restrictions, and AES encryption.
2. Vimeo OTT
Vimeo OTT is one of the leading platforms available in the video streaming sector. Offering customers an all-in-one solution, Vimeo OTT has over 5 million end-users, 1500+ in-house apps, and boasts 3.5 million live streams annually. This white-label platform offers customers best-in-class analytics, a simple pricing structure, video monetization features, password-protected streams, CMS, 24/7 support, and deep, real-time insights.
3. IBM Watson Media
IBM Watson Media (formerly IBM Cloud Video) offers a powerful OTT solution, delivering both live streaming and VOD hosting. IBM’s OTT offering provides a fully scalable infrastructure, built to help customers to achieve a global presence. The key features of IBM Watson Media include an internal content delivery system, ad-based and subscription-based monetization models, multiplatform UX API, AI-powered speech-to-text, and powerful analytics.
4. VlogBox
VlogBox is a one-stop-shop platform providing CTV app development services, video content distribution and monetization solutions, as well as PR and marketing support. With VlogBox, customers can get template-based channels or request a custom design for their new app. Apart from channel development, this platform can also assist with channel monetization and its promotion on leading streaming platforms. At VlogBox, customers receive detailed reports & analytics of their audience activation and conversion that allow them to analyze their channel’s performance. VlogBox offers various pricing plans starting from pure app development to management and promotion of a custom-built channel.
5. JWPlayer
JWPlayer helps customers to expand their business using their powerful and flexible platform. This OTT provider enables customers to deliver content via its HTML5 JW video player, supporting HLS and DASH adaptive live streaming.
With only custom-priced Enterprise plans offering digital rights management (DRM), the security features provided with cheaper plans are basic yet practical.
6. Wowza
Delivering industry-leading technology, Wowza provides scalable, flexible, and reliable live streaming for business-critical applications. This full-service platform helps businesses to expand their monetization opportunities and deploy high-quality video streams. This OTT provider allows businesses to utilize a full platform API and a vast array of third-party integrations. Wowza also offers multi-level security features, including encryption, token authentication, and DRM.
7. Kaltura
Kaltura, a leading online video cloud provider, is designed for scalability and accessibility. Offering solutions for both live streaming and VOD, Kaltura provides ad-based, subscription, and pay-per-view monetization models, interactive video tools, specialized tools for building educational platforms, and advanced security measures, such as encryption and password protection.
Despite a high price point that makes it more suitable for large enterprises, media companies, and educational institutions, Kaltura does not include a CDN, so this would represent an additional cost.
8. Muvi
Muvi, a popular all-in-one white-label video streaming platform, employs a number of professional features that allow its customers to easily launch and manage their video content. The features available through this out-of-the-box, fully managed platform are geared mostly towards experienced broadcasters. Muvi’s key features include transcoding tools, insightful analytics and reporting, monetization tools, and advanced security options.
9. VPlayed
VPlayed provides an adaptable OTT platform to broadcasters across many industries, including sports, education, enterprise, and film. With VPlayed, customers can expect a world-class streaming infrastructure that is built for scale. This platform also provides customizable monetization models, insightful video analytics, impactful marketing tools, and advanced security features, including DRM, SLS encryption, and password protection. A highly networked CDN ensures that customers receive a high-quality OTT streaming experience.
10. Uscreen.tv
Uscreen is a leading OTT platform, allowing customers to launch and maintain video streaming apps for smartphones and TV. Uscreen is one of the fastest providers in this sector, with a time-to-launch averaging at 30-60 days. Some of the stand-out features of this OTT platform include centralized CMS with dynamic changes, built-in detailed analytics, and a ‘try again for free’ option to regain clients who have canceled their subscription. UScreen is available to customers at an affordable, fixed fee.
Bonus:
Brightcove
Brightcove has provided its customers with an effective and robust OTT platform since 2004. Brightcove’s 15 years of innovation and vision set this OTT provider apart from its competitors. The platform delivers complex analytics and marketing tools and offers unmatched reliability and scalability. Security remains a priority for Brightcove, with customers benefiting from DRM, domain and IP restrictions, and geo-restriction. Brightcove is GDPR compliant and DPP certified.
How can Atlantic.Net help?
As part of a competitive sector, it is vital to ensure that your OTT platform provides the infrastructure, scalability, and speed needed for your customers to experience high-quality video streaming services.
Atlantic.Net has over 30 years of experience in designing a vast array of compliant hosting solutions, including cloud VPS, dedicated, private virtualization, colocation, and managed hosting. Many of the world’s top brands are powered by Atlantic.Net. We can help you to get more for less, and, most importantly, we can provide you with one of the fastest networks of globally redundant cloud.
Contact our sales team today to find out how Atlantic.Net can help you in your quest to efficiently and cost-effectively deliver video content to your users.
This article was updated on March 29, 2022.
