Online TV channels and OTT streaming platforms have spread rapidly over the last 5 years and are the preferred video content sources for Millennia’s and GenZ. A Google survey had found that in 2016, 6 out of 10 people preferred video streaming to traditional cable TV.
This is due to the choice of programming online TV offers to viewers who are thus freed from watching the captive programming of cable. Advertising breaks can also be eliminated with premium subscriptions. Viewers like the fact that they can pay for just what they want to watch, unlike traditional TV.
The OTT streaming market is expected to be worth USD 194.20 Billion by 2025 due to its instantly gratifying nature. This makes 2021 the perfect year to create an online tv channel.
Reasons to Start an Online TV Channel
- TV is Doomed, and OTT is the Future
Well, not right away, but over the next decade, OTT streaming will grow at an unprecedented rate. Traditional production houses are all starting their web TV channels and offering the same shows and movies on both platforms. Many sports broadcasters are signing OTT-first streaming contracts. Even modern television sets are smart and work with devices like Chromecast or the Firestick to facilitate OTT solutions on a big screen.
- Easy Maintenance
Maintaining the content catalog of an online TV channel is much easier than negotiating airing time, pricing, and other factors with TV channel executives. You can also reduce hosting and broadcasting costs by maintaining content on cloud servers. Online TV channels can do with lesser staff as well. This ease of maintenance is another great reason to start your online TV channel.
- Connect with your Customers Better
Online TV channels give a better chance for content creators to connect with the customers because there is a community that builds around OTT streaming content. You can create niche content and attract people interested in it who will engage deeply and support your channel’s growth. Compared to traditional TV where the content has to impress studio execs, online TV channels allow unconventional content to shine.
- Personalize Content to Win your Audience
The analytics insights that can be obtained from an OTT platform allow content personalization like never before. You know exactly what each consumer category wants to watch, and how they engage. You can offer programs and create videos that satisfy any target viewership. Netflix went a step further in offering the binge-able content format thus personalizing episode release formats. Similarly, building your online TV channel gives you leeway to experiment with business innovations.
- Have a Wider Reach
The internet is a global property and as such, any online TV channel potentially has a global reach. OTT streaming has broken down language barriers by promoting subtitling, as evidenced by the global Hallyu wave. You can create content to stream on a range of devices from laptops to smart phones and have your content reach users at all times.
- Tons of Monetization Options
Traditional TV has only the advertising revenue model of monetization since the funds from cable subscriptions aren’t enough to fuel creation. When you start TV online streaming, you have the AVOD, subscription revenue model, and pay-per-view models to choose from. Some OTT platforms like Hotstar experiment with all three. Finding out ways to entice viewers to watch more of your content for money is made easy by analytics insights.
- Work From Anywhere
Traditional TV shooting constrains your staff and you to work in a few locations where the studios exist and the management lives. Online TV removes these restrictions to a large extent. As an independent content creator you can travel anywhere you want to work or as a producer, you can hire creators located anywhere. Since the usual administrative legwork of traditional TV is absent, you can cut down the commute.
- People Can Consume Your Content Anywhere
Unlike cable TV where people have to return home or go to a place large enough to hold a TV, people can consume online video content from portable devices like tablets and laptops that can be taken anywhere. A large number of people download mobile OTT apps to watch videos while commuting. You can even reach viewers from other time zones with varied devices. Your content is also easier to find through a catalog management system unlike cable with scheduled programming.
Conclusion
If you’re convinced, you’re now wondering how you can leverage these benefits and how to broadcast your own TV station. With white-label OTT platforms provider, you can easily build your TV channel. It’s fully customizable and saves you the trouble of hiring a whole engineering team to build your OTT solution from scratch.
