OTT streaming platforms are evolving. What started as simple movie screening platforms has dynamically changed into much more today. Customer preferences, competition, and above all, technology have been key drivers of the evolution of OTT. 

AI is the happening thing now. User behaviour analysis, personalized recommendations, high-speed streaming without buffering, etc., are prominent advantages that the use of AI in OTT has brought about. 

In this blog, we have discussed the ways in which AI is helping transform OTT streaming, , and how it is beneficial for both the user and the platform. 

The AI Revolution in Streaming 

The streaming landscape has evolved from basic video-on-demand services to sophisticated, AI-powered entertainment ecosystems. According to recent industry research from Statista, the U.S. OTT video market alone is projected to reach $146.30 billion in 2025, with an annual growth rate of 7.25%. Multiple sources indicate that 73% of OTT platforms now utilize some form of artificial intelligence, with content recommendation systems leading adoption at 89%.

Key Market Statistics:

• $406.04B: Projected global OTT market value by 2029 (The Business Research Company)
• 3.71B: Expected global OTT user base by 2024
• 73%: Platforms using AI technology
• 35%: Average increase in user engagement with AI-powered recommendations
• 42%: Reduction in content discovery time through AI

10 Ways AI is Transforming OTT Platforms

1. Content recommendation

Smarter content recommendations are essential to retain your audience for a long time. Once they lose interest searching for content in the initial few minutes, they are bound to shift to better platforms.

AI helps in personalized recommendations by identifying cues and analyzing viewing habits. AI can even suggest content, understanding the time of day you visit the platform. This helps the user in easily picking up choices without wasting time on searching. OTT platforms can ensure a higher retention rate by enhancing the viewing experience with the help of AI.

2. Content moderation

Most of us would have noticed the message on YouTube warning of viewer discretion due to content type. This is content moderation. AI can scan several files effortlessly and seamlessly to eliminate content that can be violent or explicit. This is incredible considering the humongous volume of topics uploaded on the OTT platform daily.

This job, AI does round the clock and saves huge costs for OTT platforms. It is one of the features that viewers appreciate greatly, as it means they are using a safe platform for family entertainment. 

3. Optimized streaming

Higher engagement with the app implies a higher retention rate. Viewers need uninterrupted and high-quality streaming to enjoy better engagement. AI does the job flawlessly by analyzing the server load in real time. 

AI ensures buffer-free streaming in high quality, even when the audience’s internet connection is unstable. OTT platforms that have adopted AI certainly have an edge over others due to the improved user experience they provide. 

4. Ad suggestions

Irrelevant ads, ad insertion at the wrong time, can be irksome to the audience. Advertisements are an important revenue source for OTT platforms in such a competitive market. Hence, targeting ads to match viewer preferences becomes imperative.

Imagine an OTT platform playing ads relevant to the content the audience is just viewing. It instantly attracts viewers as they consider them valuable recommendations. AI does the job perfectly.

AI understands viewer moods, habits, demography, etc., before it inserts an ad. This way, the audience watches only relevant ads, which do not disturb their viewing experience. AI-driven OTT platforms can be a big boost to their revenue with targeted ads.

5. Voice and visual search 

The present-day audience does not have the time and patience to type their search on the remote. All they expect is swiftness in everything. AI on OTT platforms is their best partners.

With voice search, it is now easier to search for topics on OTT. AI uses natural language processing ability to understand human voices, interpret them, and provide instant, relevant results. Voice recognition in multiple languages makes the platform more robust. 

Voice and visual search features can be integrated to provide the best search experience to the viewers. 

6. Analytics

AI helps OTT platforms identify engagement, subscription renewals, and churn rates. It offers a proactive way to implement plans to improve user engagement. 

It can prove too costly for OTT platforms to lose viewership amidst mounting competition. Analyzing the dynamics of audiences’ preferences can be highly helpful to retain them. 

7. Original AI-powered content creation

Do you know the amount of time it takes for ideation, writing of the script, and creating videos for OTT? After all this, what if you end up with boring, outdated content? High attrition!!

With AI, marvellous, engaging storylines can be created within minutes. Text-to-video creation is also made simple by AI. Professional-quality editing of videos can be done by AI without much expenditure, which is again a big plus.

AI can thus revolutionize content creation, whereby thousands of new ideas can be uploaded on the platform, engaging the audience effortlessly.

8. Live streaming

Live streaming has recently garnered great attention on OTT. It is one of the most sought-after content formats, and platforms are competing with one another to secure streaming rights. Revenue generation for streaming platforms is massive with live streaming.

With live streaming, the chances of buffering, lag, and poor video quality are quite high. AI can reduce such concerns and help maintain viewership with high-quality live streaming.

With bitrate streaming, AI understands the internet speed of the viewer and adjusts the broadcast accordingly. It offers a smooth video experience, maintains speed consistently, and thus elevates the viewer experience. 

9. Encoding quality

Reducing the size of the videos without affecting their quality seems possible only with AI. They encode video files by determining the optimal compression level for each clip. This task is humanly impossible because of the vast library of files.

AI helps enjoy the best playback quality by analyzing and optimizing the encoding levels. This ensures that viewers do not have to struggle with lag and buffering after paying a high subscription fee to the platform.

AI is also constantly evolving, which means even with more volumes being added daily, it can do the job seamlessly.

10. Fraud detection

Do you know that many people across the globe are watching premium OTT content without even paying the subscription fee? Yes, this has been compromising the revenues of the platforms. Fraud in terms of piracy, account sharing, etc, is seen as a major threat to OTT platforms.

With AI, this can be easily identified and stopped. Account sharing can thus be quickly analyzed through viewer behaviour patterns and warned instantly. Netflix has successfully used AI to crack down on multiple account sharing with a single subscription in recent times.

Content sharing across platforms without a license is yet another threat easily addressed by AI. It identifies the leaks and plugs them immediately by taking action against those involved in unauthorized sharing.

Why Enveu is the Smart Choice for AI-Powered OTT Solutions

At Enveu, we don’t just keep pace with innovation—we drive it forward. Our AI-powered OTT app development solutions are designed to boost user engagement, minimize churn, and ensure your platform is ready for the future.

Trusted by the Best
With over 2500+ digital products successfully delivered, our track record speaks for itself. We combine deep industry insight with cutting-edge technical expertise to deliver real results.

Custom AI Integration That Goes Beyond the Basics
Forget generic plug-and-play tools. Enveu offers AI solutions tailored specifically to your business—think intelligent recommendation engines, live analytics, predictive engagement tools, and smart monetization models.

Scalable for the Future
Our cloud-native architecture is built to scale effortlessly. Whether you're catering to thousands or millions, our solutions evolve with your audience, content strategy, and growth roadmap—making your platform future-ready.

Conclusion

Enveu is a trusted platform to streamline your OTT platform. Our thoughtful team of experts keeps your platform updated to the latest trends, with AI being a prominent development. 

We help you develop AI-powered OTT streaming platforms and thus improve the customer retention rate through creating greater engagement. 

With our AI-based recommendations, you can have statistics of customers’ preferences, their viewing behaviour, and display content accordingly. Viewers can be assured of hyper-personalization, which makes them more connected to your platform.

Ours is a low-code platform with regular feature updates to keep your streaming highly relevant and competitive. We follow a no-revenue-sharing model, a feature that shows our transparent policy. 

Connect with us and get your demo today to understand more about our services.

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