Be it a sporting event, a music event, or even watching eSports, we are seeing a great influx of live streaming across OTT.
The first quarter of 2021 saw live streaming accounting for 24% of global OTT viewing, which was 14% more than the previous quarter according to a Conviva study.
And when you look at markets such as the USA and the UK, the importance of this increases further. 15% of American millennials live-stream at least one piece of content daily.
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Categories of importance
When it comes to live streaming, while the news dominates, we are also seeing categories like comedy, how-to-videos, videos by friends and families, sports games, religious content and conferences, grow. 25% of all comedy videos viewed on the internet are now live streams, placing it second on the list after the news (26%). How-to-videos are third on the list with 21% followed by videos by friends or family which is at 20%.
Since the pandemic has hit, we have also seen categories like health and fitness and e-learning increase. An Uscreen report claims that live viewing in the health and fitness category grew by 1,300% and e-learning grew by 980%. So, if you’re in any of these categories, you have to consider creating live content.
eSports is another well-followed category, with 12% of all internet users having been inclined to watch live streams in 2020.
Monetisation
As soon as the live event comes to an end, the creator can offer this recording as a video-on-demand (VOD) service. Thus, while you can charge a fee for those watching the live content, you can also charge a fee (usually lesser than the cost of the live event) for those who missed the event or want to pay lesser to consume a certain piece of content.
This means that you’re expanding your audience and maximising the monetary benefit your piece of content can provide.
Given that OTT reaches out to users around the globe, it also increases your viewer base as your live video may have been streamed at an hour which wouldn’t be convenient to viewers in some parts of the world.
If you’re looking at multiple pieces of live content in a month, you can also have different models, where you can look to charge a viewer either per video or per month, or even per year.
In Summary
Live streaming is imperative in today’s day and age and should be a key part of your OTT strategy in 2022 and beyond. We at Enveu are here to help you take that step by providing the technical know-how for your custom OTT streaming app. And for those that have taken the plunge but want better business results too, we are here to help.
Let’s talk!
