ARTICLES › 20 Tools Needed For OTT & Modern Video Streaming

20 OTT Streaming Services Your OTT Platform Provider Should Have

If you are using streaming media in order to build your audience, extend your viewership, grow your organization and develop revenue streams you most likely need to utilize:

  • All outlets possible including: OTT Apps, social sites, your website, mobile apps, and other SmartTV platforms
  • A video content management system
  • A detailed statistic service.
  • Well designed, custom appearance
  • Follow-up and conversion mechanisms and a way to collect
  • The right strategy executed in the right way to ensure ROI and profitability

Lightcast.com has helped 1000s of customers monetize media and increase viewership. The list below represents the most important features you will need to hit the market efficiently and effectively to ensure success and most importantly to create a profitable business.

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1. Multi-Platform Publishing

Lightcast.com’s proprietary Multi-Platform Publishing is a multi-screen and multi-device publishing system, allowing media publishers to upload, manage and publish all of their on-demand and live-stream media on multiple platforms simultaneously, for instant display on multiple screens and types of devices, such as computers, smart phones, tablets, set-top boxes, SmartTVs, gaming consoles and many more.

Dedicated feeds in all required bitrates and formats, including meta-data, thumbnail files and other data connected to your media assets, will be generated and provided for integration on all of your apps.

2. On Demand Video Channels

Video on Demand (VOD) Channels allow you to save, backup and organize your on demand video content. This content lives on your dedicated server storage on our video server cloud network. Each VOD Channel comes with a customizable and non-branded video player with an “on-player-archive-menu” serving as your media center. This player can be embedded on an unlimited number of websites and social media sites, thus being spread “virally” by your viewers should you decide to allow it

3. Live Streaming Channels

LIVE Channels allow you to stream live to your website, your social sites and your OTT apps. Each LIVE Channel comes with a non-branded customizable player with a count-down feature, counting down to your next scheduled live event and adapting to the viewers’ time zones.

4. Fast Launch Of Customizable SDK-Based OTT Apps

Lightcast.com has developed 1000s of Apps in house for 1000s of media publishers helping them reach more than 95% of the OTT audiences across Roku, AmazonFireTV, AppleTV, and Samsung SmartTV.

Lightcast.com develops and publishes custom OTT Apps on behalf of its clients. Video Power XL clients receive a complimentary Single-Channel VOD Roku App, published and made available in Roku’s public Channel Store, allowing millions of viewers to add the channel to their Roku dashboards. Startups and Non-Profits can apply for a TV App Development Sponsorship and receive fully sponsored TV Apps in their own branding, launched top-level in the App Stores of the leading OTT platforms such as Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and AndroidTV.

All your uploaded VOD content will be published instantly after transcoding to your custom Roku Channel. Regard your Roku Channel as a serious broadcast outlet – yet at the fragment of the cost of most linear satellite or cable channels and with real-time viewer stats and the possibility to charge viewers for access to your premium content. This can, and will, become a game-changer to your media presence. Say hello to a thousands of new viewers! The results of an investment into a custom OTT Apps will blow your mind!

Custom Channels can be ordered at a discount as an add-on to any Lightcast.com Video Service Package.

Examples of Apps Recently Built by Lightcast

Launch and Expand Beautiful Native TV Apps, Mobile Apps & WebApps.


Build & Control your Navigation Structures with Categories, Channels, Series in Real-Time.
Control Graphics, Metadata, Branding. Customize and Expand Continuously.

5. Discounts on TV Apps

Receive a discount on custom branded TV Apps on the leading OTT platforms such as Roku, FireTV, AndroidTV, AppleTV, Samsung SmartTV App, and say hello to millions of new viewers who have one of these ConnectedTV devices at home or in their office.

Roku in particular is a great TV App to start with and if you don't have your own TV App on Roku yet, published top-level in the Roku Channel Stores worldwide, then please contact us right away. Your brand, your content, your offerings should be on Roku and other TV App Stores as soon as possible. We will make this as easy and cost-efficient for you as possble.

Lightcast.com Tip: start easy but fast, and then add to it, grow your content offerings, build out your navigation structure and add custom features to your TV Apps after their initial launch. This will help you get started quickly to establish your brand and name on all leading TV App Stores right away, without overcomplicating things. Even if you don't have all your content ready yet, and all requirements figured out: let us help you get a "foot in the door", stake out your claim on the App Stores, establish your brand and channels on the leading OTT platforms as soon as possible.

6. Discounts on Mobile Apps

Receive a discount on custom branded mobile app development for iOS and Android, and reach another few million potential viewers with a mobile phone. Whether it’s a mobile media app dedicated to broadcast all or selected VOD and LIVE Channels, or a mobile app with both your media content and other functionalities like text pages, event calendar, e-commerce solutions etc., we have the most affordable and efficient solution for you.

7. Add AndroidTV, FireTV, AppleTV

Similar to Roku, template-based but customizable AndroidTV, FireTV and AppleTV Apps, take your content into the homes and offices of millions of additional viewers. Unlike set-top-boxes and HDMI sticks like FireTV and AppleTV, AndroidTV in particular is online video navigation software featuring apps and channels filled with on demand video content, live streams and games. This popular online video navigation platform comes pre-installed on TV-screens, such as Sony Bravia, and other connected devices from numerous manufacturers.

Lightcast Power XL Clients receive a complimentary Single-Channel VOD Android TV App, published and made available in Google’s App Store, allowing millions of viewers to add the channel to their Android TV devices.

8. API & Developer Tools

The Lightcast.com API is for professional web developers who require dynamic control of their own websites and applications. With the Lightcast.com API, it is possible to build dynamic media galleries and an endless lineup of applications using the popular JSON format. This allows for rapid development and deployment of your content, on your own hosted platforms. A variety of developer tools allow you to create feeds and integrate customizable objects on existing websites and apps.

9. Mobile Delivery

Lightcast.com transcodes your entire media content library in various file formats and optimizes it for delivery to mobile devices. The different file formats Lightcast.com encodes from your media content are compatible with a variety of mobile devices.

10. Facebook and YouTube Live Streaming

Facebook and YouTube Live Streaming allows you to stream your live events simultaneously to your Facebook page and YouTube Channel in addition to all your publishing properties, such as your own websites, mobile apps, and ConnectedTV channels. Once your Lightcast.com account is connected with your Facebook account and YouTube channel, you can choose to stream any of your live events to either platform.

11. Chromecast & Apple AirPlay Publishing

Chromecast/Google Cast is Google’s digital media player which allows viewers to cast media from their internet device (such as mobile devices) to a TV Screen. Chromecast Publishing enables your LIVE, VOD, AUDIO content to be streamed to a TV Screen connected to Chromecast. This feature is integrated into the Lightcast.com Players.

Apple AirPlay Publishing allows wireless streaming between devices of audio, video, device screens and photos, together with related metadata. It works with computers using iTunes and iOS devices such as iPhones, iPods and iPads running iOS 4.2 or greater on selected receiver devices which include AirPort Express and AppleTV.

12. No Limitations On Concurrent Viewerships

Your business needs the capability to handle a large number of viewers to watch your content simultaneously. This is especially important for anyone who plans on streaming live events and expects large crowds watching at the same time.

13. Global Content Delivery Network

A Content Delivery Network (CDN) consists of a large number of video servers distributed around the world on all continents. Utilizing a CDN versus a single server (or a small cloud server setup) gives all professional broadcasters and enterprises the advantage of delivering their content as close to their viewers as possible. This automatically increases loading speed and the number of potential viewers dramatically. For everyone who seeks to stream live seriously, utilizing a CDN with multiple access points worldwide is imperative.

14. Intuitive Media Management System (CMS)

Lightcast.com’s unique Media Management System allows you to upload, organize, manage and publish your media and live streams. It allows you to control the publication of certain content or channels to specific outlets such as your website, your online media campus, your Roku Channels, FireTV Apps, AndroidTV Apps, AppleTV Apps, iTunes Video and Audio Podcasts, your YouTube channel, your Facebook Page, your mobile and SmartTV apps. Create VOD Channels with entire media libraries or selected videos shared only on your intranet sites behind registration or even payment walls. You can charge for access to certain channels through Lightcast.com’s electronic payment system for your media outlets. View detailed stats of your worldwide viewership with map views and different charts to create beautiful reports for your board, partners, supporters, congregations and online followers. Your Lightcast.com Media Control Center allows you to manage it all and even more in one place.

15. Media Statistic Center

Our “best-in-class” video reporting tool enables you to follow the development of your worldwide audiences with an interactive and intelligent user interface. Monitor detailed viewing time of your selected channels or single videos, live-events or linear streams, Roku Channels, FireTV Apps, AppleTV Apps, Samsung Smart TVs, mobile Apps, websites, social sites and other publishing outlets.

The world-map-view provides an immediate overview of the viewership in each country around the world within the selected time-period.

The line chart, area chart and pie chart views allow you to display growth-trends and the performance of your content and your publishing properties.

16. Intelligent, Brandeable Media Players

All Lightcast.com Media Players come with built-in intelligent features, such as social/viral sharing features, re-embed options, color-customization, size-customization, playlists and media centers, auto-start option, multi-bitrate technology, auto-bandwidth adaption through bandwidth detection, manual bitrate switching and more.

17. Audio Only Version of Videos

Lightcast.com creates an audio version of each of your video uploads, available for you to integrate on your website and for automatic publishing to your iTunes Audio Podcast. The audio only file is encoded with the most modern transcoding system and optimized for maximum compatibility and multi-platform delivery: to your website, your mobile apps, iTunes and media sharing platforms.

18. Automated Podcast Distribution

Lightcast.com creates and publishes your Audio & Video Podcast Channels, submitted and auto-published in real-time to all leading Podcast Platforms such as iTunes and Google Cast. Send us your Logo or graphic artwork and we will make sure your Podcast Channels are branded correctly. Every new video upload (or CDN-side recording from a live-event stream) which is assigned to the VOD Channel feeding to your Podcast Platforms, will automatically be encoded into the needed formats and auto-pushed to your Podcast Channels. In addition, the audio from each video will be taken to auto-create audio-only versions, which can also auto-publish to Audio-Only Podcast Channels Lightcast.com sets up for you.

19. Social Media Distribution

To market your video content and promote its “viral spread” we offer to distribute your video content to the most influential video sharing portals, such as YouTube and Facebook. Once your Lightcast.com account is connected with your YouTube Channel and Facebook, you can optionally choose to send any of your video uploads to these channels automatically.

20. Payment Processing Service

The Lightcast.com EasyPay Service is an all-in-one payment solution for online payment and product sales. Accept all cards instantly without any paperwork, approval work or contract. Get started within minutes. Lightcast.com EasyPay Service acts as your:

  1. Payment Gateway (Processing Center)
  2. Website Integration (Forms, Shopping Carts)
  3. Customer Database (Backoffice Control Center)
  4. Underwriter (Liability Protection)
  5. Security & Encryption Service (Verification & Data Encryption)

Lightcast EasyPay is the perfect solution to launch Subscription Offers quickly across all platforms, providing multi-platform subscriber authentication and APIs for integration on all your websites, mobile apps and TV apps.

Lightcast EasyPay is also a great solution for larger PPV Live-Events. Lightcast.com can set up landing sites for your Live Events in your Event's branding, with instant Pay-Per-View Ticket Sales for your Live-Stream Event with zero need for coding or development on your end.

About Lightcast.com

Lightcast.com has a decade of experience in OTT app development; a field not much older than the company itself. A publisher would be hard pressed to find a better partner for outsourcing their app development and reaching their monetization goals. If you’d like to find out more about app development for your video content, contact us today.

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