The Future of OTT: Predictions and Trends for the Next Decade
May 22, 2024
OTT media continues to grow as a segment, and experts project an annual growth rate of 6.3%, with most of that growth coming from OTT advertising. This means there will continue to be lucrative opportunities in the OTT video arena, for both creators and advertisers. However, what works today may not be effective in the future. Here are 4 predictions for the OTT space that you should consider when planning content creation and OTT marketing.
The Future of OTT: 4 Predictions and Trends for the Next Decade
1. Increased Emphasis on Short Formats
TikTok upended streaming video with its emphasis on short-format content that can be quickly consumed. It's addictive and effective. Other platforms like Instagram and YouTube have essentially had to capitulate and copy the style to keep viewership up. As algorithms promote short-form videos to wider audiences, they can play a useful role in growing your audience across multiple channels.
Creators need to incorporate short-form content into their workflows, even if they're mostly focused on long-form content. YouTubers are already using Shorts to generate hype for upcoming videos or to increase engagement with audiences. Established OTT series like South Park have used short-form snippets of their episodes to boost viewership and attract a whole new generation of fans. Short videos will be a necessary complement to your regularly scheduled programming.
2. More Membership Features and Plan Tiers
The costs of streaming are rising faster than revenue from advertising dollars. As OTT platforms compete to secure licensing for more content, their expenses also rise rapidly. That's why your Netflix subscription costs more than it did just a couple of years ago. It's in OTT platforms' best interest to give creators other ways to generate revenue so that the platform itself can keep more of the ad or subscription revenue.
Expect to see more platforms give users ways to support specific channels or shows. As a content creator, think about ways to stratify your content. Could you have an exclusive series for members who pay extra? How many levels could you create? Educational creators even leverage an ad-free platform, Nebula, where revenue is shared and each creator uploads exclusive content.
3. AI Will Lead to More Content
AI is already creating content, though its quality still leaves much to be desired. Nevertheless, as generative text and video become more commonplace and improve in quality, 2024 will be the year where quality content can be created entirely from AI with minimal human intervention. Consider adding AI to your pipeline to supplement your content or create a unique format for AI.
Creative software companies like Adobe are promising to integrate generative AI in their video-editing software, so these tools will be within reach of everyone, even low-budget productions.
4. Increased OTT Media Segmentation
Every industry starts out small, expands, and then consolidates. OTT media is still in the expansion phase. We've seen nearly every major TV cable company push out an OTT platform. Every tech company wants one. While this is great for the industry as a whole, it's problematic for creators as audiences get divided onto different platforms. The solution is to publish everywhere.
The easy way to publish your content across multiple platforms is to use a Media Cloud that can instantly upload your video to numerous sites. Visit Lightcast.com and schedule a callback to learn more about our content publishing tools for creators and advertisers.
