Our previous blog post about the future of OTT left our readers with more questions than answers, and we hope to answer those questions with this new post. We’re not fortune tellers, but with our experience in OTT we know a thing or two about where OTT is headed.
Within 5 years, all TV media will be bought programmatically. Let’s not forget that buying television advertising programmatically allows for deeper audience targeting, more affordable ad spots, and opportunities for campaign optimizations that were never apparent before.
Who will rule the OTT Kingdom? The ‘Big 4’ of course: Amazon, Google, Apple, and Facebook. They will be the major players in the streaming content space – more than they are today. The final firewall between traditional & streaming will be breached when we expect that one major sporting event like the super bowl, world cup, NBA Finals, etc. will be bought and streamed by one of the Big 4 – at the expense of the current TV giants (NBC, ABC, Fox, etc.)
Netflix will inevitably run ads. Likely in a Hulu style model, where a smaller monthly fee will include ads, but a larger fee will be ad-free. With more Americans migrating away from general social media (i.e. Facebook) and into niche social platforms like Snap, Instagram, Pinterest, similar trends will follow with consumers gravitating away from ‘one-size-fits-all’ streaming services and into more niche content sources (though likely to be properties owned by the Big 4). This is already happening with the recent announcements that Disney (who owns Marvel) is moving its content from Netflix into its owned and operated streaming property.
It will be interesting to see if the likes of Comcast/NBC/Universal can hold their ground against the Big 4. They are among the best positioned to fight the Big 4 due to the combo of experience and infrastructure in developing original content combined with ‘owning’ the internet access point for 30+ million Americans. But, on the flip side, Comcast is so late to the game in bringing its OTT alternatives to market, and with such dislike from many of its customers, it has virtually no customer loyalty.
OTT’s future is unwritten. Only the Big 4, top television networks, and consumers can really influence where OTT will be in 5 years. No matter where it’s headed, it will have an enormous impact on how we watch and buy media. Strategus will continue to be at the forefront of this innovative media outlet.
Andy Dixon
