Blog: OTT

Read our latest daily deep dives, hot takes, and exciting updates about the entertainment world. Check out the latest insight from your favourite analyst, or search by coverage areas - music, entertainment and fandom, creator economy and social.

“First day, first show” – Premium video on demand’s potential in India

Cover image for “First day, first show” – Premium video on demand’s potential in India

Srishti Das

26 Jul 2021

India is home to one of the world’s largest and most successful film industries. However, 2020 was rife with economic setbacks across the entertainment industry due to the pandemic. The film industry was expected to perform poorly as lockdown measures restricted the operations of movie theatres.

min read

Reach over revenue: India’s lesson for developed sports markets

Cover image for Reach over revenue: India’s lesson for developed sports markets

Srishti Das

26 Feb 2021

India is growing as a sporting nation, with athletes performing across different international sports outside of cricket like kabaddi, motorsports, basketball, chess and so on. The majority of media consumption in India’s sports industry, however, comes from the Indian Premier League (IPL).

min read

Discovery enters streaming race with discovery+ and Olympics offering

Cover image for Discovery enters streaming race with discovery+ and Olympics offering

Alistair Taylor

9 Dec 2020

Last week , Discovery announced it will launch discovery+, ‘the definitive non-fiction’ subscription-video-on-demand (SVOD), on January 4th, 2021. Consumers in the US can expect the largest-ever content library for a new streaming service from launch, with more than 55,000 episodes from Discovery’s iconic brands such as the BBC’s Natural History collection, A&E Networks, Group Nine and more.

min read

DAZN launches globally with advent calendar offering of boxing contests

Cover image for DAZN launches globally with advent calendar offering of boxing contests

Alistair Taylor

3 Dec 2020

subscription video on demand

DAZN’s global roll out is finally here , following an announcement to launch worldwide (including the UK) back in March. The pandemic-enforced postponement and cancellation of live sports scuppered its original plans to coincide its launch with Canelo Alvarez’s world title fight in May.

min read

WWE Q3 Earnings – An innovative digital strategy helps WWE overcome COVID-19 disruption

Cover image for WWE Q3 Earnings – An innovative digital strategy helps WWE overcome COVID-19 disruption

Alistair Taylor

12 Nov 2020

World Wrestling Entertainment

WWE’s Q3 2020 results provide a fascinating insight into how a live event-focused entertainment business has successfully navigated a global pandemic. In its financials for the quarter , WWE saw a 19% revenue increase year-on-year (YoY), with Q3 2020 revenue at $221.

min read

European Professional Club Rugby goes OTT, pressing business over the needs of fans

Cover image for European Professional Club Rugby goes OTT, pressing business over the needs of fans

Alistair Taylor

23 Sep 2020

European Professional Club Rugby

Last Friday , European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR), the Heineken Champions Cup and the European Rugby Challenge Cup’s governing body announced the launch of its global over-the-top (OTT) streaming service, epcrugby.

min read

Can LiveScore learn valuable lessons from Eleven Sports’ UK failings?

Cover image for Can LiveScore learn valuable lessons from Eleven Sports’ UK failings?

Alistair Taylor

24 Aug 2020

streaming service

Streaming insurgent LiveScore launched its first ever over-the-top (OTT), ad-supported direct-to-consumer (D2C) streaming proposition in the UK back in June, harbouring a similar rights portfolio to that of Eleven Sports’ failed proposition back in 2018 .

min read

NBCUniversal hopes to draw level with Premier League move

Cover image for NBCUniversal hopes to draw level with Premier League move

Alistair Taylor

15 Jul 2020

With Comcast’s NBCUniversal-owned Peacock launching today (July 15th), sports fans will be excited ahead of NBCU’s repositioning of its English Premier League (EPL) rights, giving paying subscribers access to 175 fixtures for the 2020/2021 season on its over-the-top (OTT) streaming service.

min read

FuboTV adds key sporting rights to portfolio following Disney deal

Cover image for FuboTV adds key sporting rights to portfolio following Disney deal

Alistair Taylor

2 Jul 2020

Sporting rights

FuboTV, the US over-the-top (OTT) internet-delivered TV service launched back in January 2015 as a soccer-centric proposition. In that time it has established itself as a niche distributor of live streams of MLS and LatAm soccer matches to US, Canadian and Spanish audiences.

min read

The Last Dance – ESPN Raining Threes

Cover image for The Last Dance – ESPN Raining Threes

Alistair Taylor

18 May 2020

With the pandemic-enforced postponement of live sports creating an entertainment void for sports fans, US broadcaster ESPN played its trump card to capitalise on the thirst for stimulating content during lockdown.

min read

The Battle Down Under

Cover image for The Battle Down Under

Alistair Taylor

23 Apr 2020

#playerstogether

additive services

With COVID-19 exposing the vulnerability of pureplay sport streaming services , the importance of building out a robust and downturn-proof offering is fundamental to the viability of these currently additive services.

min read

Universal Search – The Gaping Hole in Streaming Video

Amanda Stears

5 Dec 2019

The day is done and you are slouched on the sofa, ready for some binge watching. But how often have you found yourself aimlessly scrolling through Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Now TV etc. not knowing exactly what to watch or where to start? Not quite “feeling” it, you exit Netflix.

min read

Streaming in Southeast Asia: Challenges and Opportunities for International Competitors

Amanda Stears

10 Sep 2019

With a combined population of 371.7 million and a combined GDP of $2.9 trillion, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia represent sizeable and fast-growing markets for streaming services. The largest players by subscriptions are Netflix, iflix and Viu, with each competing and differentiating through their own unique selling points.

min read

Starz to Increase Brand Presence with AT&T Carriage Deal

Amanda Stears

3 Sep 2019

pay tv operators

On August 30, AT&T announced a multi-year content carriage deal with Starz, allowing AT&T to offer STARZ content to its customers. This content deal includes STARZ and STARZ ENCORE premium linear and HD channels, On-Demand, HD On-Demand and online services.

min read

Is YouTube MLB’s Answer to Tap into Younger Audience?

Cover image for Is YouTube MLB’s Answer to Tap into Younger Audience?

Alistair Taylor

29 Jul 2019

cable consumption

On July 18 th , Google-owned YouTube livestreamed the first of its exclusive Major League Baseball (MLB) matches, acquired through a partnership announced with the MLB at the end of April 2019 . YouTube’s first exclusive live game distribution deal with the MLB covers 13 games during the second half of the MLB’s 2019 regular season.

min read

Fail Fast, Fail Early – Can Eleven’s UK Struggle Aid Future Growth?

Alistair Taylor

21 Feb 2019

Amazon Fire Stick

Eleven Sports announced last week it had successfully agreed long-term distribution agreements with all four TV operators in Portugal – Altice, NOS, Nowo and Vodafone. Achieving this agreement puts Eleven Sports on TV platforms across 3.

min read

Will An EPL Streaming Service Devalue Domestic Rights?

Alistair Taylor

15 Feb 2019

addressable audience

Following the English Premier League (EPL) announcing in November its plans to launch its own streaming service for the next rights cycle (2022-2025), the Sunday Times reported that the EPL is coming close to launching.

min read

Sport1 To Drop US-centric Channel in Favour of Esports

Alistair Taylor

5 Dec 2018

addressable audience

audience demographics

German broadcaster Sport1 is replacing its US sport focused channel for the very first German-speaking esports channel. Sport1 announced last week that the channel dubbed eSports1 will launch in Germany, Austria and Switzerland on January 24th 2019, replacing Sport1 US.

min read

Is the UFC doing a Fox, and cashing in on content?

Alistair Taylor

31 May 2018

content provider

digital content

Last week, Disney-owned ESPN acquired the exclusive rights to show the UFC tournament in the US for $1.5 billion over five years. The deal will see the UFC earn $184 million more each year than the previous deal with Fox, which begs the question; is the UFC mimicking Fox’s strategy and cashing in on its content? While Endeavor (formerly WME-IMG), which purchased the UFC for $4 billion in 2016, was seeking in the region of $450 million per year, UFC president Dana White is ecstatic with the new deal, telling MMAJunkie: “Our last deal was $116 million a year.

min read

The Rapidly Growing Niche Online Video Market Opportunity

Tim Mulligan

28 Mar 2017

Falcon Media House

Yesterday Falcon Media House , the international media group focused on the streaming video market, relisted on the London Stock Exchange’s Main Market under the ticker FAL . Overseen by a management team from the overlapping worlds of pay-TV, media streaming and telco, Falcon is a full stack media company, looking to capitalize on the huge global growth in demand for streaming video.

min read