Innovative leaders in the over-the-top (OTT) video market are positioning themselves for what is anticipated to be a high-growth market with multi-billion dollar revenue streams, according to the latest market study by In-Stat.
As an example, companies such as Netflix, Blockbuster, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, YouTube, and Hulu are all vying for market share growth in the U.S. marketplace. While these American companies may be leading the field today, it's clear that the ongoing transition in video entertainment distribution is a global phenomenon.
"OTT video is happening now, with over 37 million broadband households in the U.S. downloading online video content," says Keith Nissen, In-Stat analyst. "The growing adoption of both OTT video consumption and web-enabled consumer electronics promises to further expand the opportunity content producers and OTT retailers."
In-Stat says that they define "Over-the-top" as any video content delivered via a broadband connection from a source other than the network service provider. Not to be confused with telco IPTV, which is typically a service clone of traditional pay-TV offerings from cable and satellite providers.
In-Stat's market study found the following:
- U.S. broadband households that view OTT video will grow from 38 million in 2009 to 81 million by 2014.
- Revenue from OTT video will more than quadruple by 2014 as it approaches $20 billion.
- A primary success criteria for OTT video services is access to unique, first-run TV and movie content.
- Over one-third of the 18–24 year old adult households stream full-length OTT video on a regular basis, compared to less than 10 percent of adult households in the over 45 year-old age brackets.
