The world of video streaming: Top players and what they do

The world of video streaming: Top players and what they do

Video streaming is a buzz now! The old cable TV is having less deal now. Those days are gone where people used to wait to watch their movie on the television. With time the scenario has changed when online content came into existence.

With the digitalization, users are shifting from analog to digital, which helps to make a choice and get the required content, resulting in increasing their entertainment experience. Also, Viewers can access personalized content with various devices of their choice and record the same content to watch the same in the later period.

The most dominant type of VoD content watched across all regions is movies, followed by TV programs. The other most-watched content types include comedies, series, sports, documentaries, and short-form video content. VoD service providers are continuing to expand their offerings to include a diverse set of content programs. For much better experience users deal with a single video streaming provider rather than managing multiple accounts can be easier.

The Video on Demand Market globally is estimated to USD 56.26 billion in 2017 and is expected to reach a value of USD 93.99 billion by 2023 at a CAGR of 8.93% by the research done by Mordor Intelligence. The research says that video on demand industry has a wide range of scope and for both cable operators and content providers to generate revenue.

With the increasing popularity of online videos, the CDN (content delivery Network) and MVPD (multichannel video programming distributor) are being pressurized.

The overall improved customer viewing experience and cost of the service are the two potential drivers for boosting the video on demand to the peak. The world of video streaming is now crowded by the many dominant players in the industry.  If you are looking for cutting the cord, then the infographics below would help you choose the best streaming service by price, usability, and content to try.

 

Online video hosting platforms: common challenges and ways to deal with them

Online video hosting platforms: common challenges and ways to deal with them

‘Change’ is an obvious strategy that Brands have to continuously look out for and apply when it comes to the fluctuating behavior of the online audience. Internet now has become an essential part of human lives as we enigmatically depend on it for our basic needs (from communication, entertainment, and information to product and service purchases), and therefore the way we consume the digital content is in an abrupt change. The traditional text-based content gave way to the image content, then the GIFs which in turn paved the path for pre-recorded videos, and now there are live videos. The higher the engagement rate among the audiences is, the more sophisticated the content is expected to be.

Why should you consider starting a video streaming service?

We all very well know that videos are currently the most engaging mode of content online. And now, live videos are starting to take over the digital media, witnessing a year over growth rate of more than 80% since 2015. Here are the reasons for its impeccable growth and why a business should consider investing in a video streaming service.

Giving your audience a sense of personalized interaction: 79% of the marketers say that a live video facilitates an authentic interaction with their audience, and 63% say that it brings a human touch to digital marketing.

Get more attention: Viewers spend 8 times more time with live videos as compared to the on-demand videos, making it the best medium for brands to invest in.

Leverage your content strategy: 61% of marketers say that live videos benefit them in creating content that can be repurposed later. With this, you can make sure that the content you create is consumed by your audience more effectively.

Increased audience engagement: Live videos on Facebook have shown to receive 10 times more comments than other forms of content. This clearly shows how interactive are live videos and its huge potential in boosting your audience engagement.

Choosing a live video hosting platform

If you want to start a video streaming service, you will need a variety of tools and resources. Most important of all is the server that can distribute your content to viewers around the world. It is, of course, possible to create your own server, but your requirements will vary as your audience base increases, leaving you with high expenses and technical overhead (let us elaborately discuss on the challenges faced by hosting your own live streaming platform later in the article). Generally, only large enterprises with ample resources will deploy their own streaming servers, and even with well-established businesses, it is rare.

A video streaming host is linked to a global network of servers called the live streaming CDN (content delivery network). The CDN from top-notch live video hosting solutions like StreamHash can ensure your stream to be free of glitches and buffering. Besides linking you to CDN, a live streaming platform provides a smooth software backend from which you can stream your content. You can be online and start your streaming in no time. You will just have to:

Arrange necessary resources for streaming like video cameras.
Encode the resources to formats that are compatible and streaming friendly.
Connect your encoder to your video streaming host.
Customize it according to your business needs and start streaming.

Things to look out for while considering a video streaming service

There are a wide number of streaming-as-a-service video hosting scripts that can help you instantly start delivering the content to your audience, but you should be aware of their limitations.

Live videos are a valuable tool for your brand in multiple ways, and the main factor to consider while choosing one is to see the extent of customization it offers to make your brand unique among your audience.

Here are the main differences in white-labeled services like StreamHash and the typical streaming-as-a-service providers, and how choosing the right one can have a huge impact on your brand’s growth:

-Give your brand a greater visibility, by giving a personalized feel for your audience. Streaming the video with your brand’s name than that of your service providers’ can obviously give your brand a higher visibility. A White-label solution, unlike the latter, gives you the leniency of streaming your live videos under your brand’s name.

Higher the customization options, greater is the uniqueness delivered by your brand. One advantage of building your live streaming server from the scratch is that you can customize it in the way your brand’s niche demands. But, the streaming-as-a-service platforms don’t provide fully flexible options to customize and the brands have to choose among a limited set of templates available. In contrast, a white-label solution like StreamHash can give you both advantages of a ready-made solution as well as a fully customizable set of options.

Investing your business content in a free video hosting platform? Here’s why you should rethink

We are all well aware of the recent Facebook-Cambridge analytica scandal, which saw a data leak of more than 87 million Facebook users in the United States. The information from their timeline, newsfeed, and messages was enough for Cambridge analytica to create psychographic profiles of the users and employ it to their advantage. Knowing it, many businesses like UniCredit (an Italian banking giant) who were concerned about their users’ data privacy immediately stopped all kinds of advertising and marketing on Facebook.

It is OK for an individual to start live streaming in free platforms like YouTube or Facebook, but for a business, all their followers’ data are at stake and most consumers won’t be happy with their data getting leaked in wrong hands. Apart from this, these consumer-grade platforms don’t have the necessary features for professional users, with abilities like different monetization features, advanced analytics, white-label custom branding, and API integration.

Doing your own video hosting? Here are it’s challenging.

Another obvious alternative that appeals to business apart from the free streaming service is to start their own streaming video hosting. It is completely advisable to start one of your own if your business is having adequate time and capital investments. But, with 80% of the total online audience base already preferring live videos over other content modes, they expect a lot more unique content from brands other than those in the free hosting services. Notably, 45% are even ready to pay to watch videos that are unique and closely engaging them.

For those who can understand this hustling demand from the audience and the existing limited supply, they will know the extent of competition the market will face in a few years and how crucial is “now” to gain an upper hand.

Hence, when you consider hosting your own video streaming service, there are some significant drawbacks that you should consider in terms of development, penetration, time and profitability.

CDN, servers and another equipment setup

From the servers themselves, routers, firewalls, power supplies, cooling equipment, and a sophisticated environment to mount all these in and keep running, the costs can be significantly high. As streaming platforms are the type of businesses that will have a continuous increase in the number of users, it would require multiple cores of servers and a Content Delivery Network (CDN) implementation.

Scaling and automation for streaming

When the videos are hosted in static web pages, the video also loads each time you load the webpage. For instance, consider one such webpage hosting a 10-minute live video, and there are 100 users who are accessing the video real-time. The server requests are generated in the span of milliseconds (as the live videos demand real-time access), and therefore can overload the server leading to the website crash.

To scale and optimize this process, your infrastructure requires video hosting and website hosting in separate servers, considerably increasing your costs and responsibilities.

Download and piracy protection

If you are self-hosting your videos, you are most likely to provide a direct URL from your video hosting server to the website. This can make your video vulnerable to easy downloads through numerous options available in the web like free downloaders and browser plugins.

Video player controls, their adaptation, and customization

Using the Video.js library (JavaScript and CSS library that is used in HTML5 video player) requires a great level of coding. Apart from its initial setup, you will have to code for additional customizations like adding themes you desire, colors, bitrates, sizes and aspect ratio adaptation options.

Coding difficulties:

Even when you use third party plugin or inbuilt WordPress plugin, you will need to write a coding on the video file formats.

Varying video quality across browsers

As you know the video files need to be converted in different formats and sizes and this work is done by software apps. Each app does the process in a slightly different way which results in the varying quality of videos appearing in the browsers.

Also, each web browsers handles playback differently which means the same video file will look different in each browser.

Slow-Loading or Freezing Video

If your video files are located in a server which has a limited bandwidth, then people who try to watch the video would experience buffering during playback until your PC downloads the video files.

Varying video formats

Now even HTML5 does not specify browser which format to support. As a result, the major web browsers are diversified in this option and so browser supports different formats. For example, Internet Explorer and Safari support H.264 (MP4) videos, and not WebM or Ogg. Firefox will support Ogg or WebM videos, and not H.264. Unlike other web browsers, Chrome will support all the major video formats. It’s always better than your videos should be supported by all web browsers without opposing bandwidth cap.

The flexibility of encoding the codecs to multiple devices

The video codecs and compatibility segment currently are highly fragmented. Among the web browsers, none of them support all the majorly used codecs like H.264, Ogg and WebM except Chrome (for instance, Safari and IE don’t support WebM or Ogg, and Firefox doesn’t support H.264). When you are self-hosting videos, you need to transcode specifically in each of the codecs which are again a Server-CPU intensive process.

Staffing

When you have multiple servers and other sophisticated equipment to handle, maintenance is a big pain-point. You need trained and qualified staff to run them and require sufficient resources to manage them as well.

Time and development costs

If you are planning to set up your video hosting infrastructure in-house, it is important that you look at the bottom-line of costs and time development. With the live streaming market set to face a stiff competition in forthcoming years, looking for an instant and affordable solution will help you to efficiently utilize your resources and save them for your future expansion strategies. 

What are my best options that help me start a video streaming service?

When you work with a video hosting service, they offer diverse streaming solutions to help you kick-start your business instantly without much capital and time investments. Also, choosing a prominent video hosting script can help you to handle any amount of users to your website, giving them a seamless streaming experience. These services can also safeguard your content from online piracy, preventing you from losing your original content.

Adapting, controlling and customizing the video players are the main challenge, requiring to code as per the changing requirements and interests of your users. Opting for a video streaming solution will have well-tested features that will give your audience the best impression on your streaming service.

To maximize your user experience, you can give your users a personalized feel by opting for services that give you the flexibility of customizing as per your business needs and preferences, like white-label streaming solutions. Another main advantage of these white-label streaming solutions is that they give you the much needed initial brand visibility, helping you to exponentially expand your user base and profitability. With a video streaming solution, video production, editing, and uploading are just your responsibility.

What Type of Video Streaming Business Should I Start? How Much Money Can I Make with Streaming Business?

What Type of Video Streaming Business Should I Start? How Much Money Can I Make with Streaming Business?

Are you here to know what type of video streaming business to start with?

But where do you start? 

With so many options available out there, it’s very easy to get overwhelmed by the possibilities…

While you are jumping through hoops to start a video streaming service…

It’s important to narrow down what exactly you want to streamline and achieve.

And it’s really not about finding the cheapest source or best platform in the market. It’s all about choosing the right platform that possesses the greatest number of attributes that could benefit you or your business. 

Here at StreamHash, over the years we’ve witnessed all the video streaming business models that cite the benefits of reaching the broad audience worldwide and generating revenue.

And based on our keen research and analysis we have made a product for video streaming and live streaming businesses…

This blog outlines you a comparison chart of the video streaming product and its features to help you out choose the best for your business requirement.

Our product helps businesses bridge the gap between offline and online when it comes to Video Streaming (Live and On-Demand) by providing an end-to-end video streaming platform in one-time investment.

Now try to identify for yourself which product and associated features are most necessary for your streaming goals. What are the non-negotiables? On which features could you compromise?

If you’re already a customer of one of the video streaming platforms, why did you choose it? Are you satisfied with the services you’ve received so far?

The answer to the above question will bring your brand a unique identity and thus stand out from the crowd…

So if you are thinking about venturing into on-demand or Live Streaming anytime soon, our comparison chart can help you get some sense into the way forward.

However, it’s quite difficult to keep up with every detail as an aspiring entrepreneur you might come with something different sight… In that case, send us an email or leave us a comment below and we’ll get it fixed!

Best Video Streaming Service Providers to consider in 2018

Best Video Streaming Service Providers to consider in 2018

Those are days are obsolete when you had to physically visit a store to buy CD’s of movies or tune into your television just to watch your favorite show at the point where it gets telecasted.

Here in this article, we will talk about top streaming services which have actually made the use of television primitive. With a fast broadband connection, you can now lever your favorite shows on platforms like Netflix and Amazon.

Netflix

With an incredible UI and proposal framework, Netflix takes the step ahead to leave its opponents behind. You would now be able to watch shows like House of Cards; Orange is the New Black, Jessica Jones, and Stranger Things.

The fundamental plan remains at $7.99/month except it’s constrained to ordinary video quality and single streaming. You can move up to different bundles to get at least two simultaneous HD streams for an extra cost. It functions admirably with an extensive variety of gadgets and a perfect stage that conveys the best elements.

Hulu

With this administration, you can get a portion of the significant network shows separated from CBS’ programs and an assortment of TV shows each day. It is one of the top streaming services accessible in the US and not yet launched in different nations.

Right now, you may not get the free, promotion aided level that was there previously; however, you can subscribe with $7.99 every month for complete seasons and episodes of TV shows.

Amazon Video

The Standalone Amazon Video quotes $8.99 for a monthly membership. With a $99/year membership, you can get to Amazon’s exclusive administrations and a large number of famous shows and films globally. They even honor you with a free Kindle book each month and free two-day shipping upon purchase.

YouTube TV

YouTube TV offers boundless cloud DVR stock to store distinctive shows for you on YouTube servers. It has united with other huge TV systems including Disney, BBC, NBC, and so forth. With YouTube TV, you get the opportunity to keep your content for nine months and stream it from anyplace in the US, till you’re online.

Sling TV

For $20 every month, Sling TV gives you Sling Orange arrangement with live access to channels like TBS, AMC, CNN, The Food Network, and that’s just the beginning. There is the fundamental Sling Blue arrangement that backings three streams for $25 and you can have both supporting four concurrent streams for $40.

HBO Now

HBO was the primary real premium channel to go live without anyone else. For a few years, HBO avoided collaborating with other cable providers, yet it at long last confirmed to its fan’s order and launched an online streaming service named HBO Now, for just $14.99 every month.

The first HBO premium content station offers two methods of streaming: HBO GO from cable or satellite bundle and HBO NOW intended for the cord-cutters

CBS All Access

For $5.99 every month, you can enjoy 8,500 episodes; remain fully informed regarding latest shows reporting in real time or make up for lost time with old top choices like The Twilight Zone, Taxi, and each Star Trek you could seek after. New episodes are accessible the following day, and it aids live TV streams in 185 markets.

Crackle

With more than 200 review choices, Crackle is among the free streaming platforms, in spite of the fact that you need to watch through a reasonable list of advertisements for this option. The writing computer programs are about the content you’ve known about from Pitch Black, Total Recall, All in the Family, and others.

PlayStation Vue

This is for those PlayStation fans that are searching for a genuine digital TV programming bundle; PlayStation TV is an awesome alternative. Their bundles run from the essential arrangement for $40 every month to an extensive bundle that accompanies 90 channels including some top-notch channels, for example, the Ultra version at $75 every month.

Stated above are ten of the top streaming services which have actually brought a huge turnaround in the online sector. However, the best online video streaming service for you will be the one which meets all your necessities.

Best Video Streaming Services

How a movie gets released on Netflix video streaming site

How a movie gets released on Netflix video streaming site

A limited number of people during the mid-stages of the year 2017 have shifted their attention to video streaming services for Netflix. They have certainly discarded the DVD subscription which is not in trend anymore.

Want your concocted movie or short film to be a part of Netflix movie releases? Netflix offers you a hand to do so. Movies like “War Machine” which have exclusively been released on Netflix by Plan B have acquired a lot of fame and insurmountable revenue during the past few months. Why not give your venture a shot?

The current generation has labeled Netflix as the top-notch platform for the streaming of movies, documentaries as well as TV-series. They call it the “Golden Goose” of this batch of people. A notion has been created that if your movie is not on Netflix then your endeavor is unsuccessful.

There are some crucial specks which will help you to get your movie released on Netflix:

CREATE YOUR QUEUE

There are a couple of approaches to add video streaming services to your line, which now works more like an indication of motion pictures you need to watch and less like a conveyance framework.

Related Content – Best video streaming services

To begin with, in the event that you hold your mouse cursor over a motion picture poster you will notice that a little window will fly up. You can either tap on the “+ Instant Queue” button to quickly spare the motion picture for later use, or you can tap on the motion picture title to be taken to the film’s fundamental data page where you can take in more about the flick and maybe add it to your line.

GET BACK YOUR HOMEPAGE

Many people favored the previous home page to the new “Exhibition View”. It used to be simpler to add movies to your archive and when you tapped on a movie poster, you went directly to the film’s data page as opposed to the media player for moment playback. On the off chance that you truly need the old design, “The old homepage” link will come to your aid.

PROVIDE RATINGS FOR ABUNDANT MOVIES

One of the fundamental cons about Netflix Instant is its assumed “absence of segregation.”

“There aren’t sufficient great films gushing on Netflix” is the consistent complain that is going on for some time now about the administration.

It has been discovered that with the help of rating heaps of films truly enables Netflix or other video streaming sites to decide the nature of movies or TV-shows it prescribes. It is also crucial to state that it has a ton of valued movies, only if you are able to extend your points of view a bit.

Tap on the “Suggestions for you” page on the prime label and afterward “Rate Shows and Movies” on the toolbar underneath and go to work. It is additionally useful to sort in your most loved titles into the hunt bar, go to their pages, and rate them with a 5-star with the goal that Netflix recognizes what you like.

The organization has put a great deal of exertion and cash into its suggestion calculation, and with the end goal for Netflix to work to its maximum capacity; it needs all of your contributions as could be expected.

EVERYTHING DEPENDS ON THE DATABASE

You might very well realize that Netflix does not require a tumult procedure in order to work upon a request made by a movie maker. Rather, upon emailing Netflix personnel, your content can be popped up on Netflix. A well-concocted email is what your utmost priority must be.

 You must understand and acknowledge the fact that uploading your flick over Netflix would require you to step on the Netflix database itself which is actually a tough asks. You might as well have a very scanty access to its database.

The database of Netflix can be described as an archive of numerous movie and TV-shows that can be taken into account for a Netflix release. Now there must be several questions formulated in your mind which includes the query of how would get an access to the database? In the immediate next speck we are going to dig into this.

WOULD YOU GET ACCESS TO THE DATABASE?

Such a proposition is impractical and impassable. Netflix would never give access to its database since the encryption is stronger than ever. Streamview is one such software which concocts a solid platform with the vision of movie compression and encryption.

Related Content – StreamView to stimulate Netflix business model

However, if you have top level contacts in the Netflix neighborhood it might still be a detrimental venture but some middle agents or third parties might formulate encroachment.

Getting one of these wholesalers on board, be that as it may, presents its own challenges and, to some degree amusingly, video streaming services itself is executing your shot of getting on Netflix, with DVD deals through the floor, merchants are hesitant to go up against autonomous motion pictures in this market since the profits from Netflix are so low.

Currently, this is the only disheartening news off the path. There is a non-mainstream independent organization with the name of “Distribber” that can help get your indie project streaming over Netflix and the greater part of the other real video streaming services.

Even if “Distribber” charges an expense of up to $1,600, you still get to keep all rights to your movie and in addition 100% of the income it goes ahead to make.

INITIATE A TROOP

Let us make an assumption that you have already paved a path for yourself to get into the Netflix network. The immediate next step advises you to create a relationship based on the trust between the admin and the one uploading it.

 Your movies will only be certified if the content is impeccable and has the capability to engage an abundant audience to it. How you will be able to prove this is your concern. You have to show that your movie would allure a huge number of audiences and with that confidence; Netflix will stream your venture on their channel.

An archive also known as “queue demand” is introduced where individuals should ask or request Netflix to upload their content.

It will befit you to do a major showcasing push and ask everybody you know to do this. Such an initiative exclusively will not only enhance your odds of getting your independent film streaming on Netflix, however, it’ll additionally expand the sum you’ll get for it if while they make you an offer.

WAY THE MONEY WORKS

Unlike most video streaming services, Netflix does not incorporate a pay-per-view model since it is not dependent on the revenue generated by endorsements. In place of that, it makes you eligible for a one –time fee in order to generate a license which will give you the access to stream your flick to abundant audience.

Do you have an estimate of what amount will this be? Such a conclusion is impossible to draw since it depends colossally on the request; however, it’s typically less than what you had expected it to be. Forecast a four-figure arrangement, and acclaim the stars on the off chance that you get five figures.

UPGRADE YOUR PROSPECTS

As the sequence claim has all the earmarks of being the greatest factor for the accomplishment in Netflix’s ambiguous choice process, there is some proof to propose different contemplations are made.

A foolproof IMDB posting, an extraordinary score on Rotten Tomatoes, and gigantic press release may help get your autonomous film on Netflix, and ought to be on your schedule in any case.

LOOK AT THE BIGGER PICTURE

An intelligent way to deal with film circulation is to expel any and each boundary in the passage between your movie and a potential watcher as could be allowed, and you require a justifiable reason not. Break the shackles for your viewers as well as start exploring other video streaming services.

GET A RESPONSE

Your content once pitched to Netflix, will require some weeks to get a feedback or to go live. Your benefactor will directly be responsible and will bargain with Netflix once your video content is approved.

Once approved, your marketing team will blend with numerous whole-sellers and retailers to endorse your movie. Your administrator must have all the necessary artwork and streaming files for distribution reasons.

Related Content – Subscription based video streaming services

You might not get a lot of positive feedback once your flick is uploaded on Netflix. But, there is nothing to worry about it since there is a probability that Netflix might have chosen a similar motion picture recently.

In case you are looking for a Netflix clone and you are sure that this will suffice your needs then you can certainly look out for a white-label solution branded as “Streamview” allowing you to create a website with features similar to Netflix.

“Streamview” comes up with a delicate Netflix clone developing script that encourages you to commence your own video-on-demand platform. This video-on-demand content of our own is very versatile and can be redone to suit your necessities which will involve adjusting the front-end UI, including highlights in any portable applications such as mobile apps.

The video on request programming that you get from “Streamview” will be a clone with all the standard highlights of Netflix, yet this enterprise will work with you through any progressions you require in monetizing, outlining, customizing, arrangement, facilitating and upgrading issues.

It is crucial to state that Netflix movie releases depend on factors which are certainly not a forte for slow thinkers. Your content needs to be out-of-the-box and impeccable which would drive ample traffic to your venture. Remember your movie will be rated depending on the actors you have appointed, the cinematography, the direction and the marketing strategies Incorporated.