Benedicte Guichard | Tue Dec 22 2015 CET | Cleeng Nuts & Bolts

This was a pretty dynamic year for the online video industry. Statistics are showing that the usage growth of live and on-demand video surpassed all expectations. This year more than 83% of consumers watched on-demand video (source), Netflix squired more than 69 million subscribers worldwide (source) and one UFC event pulled over 1.1 million live pay-per-view purchases (source).

As we near by the end of this year and Jingle Bells tune is at its pick, lets do a quick recap of what happened and what should be expect.

Online video trends for 2015

2015 will be remembered by the following video market movements:

SVOD and OTT services became mainstream – Netflix and Hulu dominated the media headlines this past year and managed to build highly positive consumers sentiment. While Netflix has a big lead business-wise, new and emerging OTT services are establishing their own place in the market.

Live streaming apps are maturing: Periscope, Meerkat are enriching the viewers’ experience and emerge as a great tool for sports journalism.

Live video bulked up and extended reach – Sport broadcasters emerged as leaders in tech innovation and set new standards in the entertainment world in term of video quality (ex. pilot NFL match live streamed by Yahoo). Live streaming has been perceived as the future for live sports and the new live streaming apps have succeeded to enrich the viewing experiences for consumers.

Ad blocking became a serious hurdle: Video publishers that relied heavily on advertising as their core revenue model, felt this online behaviour trend at their skin. The recorded losses for OTT providers reached $22 billion.

Live and on-demand video in 2016: What to expect?

We will outline our 4 major predictions for live and on-demand video:

Online TV will generate more revenue – The traditional TV networks that fail to develop top-notch over the top apps will lose viewers and profits. Millennials are and will be driving the cord-cutting trend. SVOD (Subscription video on demand) will remain the main growth driver. Online video content that’s the equivalent and better than regular TV picture quality along with lower-cost packages or bundles will be the critical success factors.

Premium video content will be more attractive to viewers – The pay-per-view model will continue to surprise in number of entertainment categories (sports, worship, eSports). The sport broadcasters emerged as leaders in tech innovation and set new standards in the entertainment world in term of video quality. As the quality standards are going up, it is crucial for the content provider to ensure the right content is delivered, irrespective of the platform. In the eyes of viewers, quality has been defined by exclusivity, accessibility and consistency. They are prepared to pay extra for premium content.

The ad blocking trends will redefine publishers’ revenue structure – Content publishers are rethinking how they make revenues. Due to the ad blocking rise, we will witness a re-balance between ad revenue and transactional revenue since publishers will introduce more ad-free packages and subscriptions

4K will finally kick off: Our OVP partners recently did a study about its current levels of market acceptance and found that 15% of the world is “4K ready (source).” But the growth curve of the 4K-readiness figure and the associated tech advancements are promising that 4K should finally become mainstream.

2015 was an awesome year for Cleeng. This year we launched the Cleeng Portal, perfected our core platform, managed hundreds live video events including the mouthwatering May-Paq fight, and participated on our favorite industry conferences. On top of that we got additional investor love and encouraging support from our OVPs partners. What’s most important for us is the fact that our publishers trust our product and our team. We are looking forward to the new year and expect some exciting Cleeng news soon!

Let us know what you expect from us in the next year. We’d love your feedback:

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