OTT services are one of the highest-demanded entertainment services in 2022. Numerous online video streaming service providers exist today and are offering top-notch online streaming services to their users and are gaining tremendous revenue.
With changing times, these OTT platforms are working towards uplifting their services and are becoming more user-friendly as well as efficient. One way to achieve this objective is to use high-end technologies such as Metaverse.
Metaverse and OTT is a popular combination with high success potential. This blog will cover everything you need to know about this duo and how you can use metaverse to uplift your video streaming services. However, let’s start the blog with the basics, which is an overview of the OTT industry.
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OTT Market Size
Over-the-top entertainment, also commonly known as OTT entertainment and OTT services, has become a significant part of human life. Today, people spend a large amount of their free time on OTT platforms as a means of entertainment, making this industry a highly valuable one.
Speaking factually, the OTT streaming industry stood at a hefty global net worth of USD 150.51 billion by the end of 2021, proving the immense scope and demand for OTT services at the present time. Today, people of all age groups avail OTT services in one form or the other. While some people use music streaming apps like Spotify and Apple Music, others prefer to use Netflix as an audio-visual form of entertainment.
The on-demand video streaming segment of the OTT industry is especially popular and holds a major share of its total market value. Recognizing this high demand, video streaming service providers are using high-end technologies like Metaverse to uplift their services and deliver an unmatchable streaming experience.
In the next section, we will thoroughly discuss the correlation between video streaming services and metaverse for a better understanding of the popular duo.
Metaverse and Video Streaming
Metaverse is a high-end technology that has secured a distinguished position in almost every industry, from education to healthcare and beyond. In this scenario, it is only natural for video streaming service providers to wonder how they can benefit from this exquisite technology.
Let us tell you that metaverse, owing to its ability to uplift audio-visual experiences, has the potential to take video streaming services to the next level of user experience and revolutionize the OTT sector. Moreover, these benefits also extend to OTT platforms, as Metaverse-based online video streaming is excellent for increasing business profits from the service provider’s perspective.
The benefits of integrating your video streaming platform with metaverse technology extend beyond increased user experience. Let us discuss these factors in detail in the upcoming section.
Benefits of Metaverse-based Video Streaming
Hyperrealistic View
Video streaming makes it possible for users to view the events of their choice from anywhere. However, this often comes at the cost of a compromised viewing experience, as watching an event in a live setting and on a small screen are two very different experiences.
Metaverse enables viewers, as well as video streaming service providers, to overcome this challenge and offer a viewing experience that is very close to real-life presence. To elaborate, metaverse technology is often integrated with virtual reality consoles, which give a hyperrealistic view of the event.
This enables the viewers to enjoy the events of their choice through on-demand video streaming services without worrying about the compromised viewing experience they would otherwise have with the same old screen viewing. As a result, metaverse is one of the most useful technologies for video streaming service providers looking to offer an enhanced streaming experience to users.
Convenient
Convenience is one of the major factors that people look for at present. This is a need that digital technologies fulfill and are known for adding convenience to the most challenging tasks and processes.
In terms of video streaming, many users prefer to use online streaming platforms instead of physically visiting an event. However, this is often a challenge for people looking for exquisite experiences of a live event, in which case they are compelled to visit the event in person.
On the contrary, metaverse-based video streaming makes it possible for video streaming platforms to deliver a similar event experience to the audience from the convenience of their home. Be it a concert, a sports match, or a music festival, today, all events can be streamed digitally on metaverse.
This makes metaverse-based video streaming services an excellent idea for businesses whose target audiences are younger generations (like Gen Z), as these generations are the ones who prefer convenience the most, among others.
Cost-efficient
The cost of the tickets is one of the major factors that stop people from attending an event. As a result, these audiences are left with no choice but to either miss the event or watch it later on a small screen on platforms like YouTube, with a compromised experience.
However, metaverse makes it possible for users to attend the concerts of their choice digitally and in a cost-efficient manner. To explain, the cost of attending an event virtually on the metaverse is often less than that of a real-life event. Of course, a lot depends upon the type of event and its popularity.
In this case, metaverse makes attending events more accessible to people and is an excellent alternative to in-person events, which are often crowded with people and rarely serve the value for money that they demand.
Environment-friendly
One of the major impacts of offline events is visible on the environment. To explain, a lot of resources go into conducting an offline event, which have a considerable short-term and long-term impact on the environment. Moreover, in many cases, loud events cause noise pollution, which harms the strays, and people and, overall, disrupts the environment that we live in.
On-demand video streaming is an excellent alternative in this case. By streaming an event digitally, we can significantly cut down on the harm that we cause to the environment. Moreover, by integrating metaverse-based video streaming and events, businesses can deliver a real-life event experience without any environmental disruption at all.
Since the concert is being attended digitally, a lot fewer resources are required to conduct them, therefore promoting sustainability and increased environment-friendliness.
Increased Revenue
One of the core objectives of doing business is to earn revenue. This objective is achieved even more efficiently when the revenue is maximized. Video streaming service providers are no exception in this matter and are always looking for ways to increase their revenue and maximize profits.
It is clear by now that metaverse-based video streaming services are the best alternative to attending an event in person and are highly preferred by users. As a result, metaverse-based on-demand video streaming service providers are likely to earn more revenue when compared to service providers offering on-demand videos on mobile and desktop screens.
This is because of the higher customer preference and market inclination towards metaverse-based on-demand video streaming services, which are the second best option for people looking for events.
These were the top reasons why video streaming service providers should consider investing in metaverse technology. It is clear by now that the investment in the metaverse is a highly fruitful one, as it has the potential to upscale the quality of video-streaming services and attract more customers.
Now you must be wondering, what types of videos can users stream on metaverse-based video streaming platforms, right? In the next section, we will thoroughly discuss different types of videos that a video streaming service provider can offer for streaming on metaverse-based platforms.
What Can Be Streamed in Metaverse?
Music Concerts
Concerts are popular among people of all age groups but are especially preferred by younger generations, who attend these events to listen to the live music of their favorite band. However, it is commonly known that concert tickets have soaring high prices, owing to which their accessibility is limited to audiences who can afford these expensive tickets.
While video streaming is a great alternative to this problem, fans have to settle for a compromised experience, as attending a concert in real life and streaming it on a mobile device are two very different experiences. Metaverse, on the other hand, has the ability to bridge this gap and can efficiently deliver a high-end concert streaming experience.
With metaverse-based video streaming, users can get a real-like video streaming experience at a relatively lower price, making online concerts a great alternative in terms of concert experience and cost-efficiency.
Public Events
Public events, especially from government and communities, hold a great amount of significance in our society. Some of the most popular examples of public events are speeches, public gatherings for certain causes and occasions, parties and celebrations, etc.
In cases when people are unable to attend these events in person, video streaming can provide an excellent medium for digital attendance. This was especially the case in previous years, where people were restricted from gathering in one place in accordance with COVID guidelines.
Metaverse-based events provide a great alternative in this context and are useful for attending social events and gatherings digitally. These types of video streaming events gained tremendous popularity in the past years and have become highly popular at present.
Sports Matches
Every sports enthusiasts want to attend every match of their favorite team in order to show their support and cheer the players. However, this is rarely possible, as it is commonly known that matches take place all across the globe, and traveling to different countries to attend a match is often not a feasible option.
In this case, using metaverse-based video streaming platforms to stream sports matches is a billion-dollar concept. The idea here is to use metaverse with other technologies like VR and integrate them with video streaming, therefore giving a real-life match experience.
The viewers can use these platforms to show support for their favorite team, just like they would in real stadiums and grounds. This enables users to watch the sports match of their choice from anywhere in the world at a much lower cost, and in many cases.
Movies & Dramas
Watching a movie or a drama is one of the most popular leisure activities at present. People who enjoy these movies and dramas look forward to them and prefer watching them as soon as they are launched. However, it is not always possible for a person to go to the theatre for a movie or be present at home all the time to watch their favorite drama’s new episodes.
This is where the role of on-demand video streaming comes into the scenario. While the use of on-demand video discussed in the earlier points was live-streamed videos, watching movies and dramas is typically a part of recorded video streaming.
Metaverse further enhances the video streaming experience by giving a hyperrealistic viewing experience. What users usually view on a small mobile phone or a desktop screen can now view on big screens, owing to the high-end viewing experience that metaverse-based video streaming platforms facilitate.
These were a few of the many uses of metaverse-based video streaming services. While these are a few ways in which a video streaming service provider can offer its services, one will still need a monetization model to earn revenue from these services. In the upcoming section, we will discuss a few ways in which video streaming service providers can monetize their services.
How to Generate Revenue from Metaverse Video Streaming?
Metaverse Hoardings
Hoardings are one of the most popular forms of traditional marketing and are used for advertising a business or its products to the target customers. These are inexpensive and often highly efficient marketing strategies used by businesses all across the globe.
In the context of metaverse-based video streaming services, hoarding are useful for video streaming service providers to monetize their platform and earn revenue from it. To elaborate, video streaming service providers can collaborate with other businesses and advertise them on their video streaming services.
Here, the revenue does not come from the users of the video streaming services but from the businesses that wish to partner with the video streaming platform and promote their business.
Video streaming platforms take the benefits of hoarding advertisements to the next level. The ads displayed on metaverse hoardings are often clickable, enabling users to get more information on the products/ services being advertised, which is a missing aspect in real-life hoardings.
Video Advertisements
Video advertisements are highly popular in video streaming services. This monetization model is similar to the hoarding model, except that the ads are displayed in the form of a video instead of a digital hoarding.
What makes video advertisements a highly efficient tool of digital marketing is the fact that these ads can be personalized to be targeted to a certain audience that the brand considers its potential customers.
To explain, video streaming service providers enable businesses to target their ads based on algorithms for the best results and ensure that the ads are reaching the right people.
Ticket/ Subscription Charges
In this monetization model, the video streaming service provider’s revenue comes directly from the users. The idea here is to monetize the video streaming services for a certain amount of money that the users have to pay beforehand in order to stream the video on the metaverse.
The ticket model is essentially similar to the TVOD model of video streaming, and the users have to pay for their individual tickets like they would in real-life events. On the other hand, certain OTT platforms also enable users to buy their subscription plans (just like the SVOD model), and the users can stream all the available videos until the duration of their subscription lasts.
You can use either of these models or even a combination of different models to monetize your video streaming services. However, before investing in developing a metaverse-based video streaming platform, we must be clear on the future scope of the concept to ensure that your investment in platform development is safe and profitable.
The Future of Metaverse & OTT Services
We are sure that by now, you are clear on the current scope and potential of the metaverse technology. With the increasing scope of digital technologies, it is now easier for video streaming service providers to enhance their services and boost the streaming experience of the users.
This scope is only expected to increase in the coming years. As a result, if you are planning to build a video streaming website or an app or have already built one, it is highly recommended to keep your platform metaverse-ready and add features that facilitate this technology.
This will ensure consistent demand for your platform and will make it ready to face the increasing tech requirements of the future.
Summing It Up
Metaverse holds tremendous potential in the OTT industry and is a highly useful technology to uplift the user experience of people availing video streaming services. Therefore, it is an excellent idea for video streaming service providers to build a metaverse-based video-streaming platform.
All you need to do is identify the scope and potential of this technology in your particular niche and undertake a well-planned implementation process, and you are ready to uplift your video streaming services with metaverse.