The global video on demand (VOD) industry involves service providers making content available to consumers. Various players are involved, including TV providers such as Verizon FIOS and Comcast, movie studios, retailers and technological outfits. The latter is made up of companies such as Google and Apple expanding their downloading services to offer streaming options.
Retailers can also provide VOD services like Amazon Instant Video, which allows viewers view content on browsers, or through devices like Kindle Fire and Roku. In addition, movie studios came up with UltraViolet, which requires users to purchase a DVD to obtain a code giving access to movies to be downloaded onto any device.
Trends
With rising numbers of consumers owning several video screening devices, both in at home and mobile formats, they are demanding greater content convergence to benefit from a unified experience that does not depend on their location, reports Business Insights. Viewers are less and less in the habit of watching TV with programming dictated by broadcasters, and increasingly accustomed to deciding what to watch and where to watch it for themselves.
On-demand viewing on multiple devices affording viewers multi-channel consumption will shape video content publishing and monetization in the years to come. Thanks to over-the-top TV, viewers have the power to do away with TV platform control to choose individual video programming from the internet.
The global Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) industry is expected to maintain a yearly growth rate of almost 34% between 2010 and 2014, according to research by TechNavio. Broadband penetration is a major driver behind market growth, with the industry increasingly making the transition from voice-centric to broadband IP-centric segment. Obstacles to IPTV market growth include the success of free IPTV service. Leading players currently operating in the global IPTV market include Ustarcom, Deutsche TeleKom, AT&T and France Telecom.
Regional Market Share
- NetScribes estimated India’s IPTV market to be worth more than $1.5 million in 2010. The industry is expected to continuing recording strong growth in the future. IPTV represented less than 1% of the overall pay TV subscriber base in 2010, which points to vast growth potential that is as yet to be exploited. Expansion is fuelled by rising demand for interactive and customized digital TV services. Government initiatives to encourage broadband penetration and limit costs of IPTV services will continue driving growth in this sector. Obstacles to market growth include India’s poor physical infrastructure for IPTV systems, denying consumers the necessary accessibility, and having to vie with other already established market players like DTH and digital cable.
- China’s IPTV market is recording strong growth, with consumers demanding IPTV both as a standalone service and in bundled offers, reports RNCOS. China’s IPTV market began growing when cable and DSL sector network upgrades paved the way for high-bandwidth applications, with providers making various channels available to customer looking for varied and quality viewing. It is forecast that China’s IPTV subscriber base will record almost 30% yearly growth between 2012 and 2014, mostly due to the country’s large population. The current penetration rate is low at less than 1%, promising vast development potential. The VOD services market segment is expected to record an impressive 110% rate of yearly growth between 2008 and 2014. China’s IPTV market is expected to generate more than $2.15 billion by the close to 2014, with hybrid set top boxes predicted to record strong growth over the next few years.
- According to research from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, VOD, pay and pay-per-view services recorded more than 7% year-on-year growth in 2011, reaching almost $856 million.
Market Outlook
In coming years, competition in the global VOD industry will intensify, with service providers trying to attract consumers with lower prices, and better viewing choices both in terms of content and access. Technology will continue to play a central role as consumers continue to demand content on different mobile devices in various formats to be able to watch what they like anywhere, at any time.
Direct access to third-party streaming video services will likely be a priority for pay TV providers in 2012. The VOD market will continue recording growth, with bandwidth caps the only obstacle to future expansion.
Leading Industry Associations
