Over the holidays, it seemed as if every one of my family members and every one of my friends got a similar gift: A Smart TV or a streaming box—like Roku, Google Chromecast, Apple TV or Amazon Fire Stick. Put another way, it seemed as if the hottest gift of the year was OTT, premium video content delivered via the internet.
As well it should be. OTT combines linear TV and digital distribution, and that’s a big deal. We often hear about the Golden Age of Television, but we really should be talking about the Golden Age of Distribution—the content you want, when you want it, on the device you want it on. In that sense, OTT represents the greatest marriage in media and entertainment since Jay-Z and Beyoncé. But while Jay-Z and Beyoncé have no trouble commanding top dollar for their performances, OTT may be the most undervalued opportunity in media sales today.
The problem is, for a long time, in many traditional media companies, OTT was treated as an ancillary business. That’s partially because, when thinking about this Golden Age of Distribution, people frequently focus on mobile—which is great and growing rapidly. But, it’s worth noting that, from our perspective, OTT has actually been growing faster. In fact, we’ve seen OTT video starts quadruple since 2015 and they are up 50 percent this year alone. As viewers continue to flock to OTT, it needs to be a bigger part of how we talk about the future of television.
How things have changed
Just think about what has changed in the 11 years that passed from the finale of Will and Grace in 2006 to its reboot in 2017.
Back then, if you wanted to watch the premiere, you had to watch it at 9 pm from one of three places: an antenna, your cable company or DirecTV. These were your only options unless you physically taped it—no Hulu, no Netflix streaming, no NBC App. You watched live or you missed it. Now when we launch a show like Will & Grace, we launch with literally hundreds of options, giving audiences more ways to watch.
Similarly, take a look at a hit show like This Is Us. As the show got buzz, people got interested. Some would watch live, others would watch the day after and still others were catching up to be ready for the finale. By end of the season, OTT alone represented almost 20 percent of total This Is Us consumption within 35 days of airing. And viewers watching on OTT represented the largest percentage growth across the season—a whopping 43 percent.
Keeping viewers
But the reason OTT is so undervalued isn’t just that it’s increasing the reach of great content. It also has guaranteed attention from dedicated audiences. We know that when a person watches an episode of their favorite show on OTT, they’re engaged. They want to watch this episode of this show. And that’s a big deal. Last year there were 454 dramas produced. Each of those dramas had an average of 14 episodes, for a grand total of 6,356 total episodes of drama available. But, of all those episodes, the consumer sought out this one—specifically.
OTT allows us to let audiences lead the way and consume their favorite shows in the time and place they want. As an advertiser, you cannot have a more attentive and engaged audience. This is, of course, not to mention the fact that OTT platforms are premium, safe environments where the ads aren’t skippable or scrollable.
A better way to measure
In our industry, we used to determine the success of a show the next morning and judge it based on who watched it live. Now, we can start with the live rating and then add new distribution platforms to determine how successful a show really is. We know there are great shows that do not have a huge live audience but see strong numbers in the days after they premiere. And fan favorites like Saturday Night Live can continue to be accessed and enjoyed by fans long after the episode is live.
But in order for OTT to be even more successful for our marketing partners, we’ve got to fix measurement and start changing the way we talk about success. OTT delivers premium content and engaged audiences, just like linear. So why, are we letting outdated metrics shortchange the medium?
The fact is, OTT isn’t just a gift for my friends and family—it’s a gift for all audiences, and marketers as well. It’s the future of our business, and it’s time the industry treats it that way.
