The landscape of viewing live sports content is changing, and so is their consumption. Today’s cord-cutters movement resulted in a paradigm shift towards OTT. Every piece of content delivery, especially Sports content, is embodied in OTT live streaming - the buzzer-beating baskets, KO's, baseball home runs, or out-of-the-park sixers.
From small businesses to NFL or NBA, or ICC, sports organizations of different demographics are embracing the OTT and live streaming methods to succeed and achieve the maximum ROI in this emerging space. This shift brought the viewing of live sports entirely online.
Probing more into the space, it is evident that sports teams and media companies have already started building and monetizing their live streaming and OTT content.
For instance, one of the forerunners to embrace OTT live sports streaming are Local Sports Media. There is no match for the level of passion that a local high school sports fan has for their team. After all, it's hard not to be invested in a team when the starting point guard or the forward back is your kid, niece, or neighbor. But since these games are not available on national sports channels (ESPN, Fox, etc.), an entire gaming season may be missed. OTT live streaming is seeking the biggest opportunity from this very pain point.
Addressing the Elephants in the Room -
How to Minimize Video Latency
Watching a touchdown or a home run 30 sec late is the last thing a sports viewer wants. We live in a world where along with breaking news, video content such as TV sports, games, and sports news are all time-sensitive, making viewers ever-hungry for the content they love. Hence, video latency not only ruins revelations as they unfold but also negatively influences subscription rates in the long run.
According to our in-house tech experts, one of the easiest and most effective means to navigate through this change is to adopt HTML5-friendly streaming technologies, such as HTTP Live Streaming (HLS), Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH or MPEG-DASH), and Common Media Application Format (CMAF).
'If churn hampers subscriptions, then Video Latency Impedes Live Streaming.'
How to Monetize your Live Streaming Events
- Run Advertisements – According to Interactive Advertising Bureau, around 67% of viewers want to use the ad for abundant free subscriptions rather than paying a fee. Hence ads of all types – Pre, Mid, and Post. Further, 72 percent of homes with a Smart TV stream their content through CTV. It is hence possible to achieve high user engagement white monetizing ad content effectively. Find more insights from our 3-step guide to crafting a CTV monetization strategy.
- Pay Per View (PPV) – Viewers are hungry for uniquely curated content and are willing to spend more for it. Pay Per View monetization is one of the oldest and most widely adopted methods. However, good content can drive traction and strengthens customer trust in the platform. Hence, emphasis on producing content with diversity and variety is crucial to achieving higher customer retention.
- Subscriptions – Don't view user subscriptions as a monthly fee but as a bridge that fills the gap between you and your subscribers. Subscriptions open a large opportunity for you to build a community of subscribers that not only like your platform but also advocate for it. However, it’s imperative to stay mindful of the churn rate by making user engagement your biggest priority. Subscriber churn can be identified and effectively mitigated by implementing specific tools. Establishing robust communication strategies and running promotional content unique to subscriber needs will not only help you identify subscriber content choices but also significantly reduce involuntary churn.
Evergent's Agile and Digital Monetization Solutions for Live Events
Evergent is known to have profound experience in delivering customized solutions to handle high concurrency with low latency.
Strong customer ties make the biggest competitive advantage. Customer experience plays a crucial role in the OTT business and drives high subscriber retention. Check our blog article to know more. In a nutshell, flexibility and agility are not far from achieved if you choose the right solution that can significantly reduce subscriber churn, improve profitability, and drive business growth.
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