A direct-to-consumer streaming revolution is underway and traditional media companies are struggling to keep up — and they can no longer ignore the signs.
A direct-to-consumer streaming revolution is underway and traditional media companies are struggling to keep up — and they can no longer ignore the signs.
Globally, more people are streaming than ever before. This number increased on average by 10%, last year alone. Asia's streaming time spiked 172% in the last year, while Africa and Oceania accounted for 55% and 50% increases, respectively.
But, as a number of media companies plan to enter the video streaming marketplace, they're plagued by two major questions:
With many streaming services already available, is there room for one more?
Yes. A global trend of audiences subscribing to multiple streaming services has been observed. 60% subscribers in the U.S. alone have more than one paid video streaming service. Better still, 93% say they will either increase or keep their existing streaming services.
What are the factors that compel audiences to not only keep their subscriptions but also get new ones?
84% of the audience placed price as the most vital attribute for them to adopt a new streaming service.
While a very close second at 81% was how user-friendly and intuitive the streaming service was. Similar important attributes in audiences' decision to adopt a new streaming service were streaming or playback quality (77%), speed (74%) and accessibility or search (71%).
58% of the audience placed cross-device availability as an attribute for a new streaming service adoption. While 56% placed content resolution as an attribute.
But any media company looking to enter the streaming arena, shouldn't have to spend millions of dollars and years reinventing the wheel.
"The CTOs we speak to are tired of using band-aids across multiple vendors. The CEOs we speak to tell us they could feel there was a better way — they just couldn't find it. We exist because we believe media companies should focus on what they do best — creating content and delighting audiences. And we are their perfect partner because we take care of literally everything else.", says our CEO, Narendra Nag.
And, this is where it gets interesting. If we go back to the attributes of a new streaming service adoption, we can't help but notice that Laminar provides all of that — and more! — out-of-the-box, the moment you sign up.
Price, the most vital attribute:
Our zero CapEx, pure OpEx model ensures our customers automatically have an edge. And then it gets better:
With a built-in payment agent, we are the most malleable platform that makes all payment methods available by user type, geography, and more.
So much so that in addition to support for all major payment gateways, options of discount coupons and promo codes generation on-the-go — we even support scratch cards and local cable operator tie-ups!
The cost of running a subscriber with Laminar PaaS will always be cheaper versus an in-house and/or custom-built solution. Thus, allowing media companies to offer better pricing to their audience.
With Laminar PaaS, a media company has the ability to easily craft hybrid revenue models that are highly customisable.
Ease of use (along with streaming or playback quality, speed and accessibility or search), the second important attribute(s):
With a drag and drop UI builder, we are the most uncomplicated No-Code platform with fully customisable user journeys and UI, all editable in real-time.
Our AI-powered CMS with the industry's most powerful data engine provides analytics dashboards and data science playground, to facilitate informed decision-making — instantly.
Our industry-standard SLA commitments ensure a service uptime of 99.99% or more and video playback within 4 seconds or less, keeping real-world conditions in mind.
With Laminar PaaS, a media company has the fastest, most powerful and adaptive frontend engine, customisable for all apps and devices.
Cross-device availability and content resolution, the other important attributes:
With 30+ ready apps for all classes of devices and a bundling API, we are the platform that makes distribution available everywhere — right out-of-the-box.
Also, a fully managed and scalable video asset pipeline enables ingesting and transcoding at scale — making high-quality content available in many different resolutions.
With Laminar PaaS, a media company has a seamless and painless content engine.
A direct-to-consumer streaming revolution is underway. And there's a solid reason why we say Laminar is powering that media (r)evolution.
Sources: