Video On Demand: A New Business Opportunity + Ideas

VOD (Video on Demand) is one of the most popular forms of audio-visual entertainment to exist in 2022. As the name suggests, video on demand entertainment refers to the customer’s ability to stream videos at their convenience.

All that is needed to stream these videos is a device (tablet, laptop, mobile phone, etc.) and a stable internet connection, and you can watch almost anything and everything digitally. The video on demand entertainment forms a great alternative to traditional entertainment.

Owing to this factor, more and more people are shifting toward digital entertainment and are availing VOD services. Recognizing this tremendous demand, businesses are also focusing on creating more and more on-demand video streaming platforms for their customers.

This blog will provide complete information on how VOD entertainment is an excellent business opportunity and what businesses can do to get the most out of it. Let’s start the blog by understanding where the VOD market currently stands.

Overview of the On-demand Video Streaming Market

Source: Digital Information World

Today, most people prefer to watch their favorite entertainment shows at home over visiting the venue physically. One way to do this is to watch entertainment shows on television, something that people have been doing for almost a century now.

However, watching entertainment shows on television limits the viewer’s choice. Moreover, one cannot help but miss their favorite shows in cases when they aren’t present at home. This can be really inconvenient for the users and can limit their access to entertainment services.

This is where the role of video on demand comes into the scenario. Today, Video on Demand is an industry worth USD 98.44 billion. VOD offers entertainment services similar to those of television, except in a more efficient and viewer-friendly fashion.

We will be covering the benefits of VOD entertainment in the upcoming section and will discuss how VOD entertainment outshines traditional entertainment, so make sure to read carefully.

Why are On-demand Video Streaming Services Popular?

Convenient

One of the main reasons why people prefer digital entertainment is because it is highly convenient when compared to its traditional counterpart. For example, television provides a great alternative to visiting the stadium in person and viewing the match. However, this option is often not feasible as one cannot stay at home at all times.

VOD entertainment provides a great alternative in this aspect and is a billion-dollar idea. To elaborate, video-on-demand entertainment enables people to stream the content (recorded videos as well as live streams) of their choice from any location at any time.

Therefore, with video-on-demand services, you no longer have to reschedule your appointments for your favorite match, as most of the video streaming service providers record live streams and facilitate their viewing even after the event has taken place. This goes to prove that video on demand is one of the best options for audio-visual entertainment in 2022.

Economical

It is commonly known that visiting an event venue like a concert ground or a sports stadium can be a cost-intensive affair, as the ticket prices for such events are soaring high in most cases. As an alternative, television entertainment enables people to view the events of their choice from the convenience of their home.

However, in recent years people have witnessed a tremendous rise in the cost of television entertainment, with subscription plans for TV satellites rising every day. In this case, television entertainment has become economically unfeasible for many, leaving people with no choice but to abandon the idea of entertainment services altogether.

But, with the arrival of VOD entertainment, it is safe to say that there is still hope for economical entertainment. To explain, video streaming service providers like Netflix and Amazon Prime offer value-delivering subscription plans for their platforms, which are far less expensive when compared to television subscription plans.

One can avail unlimited entertainment services from OTT entertainment without worrying about the prices and even get a hyperrealistic experience with high-end VOD technologies like VR consoles.

Hassle-free

Watching content on television can often be challenging for viewers. This is because television broadcasts are often interrupted by bad signals, whether connection, cable issues, and more. Naturally, all of this contributes to a degraded viewing experience and is often unpleasant for TV viewers.

On-demand video streaming services, on the other hand, are known for their ability to deliver continuous and unparallel video streaming. To elaborate, VOD platforms work on an internet connection and, therefore, are immune to the above-mentioned hurdles. All you need for seamless video streaming is an internet connection, and you are good to stream any and every content on your device at all times.

This aspect of on-demand video streaming is especially noteworthy and useful, especially for people living in areas where bad climatic condition is an everyday thing.

Wide Variety

Traditional television entertainment limits the choice of content that the viewers have for streaming. To elaborate, you can only choose from a limited number of shows and movies that are being broadcasted at the moment.

Therefore, if none of the channels are broadcasting the content of your preference, you are left with no option but to wait for the time being. This often limits people’s access to entertainment services.

Video on demand is an excellent alternative in this case. The entire concept of VOD entertainment is based on enabling users to stream the content of their preference at the time of their preference. In VOD platforms, you can browse from a vast catalog of video content that is available in different genres and languages and stream the one that you prefer.

These were a few ways in which VOD entertainment outshines traditional entertainment. It is because of these benefits that more and more businesses are investing in creating a video streaming platform for dramas and movies.

If you are also planning to do the same, let us tell you that there are numerous types of video content other than dramas and movies that can be streamed on such platforms. In the upcoming section, we will discuss the top categories of video content that are commonly available on video streaming platforms.

Types of Content on Video Streaming Platforms

Movies & Dramas

Movies and dramas are one of the oldest forms of entertainment to exist and are widely preferred even to this day. People have watched movies and dramas on their televisions for decades and often look forward to seeing the latest episodes of their favorite shows. However, this is often challenging in traditional entertainment, as one needs to be present at home to watch these movies and dramas.

Moreover, in case you are not present at the time, you are likely to miss out on the episode, as many times, entertainment service providers do not offer a repeat telecast of the episode. One can easily overcome these challenges by adopting video-on-demand entertainment.

To explain, on-demand video streaming enables entertainment service providers to launch their titles digitally. These digital launches are available on the streaming platform 24/7 for the viewers to stream. Therefore, you no longer have to worry about missing your favorite shows and movies ever again with on-demand video streaming.

Sports Matches & Tournaments

Before the advent of television, people had no other option but to visit different stadiums in order to attend a sports match. Another alternative was to listen to sports commentary on the radio, which, naturally, is less appealing than viewing the match live. Moreover, it is not always feasible for sports enthusiasts to visit each and every venue, leaving them with little to no choice on the matter.

Nowadays, people stream sports matches on television and show support to their favorite teams and players as an alternative to visiting the venues. While it is true that nothing can replace the experience of viewing a match in person, on-demand video streaming has proven to be a great alternative, especially to televised sports matches.

Today, one can watch any sports match at any location through on-demand sports streaming. This type of streaming often takes place in real-time (live streaming) and is highly preferred by sports enthusiasts. What’s more? Certain on-demand video streaming service providers integrate their services with VR (Virtual Reality) technology for an enhanced sports streaming experience.

Music Concerts

Music concerts are one of the most popular events among younger generations, who always look forward to attending them. These music concerts include performances by numerous artists. However, it is commonly known that the ticket price for such concerts is soaring high, making it unfeasible for a majority of audiences to attend such events.

Moreover, since most of the revenue for such concerts comes from ticket sales, these events are not broadcasted on television, leaving the fans with no choice but to either pay the high ticket prices or miss out on their favorite artist’s performance. However, things are no longer the same, especially with the advent of on-demand video streaming. In addition, most of the video streaming platforms also offer a recorded stream of the concerts, therefore enabling people to stream them at any time.

Today, numerous on-demand streaming platforms offer a virtual experience of music concerts to their users. This virtual experience is further boosted with high-end technologies like Metaverse, which are commonly used to hold virtual concerts.

Other Live Content

Apart from sports tournaments and music concerts, on-demand video streaming platforms are also used to stream other types of live content like news, interviews, and public events. Of course, all of this content can also be broadcasted on television.

Public events are undoubtedly the most popular form of content out of all these. Nowadays, live-streaming platforms are used to broadcast events like parades, meetings, speeches, etc. These events are streamed by audiences of all age groups, therefore proving their tremendous popularity.

These are a few of the many types of content that you can stream on your video streaming platform. Now that you know what you can stream, you must also be wondering how to stream content, right? The upcoming section will provide complete information on this topic.

Types of Video Streaming Platforms

Generally speaking, websites and mobile applications are two types of video streaming platforms available on the internet. You can choose to build either one or both of these platforms depending on your business objectives and market paradigms. Let’s learn more about these platforms for a better understanding.

Video Streaming Websites

Video streaming websites are the oldest platforms for on-demand-video entertainment. These websites are used for streaming content on the go on devices like mobile phones, laptops, desktops, and other devices.

You can use a video streaming website on almost any device, as, unlike mobile applications, websites do not rely on OS platforms to operate. These websites are ideal for people looking to stream content on a big screen like that of a laptop or even a television connected to laptops.

If you are planning to build a video streaming website, let us tell you that competitor research is the most important part of every web development project. Therefore, you must study the major video streaming platforms in the market and understand their features in order to gain similar market success.

Video Streaming Mobile Applications

Video streaming applications are a more modern approach to video-on-demand entertainment. These platforms are fast-performing, user-friendly, and overall an ideal choice for streaming video content on mobile devices.

It is worth noting that if you are planning to build a video streaming application, you also have to choose between native development and cross-platform development. While native applications offer fast performance and a high-end user experience, cross-platform applications are economical and take less time to be developed.

Our advice is to consult with an expert development agency and get its input on the project. The agency will help you determine which approach will be the best fit for your requirements.

We hope that you have understood the basic difference between video streaming websites and mobile applications. Both of these platforms have their own uses, and therefore, the best idea is to build both of these platforms to target maximum users.

Of course, the time and capital investment to build both of the platforms can turn out to be high. Here, you can choose hybrid development and launch a web and mobile app through a single code.

Final Thoughts

Video-on-demand entertainment is one of the most popular forms of entertainment services. This type of entertainment is highly convenient, economical, hassle-free, and enables users to choose from a wide variety of video content.

Moreover, users can browse from and stream numerous types of video content that are available on these platforms. All of this makes on-demand video streaming a great business idea in 2022. All you need to do is research your target market and choose the right platform for your video streaming service, and you are certain to create a successful VOD platform.