Increasing numbers of pay TV operators and broadcasters are making their first steps in the OTT TV (Over-the-Top TV) space. When they characterize their cross-device OTT TV services, they often find it hard to adapt to this new medium and fully utilize the advantages it offers. One of the major paradigm shifts pay TV operators and broadcasters should make in order to improve monetization of content in an OTT TV service, has to do with the target audience of the service. Granted, in the end it’s the same people. But in the OTT arena the household no longer consumes content as a single unit, but as individuals with different preferences.

One of the key factors in creating a true multi-device pay OTT TV service lies within the ability to secure and optimize the delivery of premium content, regardless of the technology at hand.

This approach has not been overlooked by the major DRM vendors with Widevine and Microsoft (PlayReady) declaring their solution to be platform independent. The ability of one DRM vendor to deliver to multiple devices undermines the necessity of a designated, multi DRM aggregator. However, it is hard to imagine that the ever-growing market of consumer electronics will end up un-fragmented. Therefore, until we will witness the existence of a true Omni-present DRM a service relying on the ability of one DRM to adapt will at the best case scenario, suffer some lagging upon any introduction of a new platform to the OTT market.

Here’s a piece written nearly two years ago, before the Netflix streaming service became this popular, and before Hulu Plus was launched and LoveFilm flourished. As the Pay OTT TV blog launches, it seemed interesting to spotlight, in retrospect, the transition in the industry: today there are incredible pay-OTT success stories, and service providers planning 2011′s OTT TV services are considering paid content as an essential part of it, often complemented with an ads based offering. What used to be a vision has turned into reality…

The OTT world is growing increasingly complex: consumers can watch OTT content on connected boxes, TV platforms, gaming consoles, and through content services.
This level of clutter makes it hard for businesses to know where to start (never mind the complexity consumers face when looking to buy).
With so many options, the user interface becomes a true point of differentiation.