Brief Overview of Video on Demand (VOD)

Video On Demand (VOD) is reshaping how consumers access and view content. It provides a convenient platform for audiences to select and watch video content whenever they want, removing the traditional broadcasting schedules’ constraints.

VOD refers to digital systems that allow users to select and view video content on their devices at their convenience. Unlike live broadcast or scheduled television programming, VOD users can pause, rewind, fast forward, and stop the content as they please.

The concept of VOD dates back to the early 1990s. The boom of the internet and advancements in streaming technology in the 21st century have skyrocketed its popularity. Initially, VOD streaming services were offered through cable television providers. Subscribers could pick movies or shows from a limited catalog. The shift began with the rise of broadband internet, enabling services like Netflix and Hulu to emerge.

The global VOD service market was valued nearly $56 billion in 2019. It is projected to reach approximately $120 billion by 2025 with a CAGR growth of around 15%. Factors like increasing internet penetration, advancements in digital infrastructure, and the growing adoption of smart devices play a crucial role in this upswing.

Categories of VOD

1. Transactional VOD (TVOD) – Users pay for each piece of content. Examples include rental services or purchasing a digital copy of a movie.
2. Subscription VOD (SVOD) – Users pay a regular subscription fee to access a library of content. Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney+ are classic examples.
3. Ad-supported VOD (AVOD) – Users can watch content for free but are served with advertisements. Platforms like YouTube and Tubi operate on this model.
4. Premium VOD (PVOD) – Typically, newly released content that’s made available for rental at a premium price before it’s available elsewhere.

Understanding the Rise of PVOD on demand

In the past, we waited months for movies to move from theaters to our TVs. Then came the digital age, making everything faster and more accessible. PVOD, or Premium Video On Demand, is a product of this change.

Premium Video On Demand (PVOD) is a video service that lets you watch the newest movies shortly after they’re released in theaters. It’s similar to having early access to the latest films without going to the cinema. For many, PVOD means comfort, as they can enjoy these movies from their living rooms.

“According to an August 2023 survey, most U.S. adults are willing to spend less than $10 on premium video-on-demand (PVOD) content, with just 4% prepared to pay $25 or more for early access to movie releases.” – statista

Now, with PVOD, movies are available to rent or buy at home shortly after theater release. The comfort of home and the allure of latest releases made PVOD popular. The COVID-19 pandemic further boosted its demand, with many choosing or forced to stay indoors. Studios saw this as a chance to maintain revenue without relying only on cinemas.

The growth of high-speed internet and smart devices also played a big part. People could easily stream high-quality videos without glitches.

To sum it up, the convenience of watching new movies at home, combined with technological advancements, has driven the rise of PVOD in the digital age.

What is PVOD Streaming & benefits

Immediate access to the latest movies

Before PVOD, audiences had to wait for weeks, if not months, after a film’s theatrical release to rent or buy it for home viewing. With PVOD, this window has dramatically shrunk. This means that we don’t need to mark calendars or wait for movies to arrive on traditional video-on-demand platforms. Instead, we can simply access some of the latest movies right after their theatrical release or sometimes even concurrently.

Comfort and convenience of home viewing

The age-old appeal of the silver screen is undeniable, but home viewing offers advantages that a cinema can’t provide. Firstly, there’s the sheer comfort of watching a movie in your pajamas, on your couch, under a cozy blanket. There’s no need to find parking, sit next to a stranger, or be confined to a specific showtime. With the evolution of home entertainment systems, most households now have high-definition TVs and sound systems. This, combined with the ability to pause, rewind, or take breaks, grants viewers unparalleled control over their viewing experience.

Potential cost savings compared to going to the cinema

There are other associated costs that can make the outing quite pricey. Transportation, whether it’s fuel for your car or public transit fares, adds to the bill. And then there’s the cinema experience of popcorn, drinks, which can sometimes cost as much as the ticket itself, if not more. For families or groups, these costs multiply. By contrast, renting a movie on PVOD, even if priced at a premium, can offer significant savings. When you factor in the added value of convenience and comfort, the economic benefits of PVOD become even more apparent.

The Technology Behind Premium VoD

The tech behind PVOD is all about streaming. With fast internet connections and advanced servers, movies are sent to your device in real-time. Encryption is a key part of PVOD. This means movies are coded for security to prevent piracy. When you rent or buy a PVOD film, decryption happens, letting you watch the movie without hiccups. This blend of streaming and security ensures studios can release new films early, knowing they’re safe from illegal sharing.

“In July 2022, 24 percent of U.S. millennials reported spending at least $19.99 on a premium video-on-demand (PVOD) transaction to watch a new movie at home, while only five percent of baby boomers did the same.”

Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how PVOD works, along with the technology behind it:

Content Creation

Studios produce movies or content. This is the phase where directors, producers, actors, and crew come together to create a film.

Digital Conversion and Compression: Once the movie is produced, it’s converted into a digital format suitable for online streaming. Modern video compression technologies, like the H.264 or H.265 codecs, reduce the file size while retaining quality.

Digital Rights Management (DRM)

To prevent unauthorized sharing and copying, PVOD content is encrypted using DRM. Popular DRM solutions include Widevine (by Google), FairPlay (by Apple), and PlayReady (by Microsoft). VdoCipher, a secure video hosting and streaming service provides easy integration of Apple FairPlay DRM and Google Widevine DRM. Videos streamed via VdoCipher cannot be illegally downloaded or pirated. Apart from Multi-DRM video encryption, VdoCipher offers Dynamic watermarking, custom video player, AWS powered hosting, video analytics, secure offline downloads and much more. The pricing is competitive without any hidden charges.

Content Hosting

The encrypted content is then hosted on Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) which are specialized, distributed servers that help in delivering content efficiently to users around the world.

Platform Interface

Platforms like Amazon Prime, Apple iTunes, or dedicated PVOD platforms provide users with a user-friendly interface to browse, rent, or purchase movies. These platforms also facilitate payment processing.

Content Streaming or Download

Once a user decides to rent or purchase a film,

• Streaming – The film is streamed over the internet, requiring a stable internet connection. Adaptive bitrate streaming (ABS) technologies are often employed to dynamically adjust the quality of the video stream in real-time according to the viewer’s network conditions.
• Download – Some platforms may offer an option to download the content. This is useful for offline viewing and can provide consistent high quality regardless of internet speed.

Payment and Licensing

Users pay for the content, often with a set window to watch the film (e.g., 48 hours). The payment also determines the type of access (rent vs. purchase) and sometimes the quality (SD vs. HD vs. 4K). The licensing agreements with studios often determine the pricing and availability windows.

Viewing Restrictions

Due to DRM and platform limitations, there can be restrictions such as:

• Limited time to start watching after renting.
• Limited time to finish watching once started.
• Restrictions on the number of devices or the type of devices where content can be viewed.

Analytics and Feedback Loop

Platforms often collect data on user viewing habits, purchase patterns, and feedback. This data can be used to improve user experience, refine content recommendations, or for studios to adjust their release strategies.

End of Viewing Window

After the viewing period expires (for rentals), the content becomes inaccessible until it’s rented or purchased again. For purchased content, viewers can access it indefinitely, though sometimes there might be restrictions on device transfers or downloads.

Premium Video on Demand (PVOD) vs VOD

Release Windows – Traditional VOD waits for the typical movie release cycle: cinema, then maybe Blu-ray/DVD, and finally, streaming. PVOD disrupts this by offering movies shortly after their cinema debut.

Pricing Structure – PVOD often comes at a premium price. Since you’re accessing a new release, you’re likely to pay more than you would for a regular VOD title. Regular VOD, especially older titles, can be cheaper or even included in subscription packages.

User Experience – PVOD is all about freshness and immediacy. The excitement is similar to watching a new release in a theater but from the comfort of home. Traditional VOD is more like browsing a vast library of content, some old, some new, but not as fresh as PVOD.

Premium Video on Demand (PVOD) vs SVOD

Content Availability – PVOD primarily focuses on fresh releases, allowing viewers to watch the latest movies shortly after their theatrical debut. On the other hand, Subscription-Based Streaming offers a broad library of content, ranging from old classics to recent hits, but might not have the very latest releases that PVOD offers.

Pricing Models – PVOD operates on a pay-per-view model. You pay for each movie you want to watch. In the SVOD model, charges are a monthly (or sometimes yearly) fee, giving subscribers unlimited access to their content library.

User Engagement and Retention Strategies – PVOD depends on the allure of new content. The promise of watching the latest releases can be a significant draw. The SVOD model engages users by constantly updating their library, offering original content, and using recommendation algorithms to suggest content tailored to individual user preferences.

PVOD movies, the future of the film industry?

In recent years, film studios have moved away from the traditional model of theatrical releases followed by a 90-day wait for digital sales. Now, a new model incorporating a premium video-on-demand (PVOD) tier is more common. Films are available on PVOD for premium rental or purchase prices shortly after their theatrical debut, preceding their availability on regular video-on-demand (VOD) and subscription services like Netflix and Disney+.

Just 19 days following its U.S. cinema release, Universal’s “The Fall Guy” was released on Premium Video on Demand (PVOD) and quickly topped many charts. Directed by David Leitch, the film’s rapid transition to PVOD while still screening in cinemas has reignited debates about the impact of shorter cinematic release windows on the struggling theater industry. There are questions about whether the $125 million action-comedy starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, projected to gross about $165 million globally, suffered at the box office due to early availability at home, or if the declining theater attendance reflects a deeper disinterest in the cinematic experience, despite what audiences claim.

Additionally, it’s important to note that PVOD, requiring a $20 payment for 48-hour access, differs from free streaming services. Since late 2020, Comcast has consistently released its cinematic titles on PVOD 19-21 days post-theatrical debut, except for a few pre-planned exceptions like Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” and M. Night Shyamalan’s “Old.” Those films with initial earnings over $50 million received extended 31-day windows. The recent PVOD release of “The Fall Guy” follows this established pattern and was not a reactionary measure to unexpected box office performance.

“The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” 2023’s top-grossing film so far, exemplifies the success of this strategy. Released theatrically in April 2023, it moved to PVOD 41 days later and continued to perform strongly in both arenas.

While other studios have hesitated, preferring longer theatrical runs followed by simultaneous releases on SVOD and VOD, Universal’s strategy has allowed it to capture the largest domestic box-office market share last year. This indicates that PVOD can coexist with traditional revenue streams, enhancing rather than cannibalizing overall earnings.

When factoring in PVOD (premium video-on-demand) revenues, Universal’s total earnings increase to $4.5 billion. Notably, PVOD revenue, which includes contributions from the U.K. where digital release windows are extended, adds around $1 billion to their earnings, accounting for a significant 30% increase in overall revenue.

PVOD has been a strategic boon for Universal, providing a 44% enhancement over its estimated $1.8 billion in theatrical film rentals, with PVOD alone contributing about $800 million. Universal’s assertive PVOD strategy, which includes 53 releases since January 2022, has not only led in box office gains but has also fostered a productive cycle, allowing for the production of more films.

Despite initial resistance from major cinema chains like AMC and Regal, Universal managed to negotiate agreements that have gradually eased the industry’s acceptance of PVOD. This acceptance is bolstered by the observation that PVOD releases can sustain box office revenues, as home marketing efforts often complement theatrical showings. This synergy suggests that the PVOD audience typically does not frequent theaters, providing a complementary rather than competitive revenue stream.

This approach is particularly beneficial for Focus Features, where lower production and marketing costs mean that PVOD revenues are highly impactful. For example, $5 million in PVOD earnings can translate to a net return similar to $8 million in theatrical gross, significantly enhancing the viability of green-lighting these films.

Overall, Universal’s use of PVOD illustrates a strategic shift in film distribution, emphasizing its growing importance in the financial ecosystem of film production and distribution. This shift might not only elevate the status of PVOD in media discussions but also reshape the sequencing of film releases to maximize revenue across multiple platforms.

Challenges faced by Premium Video on Demand Sector

Cinema Owners’ Concerns About Increased Losses

The revenue of Cinema or movie theater owners heavily depend on the number of people visiting. With Premium Video On Demand (PVOD), viewers get the convenience of watching the latest movie releases at home. This poses a concern for theater owners, but why?

• Immediate Availability – If a movie is available at home on its release day, many might skip the theater experience altogether.
• Economic Consideration – Watching at home can be cheaper, especially for families. Instead of buying multiple tickets and spending on concessions, they might just pay once for PVOD.
• Comfort Factor – Home environments can be more comfortable. No need to drive, find parking, or sit in a crowded hall.
• Health and Safety – In a world mindful of health and safety (like post-pandemic scenarios), avoiding crowded places can be a priority for many.

This decline in footfalls impacts theaters’ profit margins and may even lead to closures of some establishments.

Potential Impact on Movie Piracy

Piracy has always been a problem of the media industry . With PVOD in the picture, the dynamics change but not necessarily for the better.

• Easier Access to Content – Once a movie is out on PVOD, pirates can more easily access high-quality versions of the film, leading to faster proliferation of pirated copies.
• Quicker Piracy Turnaround – Instead of waiting for theatrical releases to end or for DVDs to launch, pirates can now get content almost immediately.
• Potential Loss in Revenue – The easier availability of pirated versions might deter individuals from purchasing the PVOD version or visiting theaters.
• Higher Stakes for Filmmakers – With PVOD, filmmakers have a tighter window to recoup investments before pirated versions flood the market.

Impact of PVOD’s on Movie’s Box Office Performance

Recently, the Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce made a decision regarding the duration of OTT and theatrical release. The OTT movies can only be released 42 days after the their theatre release.

The introduction of PVOD has stirred debates on how it impacts a movie’s box office performance.

• Shortened Theatrical Windows – Traditionally, movies would stay in theaters for a set period before moving to home video or streaming. PVOD might shorten or overlap this window, leading to debates on revenue cannibalization.
• Dual Revenue Streams – Some argue that PVOD can act as an additional revenue stream without necessarily harming theater collections. It targets a different audience—those who prefer or need to stay at home.
• Changing Metrics of Success – The yardstick of a movie’s success may shift from just box office collections to a combination of theatrical and PVOD revenues. This shift can change how movies are marketed and perceived.

The rise of PVOD presents both opportunities and challenges for the film industry. Balancing the interests of theaters, content creators, and audiences will be crucial as the industry navigates this new terrain.

FAQs

What is Premium Video On Demand (PVOD)?

PVOD refers to newly released movies made available for rental or purchase on digital platforms prior to their typical home entertainment window.

How is PVOD different from regular VOD or streaming?

PVOD releases come out much sooner after a movie’s theatrical debut, often within weeks, while regular VOD or streaming might wait several months. PVOD titles are also priced higher than standard rentals due to their newness.

Why are studios releasing movies on PVOD?

The rise of streaming platforms, changing viewer habits, and external events like global pandemics have disrupted traditional cinema attendance. Studios are exploring PVOD as a way to recoup losses and meet demand.

Will PVOD replace traditional cinemas?

While PVOD offers flexibility, many believe that the cinematic experience can’t be replaced entirely. It’s more likely that the two will coexist, with some movies getting exclusive theatrical runs and others opting for simultaneous or early PVOD release.

Can I watch a PVOD release on any streaming platform?

It depends on the studio’s distribution strategy. Some movies may be exclusive to a particular platform, while others might be available across multiple services.

Are PVOD releases available worldwide?

Availability can vary. Some titles might be available in certain countries before others, depending on distribution agreements and regional release strategies.

Jyoti

Jyoti began her career as a software engineer in HCL with UNHCR as a client. She started evolving her technical and documentation writing skills to become a full-time Content Marketer at VdoCipher.

The post PVOD streaming/Premium Video on Demand platforms explained appeared first on VdoCipher Blog.

We expect to see more and more subscription-based video-on-demand services, not just from the now market giants like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Disney +, and Apple TV, but from others.

What is SVOD – Subscription Video On Demand?

Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD) is a service that allows consumers to watch content on-demand. Subscription services are typically offered in the form of monthly subscriptions for unlimited access.

SVOD is a business model for distributing content via the internet. It was first introduced to customers by Netflix and then took over the market with its plans that offer a wide range of movies and TV shows. Customers can choose from a monthly subscription package that offers as many as tens of thousands of TV episodes and movies.

In the Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD) model, users get unlimited access to video content for a monthly fees. SVODs are also often cheaper than traditional cable providers too, which make them an attractive option for many households who are looking for an alternative for their viewing needs.”

Netflix is the biggest SVOD platform in the world. Netflix accounts for over 35% of peak internet traffic in North America. What this means is that at any time every third internet user is streaming videos on the VOD platform.

When a single VOD streaming platform offers such variety as Black Mirror, BoJack Horseman and House of Cards, how else would you spend your time?

The Biggest SVOD platforms

SVOD model is best suited for websites that satisfy two criteria:

• Possess a large library of video content
• Have the potential to sustain large number of viewers.

Entertainment SVOD platforms

Top entertainment SVOD platforms offer more video content than any user can possibly watch. The unlimited choice of video content helps build a large audience that wants to “Netflix and chill”.

Netflix’s lead has been followed by many SVOD platforms. Amazon Prime Video, Hotstar and Hulu are amongst the biggest entertainment SVOD platforms in the world.

These SVOD platforms are incredibly good at making money. In 2016 SVOD platforms in the US generated $6.2 Billion revenue. This towers over the $2 Billion generated by Electronic Sell-Through platforms such as iTunes.

Elearning SVOD platforms

The subscription video on demand model works great in the elearning sector as well. Pluralsight and Lynda are most popular SVOD platforms providing professional training content. These platforms offer online training videos for people wishing to upgrade their skills.

MOOC providers Udacity and Coursera have also opted for the Subscription VOD model. The SVOD model enables these platforms to achieve sustained growth in revenue and a stable user base.

There is immense potential for growth in SVOD market. This blog provides a guides on how to create an SVOD platform.

Can Video on Demand replace Television

Video on Demand platforms have grown exponentially in size over the last 10 years. Cable television has dominated the living room for quite a while now. This monopoly is now being threatened by all-you-can-watch SVOD platforms.

Consider the figures from a global Nielsen survey on the popularity of video on demand platforms.

Nielsen’s followup to the study however revealed an interesting insight. Even though users express the intent to cancel cable, they rarely go through with cutting the cord.

The sheer variety of content that cable television offers cannot be matched by a single VOD platform. Indeed, SVOD platforms remain highly specialized. Most platforms focus on only a single range of content. This is because SVOD platforms need to excel in their niche to succeed.

YouTube is the biggest video on Demand platform

Viewers on YouTube clock over 1 billion hours of videos viewed, every day. The platform generated $9 billion revenue in 2015. This revenue comprises of the 45% of ad-revenue split from videos watched. 

YouTube’s revenue model is Advertising video on demand (AVOD). In AVOD platforms, subscribers do not pay for access to content. The VOD streaming platform generates revenue from showing ads to users.

This ad revenue is often quite low. Ad revenue generated per user is significantly lower than revenue that can be generated from a user subscribing to an SVOD platform. The upper limit for money made from ads is about $20 per 1000 views.

For effective representation with YouTube, Video creators have to sign up with Multi-channel Networks. This brings their split down to 38 percent. Video creators barely make enough money from Youtube to recoup the investment in video.

Potential for a vast ecosystem of VOD Platforms

Artists are increasingly starting their own video on demand platforms. YouTube personality Casey Neistat stopped vlogging on YouTube to start his own venture with CNN.

Opportunities for better monetization of content are now available for video creators. Video creators have the opportunity to contribute to an ecosystem of VOD platforms that would displace television.

Video on Demand Business Models

• Advertising Video on Demand (YouTube, Hulu)
• Subscription Video on Demand (Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu Plus, Hotstar)
• Transaction Video on Demand (iTunes, Google Play Movies)
• Premium Video on Demand (PVOD)

Subscription Video on Demand – The Whys and Hows

Why Should You Consider SVOD (Subscription Video On Demand)?

The time is perfect for you as a video creator to start your own Video on Demand Platform. Revenues per subscriber on your own video platform are much much higher than revenue per subscriber to your YouTube channel.

Subscription costs in SVOD tend to be quite low compared to the aggregated costs of cable membership. This means that users can easily opt for multiple subscriptions to VOD platforms, without burning a hole in their pocket. SVOD is a much more sustainable model for VOD platforms, from both customer’s and video creator’s perspective.

Subscription Video on Demand model is ideal when you:

• Are confident about building a loyal audience, and
• Have a sufficiently large library that users can watch when convenient.

Examples of niche video on demand platforms include:

• Indieflix, which is a platform for independent short films
• Noggin, Nickelodeon’s video subscription platform for preschoolers.
• Panna Cooking – Video Recipes from master chefs

Costs of Content licensing in Subscription Video on Demand

If you are a content aggregator, you can choose to acquire different kinds of video content, and offer a combined subscription to your video package. A large library of content that would appeal to your subscribers is ideal for the SVOD model.

On the other hand you can offer a select range of premium content. Transactional video on demand model, used among others by Apple iTunes, makes more sense for premium content. p Examples of premium content would be movies being released through streaming video close to their theatre release. Hollywood studios are actively considering a Premium Video on Demand model, offering films to users at high price points within weeks of theatre release.

Determining the costs and potential revenue from adding video content is a key problem to solve. You would need to assess the value that it adds to your video library. Quantifying this value is the main challenge for video aggregators in the SVOD model.

User Management

User management is the most critical element to a subscription video on demand. It is at this stage you should ask yourself what features you wish to incorporate as part of the subscriber membership experience.

For example, do you want users to have access to all the content on your website at once? The answer depends on how you want your users to experience your SVOD platform.

You can implement Multi-tiered Memberships – Suppose you have somehow bagged the streaming rights to HBO’s Game of Thrones. You can sell a subscription to users who want to watch the show as it is released, and another (pricier) subscription to users who wish to catch-up with episodes of previous seasons.

With your own subscription video on demand platform you can customize user’s experience. You also have flexibility over pricing, meaning that you can effectively monetize from budget customers as well as from customers seeking a superior experience. In this case, don’t forget to integrate a local phone service so that customers can reach out whenever they have questions and get quicker support.

Netflix has a tiered pricing model, starting at $7.99 in the US. By upgrading to the $9.99 subscription users can simultaneously watch Netflix on two screens, and for $11.99 subscription can access it on 4 screens. Most new video on demand platforms implement a variant of a freemium model, with free content available to attract new users, and then tiered pricing options. 

Sell Multiple Memberships

You can also sell multiple memberships for piecemeal video content. Suppose you’ve managed to wrest House of Cards away from Netflix, and want to sell separate subscriptions to both House of Cards and Game of Thrones. You can do so, if it makes sense to sell separate subscriptions. While there is likely to be considerable audience overlap for the two TV series, selling multiple subscriptions makes sense when you believe that different kinds of users require exclusively one kind of content. Online education platforms generally adopt multiple memberships, based on the subject that students wish to learn.

Managing User Access

Ultimately any good user management system succeeds on the basis of how well it manages user access. Adding user restrictions, such as the ability to download videos, watching simultaneously on different screens, and managing total user watch time can be highly important. You may also wish to implement a dripped content strategy, wherein your videos may become accessible to users only after a set period. You can for example release a new episode of a video series for new viewers. This makes eminent sense for online video courses and for newly released television shows.

A detailed comparison and statistical study of SVOD with TVOD is here.

WordPress for Subscription Video on Demand Platform

WordPress, with its fantastic ecosystem of plugins and themes offers a large variety of membership plugins. Popular WordPress membership plugins MemberPress, WooCommerce Memberships and Restrict Content Pro provide most of these user management features that you may wish to incorporate to your website. Each of these plugins has a unique feature set, and whether it is the best for your Subscription video on demand model depends on the feature set you are looking to incorporate to your website. WordPress guru Chris Lema has done a great analysis here of the features you should look for in a membership plugin.

Advantages of SVOD

If you want to be successful with your SVOD business, you’ll want to understand all the benefits of this new business model.

1. Consistent Revenue: Subscription services provide a more consistent revenue stream. You may charge a fee for video content on a monthly or annual basis. This means you’ll have a regular revenue stream for the specific time period.
2. Price Customization: There are no price restrictions for the monthly subscription fees that have been set up for your video content. You can decide the price on the basis of the content demand and trend.
3. Customer Base: Provide your viewers with valuable and relevant content and they’ll become your committed followers. This customer base will let you grow your business and reach a wider audience
4. Best for large content portfolio: SVOD works best if you have a large content portfolio, and provides better retention, time per user, and trust to content providers that their content reaches the maximum audience. More details on how to make it work are here.

Disadvantages of SVOD (Subscription Video On Demand)

1. The problem with SVOD is that once you have subscribed to a channel you will have to wait until the subscription period is over and renew it if required.
2. SVOD does not inherently directly link operational costs of bandwidth to revenues, it works generally at a larger scale. The cost of delivery reduces at scale.  High pricing or Limitation on content hours can make it work at lower audience numbers.
3. If your platform has more hours of content to present, it’s challenging to know which movies to show and what to recommend. Though at the same time, it is an opportunity to charge money from new content producers for advertisements and promotions on the platform.

Secure Video Hosting with VdoCipher

While TV is a major competitor to VOD platforms, video piracy poses a bigger, existential threat. Our statistical study shows that 1 in 5 of the internet population uses a video downloader tool. Your customers, who should help you bring in new customers through word-of-mouth, can just as well share their user password or download the content directly.

If your users share passwords among themselves, the number of people that they share it with would be the audience lost to your VOD platform. So if every 4th user shares it with 4 other friends, there is 1 lost subscriber to every paying subscriber. By combating piracy you can double your income from your SVOD platform. Losses from online sharing of videos are much higher. 

VdoCipher’s secure video streaming offers a full-stack DRM, helping you battle piracy effectively. Security features include –

• Server side encryption in Amazon S3 making sure your files are secure in the cloud
• Encrypted video streaming ensures that files remain secure throughout the streaming process
• Player authentication using OTP – User’s video player is authenticated at the time of playback, meaning non-authenticated users cannot log in, and the video cannot be shared on any unauthorized website
• Dynamic watermarking – Text/image overlay over the video, deterring pirates from using screen capture software

Find more details about VdoCipher’s DRM infrastructure and our integration of Widevine DRM for Hollywood-grade security, which helps us protect your premium content.

Online businesses also often require features over and beyond video security. VdoCipher fulfills all major requirements for enterprise video hosting. The complete set of features that VdoCipher offers for enterprise video hosting may be found here. 

FAQs

1. What does SVOD stand for?

SVOD stands for Subscription Video on Demand. In the Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD) model, users get unlimited access to video content for a monthly fee.

2. What are the advantages of SVOD?

• Viewers can watch all the available content they want as long as they keep the SVOD subscription active.
• Provides consumers with more choice than other streaming services because you can choose from a wider range of content

3. What are some examples of SVOD models?

Some of the examples of SVOD include Netflix, Disney+, Prime video.

Siddhant Jain

CEO, VdoCipher. Writes about video tech, ed tech and media tech.

www.vdocipher.com/

The post SVOD – All You Need To Know About Subscription Video On Demand appeared first on VdoCipher Blog.

Because of this ability to offer a personalized user experience, Video on Demand Platforms retain a phenomenal ability to engage viewers and keep viewers on their platform. Netflix and Amazon Prime Video have both been aggressively building a vast content catalogue. It is imperative for these Over-the-top (OTT) platforms to present just the right kind of content for different kinds of viewer preferences.

Index:

1. A Case Study of a Video on Demand Platform – Netflix
2. Identify your niche and create your Video on Demand Platform
3. Why VdoCipher is best for your Video on Demand Platform
4. Select a Tech platform to build your Video on Demand Platform
   • WordPress/ Joomla/ Drupal/ Moodle Content Management Systems
   • Develop your own website using Node.JS, PHP, ASP.Net, Python, Ruby
5. Design your website
6. Monetization model, Pricing and Payment Processing

A Case Study of a Video on Demand Platform – Netflix

Going back 10 years, Netflix was primarily identified as a DVD-by-mail business. The company had introduced its Video on Demand platform in January 2007 as a bonus for DVD subscribers. What began as a tentative step to build a slight advantage over competitors has now become the world’s biggest Video on Demand platform. In this period the company has consistenly worked to improve its technology stack and content catalogue. The company now has close to a 100 million subscribers, with the number only expected to grow.

Identify your niche and Create your Video on Demand Platforms

As internet connectivity across the world improves, demand for video streaming services will continue to grow. In North America Netflix  contributes to over 35% of peak internet traffic. In India broadband connections have become the norm in urban areas, whereas mobile networks led by Reliance Jio are making an aggressive push to enable internet connectivity across the country.

Compared to the costs of creating and distributing videos, revenues are not hard to attain. Setting up a video on demand platform is certainly one of the most attractive proposition for content creators and distributors.

Video on demand means so much more than movies and TV shows. YouTube, which is the world’s biggest VOD platform, enables creators to share videos on niche subjects. Users create videos covering anything from video games, film and music discussion and vlogging to educational videos. To get started you only need to reach out to a small subsection of your potential audience base.

Video content is 40 times more likely to be shared than other forms of content. This means that quality videos can generate an audience with minimal effort in marketing. You need to identify your niche, and offer top-quality content to ensure that your video on demand platform is a success.

Videos are also heavily being used for marketing and for product videos. Four times as many users prefer to to watch a video about a product than read about it.

Video is also revolutionizing E-Learning considerably. Instructors are using video to reach millions of people eager to learn. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) such as EdX, Coursera and MIT OCW have made quality higher learning accessible to anybody with a good internet connection. 

You can setup your own video on demand platform, which would give you complete control over your video streaming application.You can directly communicate with your audience, and can interact with them help improve user experience, helping achieve a greater audience.

Setting up your own VOD platform, you can setup your monetization options, opting for either a subscription model or an advertising video on demand business model, as you see fit. You can make further customizations such as custom encoding to optimize bandwidth usage, and custom player skins to offer a customized viewer experience. 

It would also mean being no longer dependent on video aggregators like Vimeo and YouTube. YouTube for all its advantages offers limited monetization options. It does not leave the users much control over their content and their audience. Throughout playback viewers are completely free to switch to another video, meaning that meaningful engagement is hard to achieve.

Why VdoCipher is ideal for your VOD Platform

Streaming videos involves a large workflow process, which involves:

• Video Upload and Transcoding
  • Upload to secure S3 bucket
  • Transcoding to different file formats, enabling multi-bitrate streaming
• Video management through dashboard
• Secure Video Streaming
  • Amazon Cloudfront and Akamai CDN network for fast delivery
  • Server-side encryption, including HLS encryption
  • Player authentication, through backend private key
  • Dynamic watermarking
  • URL whitelisting
• Smooth video playback
  • Design custom skins and customize video player
  • Thumbnail customization
• Plugins for WordPress, Joomla!, Drupal, Moodle, and developer-friendly APIs
• Multi-device compatibility
• VAST ad insertion for Advertising Video on Demand platform
• Access video playback analytics through API and dashboard
• Pay per use model – pay for bandwidth and storage

The entire process of conceptualizing, storyboarding, and video production is extremely time and resource-intensive. To regain the investment that goes into making videos you need to ensure effective monetization from content.

Yet piracy presents a major challenge to monetization. Our statistical study shows that about 25% of the world population uses common video download tools to pirate content. 

VdoCipher’s large user base relies on our secure video streaming solution to ensure that their monetization opportunities are not affected due to piracy losses. VdoCipher video hosting solution provides the complete solution for video on demand platforms. Our full-stack Video DRM enables video content providers to secure their videos effectively, and set up their videos behind a paywall solution. In this blog we discuss why self-hosting is rarely a good idea. Find more details about how we integrate Widevine DRM for Hollywood-grade security, to provide the best protection for premium content.

Using VdoCipher means that you can continue to focus on improving your website experience and your content catalogue, while resting assured that your viewers are getting a smooth video experience. Buffering is the reason a lot of users leave videos – a study revealed that even for videos of length greater than 30 minutes, a delay of 30 seconds can lead to more than 60% of users leaving the video. Viewers have little patience and high expectations when it comes to streaming videos. VdoCipher has developed expertise in delivering high quality videos in locations with spotty internet connectivity. Video playback through the VdoCipher player is smooth and seamless, and time taken for buffering is minimal.

In this blog we discuss how to use VdoCipher to maximum effect to setup your video on demand platform. To learn more about how the VdoCipher feature set works out for different cases check out this blog on VdoCipher for business.

CMS and Programming Languages to Build your Video on Demand Platform

Create Video on Demand Platform with WordPress

With VdoCipher you can build a video CMS in combination with popular CMS such as WordPress, Drupal, Joomla! and Moodle. WordPress currently powers over 25% of the websites on the internet. Some of the most prominent websites using WordPress because of its easy functionalities are New Yorker magazine and Techcrunch.com

Embed using Shortcodes

• Create an account on VdoCipher. You will be mailed your client secret key.
• Install the VdoCipher wordpress plugin, and enter your client secret key. You are all set to embed VdoCipher videos to your website.
• Right-click on the video in the dashboard that you wish to embed to your website. Copy the video id to the shortcode format, replacing the 123456 in the shortcode below, and using a single parenthesis.  

[vdo id="123456"]

• Add the shortcode to the page in which you wish to embed the video. Its a simple two-step process to embedding your video.

Dynamic Watermarking

To add a dynamic watermark go to the settings panel of the VdoCipher plugin, and add the text that you wish to add to your WordPress website. More details are given in this blog.

Themes for WordPress developers

WordPress supports a fantastic community of developers who create plugins and themes. This makes WordPress extremely useful for beginners looking to buy off-the-shelf solutions for their website. To create your own Video on Demand Platform there is a wide variety of themes and plugins that you can use to embed your videos to your websites.  Some of the best themes that we have found to offer great functionalities and easy monetization options are:

• Vlog

Multi-purpose – can be used for vlogging or for news websites.
Supports Series plugin, which enables you to create playlists of videos
Integration with WooCommerce for monetization options
Enables Advertising Video on Demand by supporting banner ads on pages
$69 one-time purchase

• VideoTube:

$49 cost
Easy integration with membership plugins enabling you to monetize your website as Subscriber Video on Demand

• VideoPlus

$39 cost – includes 1 year of theme updates and 1 year of personal support

• PremiumPress Video Theme

$79 cost
Whereas most video themes are designed to enable monetization from advertising video on demand model. PremiumPress’ Video Theme is designed to enable you to secure videos behind a membership plugin.

• NewsMag Lite

This is free plugin that you can use to create your own newspaper-like or magazine-like website. You can use a combination of texts, images and videos for your site.

Membership Plugins for WordPress

You can manage user access rules using membership plugins. This includes partial protection of content on web pages to restrict content to only paid subscribers. Partial protection is implemented through shortcodes, and means that free subscribers/ non-subscribers can only see part of the page, while the remaining would be protected by a paywall. You can also protect entire sections and pages behind your paywall membership plugins.

WP eMember and Membership Pro 2 are two of the most popular membership plugins. An important feature that WP eMember offers is to prevent simultaneous logins. This stops users from sharing passwords with other people. Another plugin.

Create Video on Demand Platform with Joomla!

Joomla! is one of the most popular PHP-based content management systems. A vibrant community of developers has made Joomla one of the best platforms on which to build your video on demand platform.

VdoCipher’s Joomla video plugin makes all the backend API calls, meaning that all you need to do to embed your videos is add the embed code. The installation procedure to integrate VdoCipher’s video plugin to your Joomla-based video on demand platform is:

1. Dowload the VdoCipher Joomla Extension
2. Upload the VdoCipher Joomla Extension to the Manage Extensions page
3. Click on VdoCipher to open Parameters page
4. Enter your client secret key, which you would have received in the mail on registration, in the given field
5. On saving the settings you are good to go
6. Get your video id directly from the VdoCipher dashboard
7. Enter your video id to the shortcode, in the format (where you replace 123456 with your video id)

[vdo id= 123456]

Note that PHP5-curl needs to be installed on the server for this extension to work. Attributes for the shortcode include the display settings of height and width – for example if you require height = 350 and width = 700, you can add the following attributes to the shortcode

[vdo id=123456 height=350 width=700]

The shortcode is space-sensitive, so any additional space at the end of the shortcode before the brackets can cause an error.

Create Video on Demand Platform with Drupal

VdoCipher module for Drupal uses a shortcode to display videos inside any node, which may include articles and posts, besides custom content types. The shortcode is added to the WYSIWYG text editor, and the module handles the API calls. The client secret key is used for API calls between your Drupal website and the VdoCipher video dashboard. The plugin abstracts away the API calls, meaning that all you need to do get started is:

1. Upload your video to the VdoCipher dashboard
2. Download the VdoCipher module
3. Upload the module file from the “Install New Module” page on your Drupal installation
4. Click on the Configure link on the module page to complete your setup
5. Copy the API Key from VdoCipher Dashboard -> Config -> General
6. Enter your client secret API key.
7. Get your video id directly from the VdoCipher dashboard
8. Enter your video id to the shortcode, in the format

9. Embed the video id to any content_type text field in your website

We are currently working on integrating the VdoCipher plugin with the Drupal media module. You can add dynamic watermarks to your video as well using these annotation code guidelines.

Video on Demand Platform with Server-Side scripting languages and Frameworks

We have also developed our API for use-cases with Python, Ruby, Node.js, ASP.NET and PHP. Together these backend-languages power much of the internet. Using our embed code and the API reference for the respective language, you can host your videos to deliver a truly unique experience for your clients.

Web Frameworks that are most popular currently include:

• Django, Flask and Pyramid frameworks for Python
• Rails framework for Ruby
• CakePHP framework for PHP
• Node.js framework for Javascipt

The utility of frameworks is in enabling developers to use boilerplate code, thereby avoiding having to repeat the same thing multiple times. Frameworks help you manage and enforce your web architecture. Using a framework also enables you to use vast a variety of libraries that are available.

For Web Hosting the most popular website hosting servers are DigitalOcean, Rackspace and AWS.

Create Video on Demand Platform with PHP

PHP (PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor) is one of the most popular server-side scripting languages used to build websites. The biggest utility for PHP is its ease-of-use, which has enabled blogging platforms such as WordPress, Joomla! and Drupal to emerge. The world’s largest encyclopedia – Wikipedia is also setup using PHP. Popular e-learning platform Moodle is yet another implementation of PHP. Facebook also uses PHP in its core codebase.

PHP is arguably the easiest language for beginners to make a basic functional website, and for that reason retains its popularity.

In our developer library you can find the embed code for integrating your VdoCipher videos to your website. Using this embed code you would need to add the video id to the embed code, and your client secret key to the API reference, and you would be ready to embed your videos directly to your website.

The developer library also includes sample code for enabling video uploads to your VdoCipher dashboard directly from your website. This would enable your users to directly upload videos without needing to open the dashboard. After the API call is made by your PHP application server, a video upload policy document is returned. You can use standard Javascript libraries to make the process of upload smoother – Angular, JQuery or Dropzone. The video upload should be made within 1 hour of the video upload policy document.

Create Video on Demand Platform with Node.JS

Node.js is currently the most exciting framework for server-side scripting. Its primary utility is its single-thread non-blocking I/O design, which means it is eminently suited for web applications requiring vast scalability. Some of the most popular transaction and event-based web applications currently using Node.js are PayPal, Uber and Netflix

The VdoCipher Node.js module enables you to handle your videos securely on your video hosting platform. VdoCipher’s secure video hosting

Using Node.js for server-side scripting means that both your frontend and backend use Javascript. Most Javascript frameworks are for frontend; Node.js is a singularity in that context. . The Node.js core itself is quite lightweight. There are numerous modules that are made available by an active developer community, adding powerful functionalities to Node.js programming. An active developer community means that for most purposes you could easily find a developer library to achieve a nydesired functionality.  

VdoCipher Node.js API

Class VdoCipher. Create a class instance vdocipher (client_secret_key). Instance method of the VdoCipher API include vdocipher.getOTP, which passes the video ID, and receives OTP. Instance method vdocipher.getSignature returns a signature authenticating the video playback.

For more information about the API reference please look up the API reference. Check out the embed code.

You can find sample code to generate OTP for a video on demand platform on WordPress, to authenticate video playback

The github reference can be found here.

Create Video on Demand Platform with Ruby on Rails

Hulu is a major video on demand platform built using Ruby on Rails. Other web applications built using Ruby on Rails framework are SlideShare, Github and Groupon.

Ruby is one of the most popular server-side scripting language. Popular for its developer-friendly structure, Ruby can be used with the Rails framework (Ruby-on-Rails).

VdoCipher gem for Ruby-on-Rails handles the API reference. Steps for integrating VdoCipher video player to your video on demand platform:

• Add this line to your Gemfile in your rails application

gem 'vdocipher'

• • And in your controller file add these lines

require 'vdocipher'
...

vdo_api = VdoCipher.new(clientSecretKey: "CLIENT_SECRET_KEY");
@embedcode vdo_api.play_code("VIDEO_ID", "style=\"height:400px;width:640px;max-width:100%%;\"");

• • • Now in your view file embed code where you would like to play videos

Create Video on Demand Platform with Python Frameworks (Django, Flask, Pyramid)

Most popular websites using the Django framework with Python are Instagram, Pinterest, Google. The biggest video on demand platform YouTube, although originally built using PHP, now also runs on Python.

You can see a sample file for integrating VdoCipher to your Python website here. You should break this file, which includes the embed code, player OTP call and API reference, according to your MVC architecture.

Design your Website’s User Interface

A great and intuitive user interface goes a long way towards building and retaining your audience. Here we bring tips from observing popular video on demand platforms, that you should implement to make your VOD platform a success.

• • • Clean and Easy Membership system – a popup box can be used to login. You may also enable social login via users Google or Facebook accounts
    • These are the home pages of Twitter and Netflix – the similarity? Both of them give a glimpse of interesting content that you find on the platform. This would improve conversion of site visitors to subscribers.

     

      
    • Personalized Recommendations based on ratings that you give movies and your watch history.  Netflix implements a Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down rating system – it aggregates user behaviour across different patterns of ratings. Using your viewership data Netflix recommends content that you are likely to watch.
    • Easy grouping of content helps viewers decide what to watch. This includes content based on your recent watch history, and content grouped according to genres such as Action & Adventure and Romantic Films.
    • Get your movie descriptions right – help users understand exactly what they are signing up to watch. Your users will appreciate it.
    • Multi-Device synchronization – For viewers constrained by time, it may be possible only to consume long-form content in small chunks. By providing synchronization across devices you enable your viewers to start from the last-watched locations, and stop in the knowledge they can resume when they want to on whichever device they wish to. This is one of the most important features to get right. Your video player should be able to synchronize your last played location on the video. VdoCipher gets this right by automatically saving the pointer to the last viewed location on the video, meaning that you can easily play back videos.
    • Get the balance between high quality and streaming on low bandwidth networks – It is important to provide a great experience for viewers with high-speed connections as well as for viewers with low-internet bandwidth. This is critical for VOD platforms in developing countries, where internet connectivity in rural areas is poor. Encoding optimizations can help viewers stream reasonably good videos even on 2G-speed internet connections.

Monetization Models, Pricing, and Payment Gateway

SVOD – Subscriber Video on Demand

Subscription Video on Demand is definitely the most popular monetization model used by most video on demand platforms. A recurring subscription gives users access to unlimited content on the VOD platform.

To target different kinds of users you can implement a tiered pricing model, wherein subscribers to the basic plan get the core content offering. Subscribers to higher payment plans can get access to additional content that supplements the core video offering. For example Netflix gives unlimited access to its complete library for its basic plan. However if you wish to watch Netflix simultaneously on multiple screens (share a subscription), you are encouraged to buy a multi-screen subscription at a higher price point.

AVOD – Advertiser Video on Demand

As a monetization model, this is the strategy that YouTube offers. Through this YouTube can share revenue with its content creators. In this case, content creators do not have a direct relationship with the video on-demand platform, and therefore advertiser Video on Demand in YouTube’s case enables revenue sharing. AVOD is the optimal strategy when you are expecting a lot of users to tune in to your website.

The only caveat to basing your business model exclusively on advertising is that it is viable only when you have a large audience. Revenue from a single ad is often very low – you need to have a large enough audience to be able to generate meaningful revenue. For videos on subjects of broad interest, the inherent virality of content is extremely critical. In such a case YouTube is often the ideal platform for building and connecting with their audience. If you are looking to build your website with the target of earning revenue from advertising, you should at least target million plus page views per month to build a video platform like youtube.

TVOD – Transactional Video on Demand – Pay per view or buy the content

You can make specific content accessible for users on payment of a fees. This is for one-time content created which you want to monetize. Most online tutorials fall into this category. You can package your videos individually, or as part of a bigger package. The difference between subscription and pay-per-view content is that users pay for access to specific content only. TVOD is ideal when you have differentiated content offerings which have value by themselves.

Payments Gateway and Processing

You need to setup a payment gateway solution so that you can receive payments from across the globe.

Instamojo, PayU and CCAvenue are some of the most popular payment gateways in India. Internationally PayPal and Stripe are both widely trusted payment processors.

Comparison of International Payment Gateways – PayPal and Stripe comparison

Comparison of Indian Payment Gateways

All Indian payment gateways – Instamojo, PayU and CCAvenue offer integrations with WooCommerce Platform for WordPress. By using any of the free plugins offered by these payment gateways you can get your Video on Demand platform to accept payments within minutes of setting up.

The onboarding process of tying up with the Payment Gateway can take some time though. Most of the payment gateways require scanned copies of documents.

Setting up Payment Gateway for Video on Demand Platform

• Install WooCommerce and the free plugin for the Payment Gateway –
• WooCommerce Settings Page -> Checkout -> Payment Gateways
• Click on the Payment Gateway of your choice after downloading and installing the plugin
• Rename the payment gateway Credit Card/ Debit Card/ Internet Banking
• Configure your payment gateway by adding your merchant ID and Merchant Key
• You can finally select a redirect URL – the page on your website where customers will be taken after the transaction

Individual process for these payment gateways vary. If you opt for any of the payment gateways for your WordPress website it would be a good idea to first integrate it with your WordPress installation to make sure that the plugin is compatible with your WP themes.

If you have more queries on VOD platform, please give us a shout at info@vdocipher.com. A free trial to secure stream videos for your video on demand platform is available at vdocipher.com

Popular FAQs Around VOD Platforms

How can I identify my niche and create a successful Video on Demand platform?

Recognizing your audience and delivering high-quality, targeted content are crucial steps. Video content’s shareability significantly aids audience growth with minimal marketing effort.

Why is VdoCipher considered ideal for VOD platforms?

VdoCipher offers a comprehensive suite of services for secure video streaming, including multi-bitrate streaming, secure S3 bucket upload, transcoding, DRM protection, dynamic watermarking, and detailed analytics.

What are the main monetization models for VOD platforms?

Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD), Advertiser Video on Demand (AVOD), and Transactional Video on Demand (TVOD) are key models, each catering to different content access and payment strategies.

How can I set up payment processing for my VOD service?

Integrating a reliable payment gateway that supports global transactions is essential. Options include PayPal, Stripe, and regional gateways like Instamojo and CCAvenue, depending on your audience’s location.

Siddhant Jain

CEO, VdoCipher. Writes about video tech, ed tech and media tech.

www.vdocipher.com/

The post Video on Demand Platform for Media & E-learning Businesses appeared first on VdoCipher Blog.