Re-Defining OTT Video Delivery

Wikipedia defines over-the-top (OTT) as a delivery mechanism that “bypasses” managed cable/service providers’ infrastructure.  No wonder service providers, in particular MSOs, have regarded OTT video as a threat rather than an opportunity. However, it’s now possible for service providers to both embrace and profit from OTT. With Azuki, service providers can for the first time leverage OTT as a business opportunity that will increase competitiveness, customer satisfaction and most importantly, revenue.    

Granted, pure-OTT services have been “stealing” video subscribers from service providers. But, that’s because these OTT services are providing value to customers.  First generation, pure-OTT players like Netflix and Hulu have empowered customers to stream their favorite movie or “catch up” TV show anytime in their living room or on other consumer managed devices.  

Service providers initial response to the competitive threat from OTT was largely defensive in nature. TV everywhere announcements that aimed to “stop the bleeding” and slow down subscriber cord cutting and cord shaving. Unfortunately, early TV everywhere initiatives were largely ineffective due to limited device coverage and a less than compelling user experience. Making matters worse, early TV everywhere initiatives lacked a clear strategy for monetization. With service providers playing defense and screaming “show me the money” it’s no wonder the first phase of TV everywhere was a failure.

In the world of video a great offense is your best defense. It’s now time for service providers to go on the offensive and leverage the power of OTT to increase customer satisfaction, reach new subscribers and drive a higher ARPU. Azuki makes this possible by adding two critical dimensions to OTT.

• Managed – Azuki normalizes the workflow and reach to consumer managed devices so service providers can efficiently deliver a compelling video experience to all users on all devices
• Optimized – Azuki makes the unmanaged network (OTT) perform and behave like the service providers managed network. This revolutionary approach allows service providers to deliver a consistent and reliable quality of service regardless of network conditions or location.

When OTT delivery is managed and optimized it becomes incredibly valuable to both service providers and subscribers. As a complementary video delivery model, a managed and optimized OTT delivery can easily co-exist with a service providers managed network, thus enabling service providers to instantly deploy a “hybrid” video infrastructure.  A managed and optimized OTT delivery enables service providers to quickly and cost effectively  scale up their video offerings and open up new revenue opportunities (VOD, PPV, subscription and advertising) without the constraints and capital intensity of adding to their existing video infrastructure.

With Azuki’s Managed and Optimized OTT video delivery, service providers can deploy the best of both worlds (managed network and OTT delivery), compete more effectively with first generation OTT services, unlock new revenue opportunities, increase customer loyalty and reach new subscribers.