October 14, 2020
Authored by Tom Schaeffer, Founder, President & CEO of Float Left Interactive. The content and opinions in this post are those of the third-party author and AWS is not responsible for the content or accuracy of this post.
This post discusses the history and evolution of over-the-top (OTT) streaming and outlines how my company, Float Left Interactive, uses AWS to create a more intuitive and simplified approach to OTT management using our Application Management Portal (AMP). Readers will learn about some of the challenges introduced during the evolution of online video and how our development approach can help customers overcome those challenges to create engaging OTT experiences. For instance, we recently developed an easy and intuitive user navigation tool called Convert+ (available in the AWS Marketplace) making it easier than ever to streamline the transcoding process and leverage the power of AWS Elemental MediaConvert.
For over a decade, Float Left has been building and delivering OTT technology solutions for some of the world’s most prolific media brands. Our suite of products and services have matured with the industry to meet our customers’ ever-growing demands.
Over the last several years, one of our primary focus areas has been building management software to improve our customers’ workflow. In this context, a workflow is the process in which administrators publish new content, push app updates, and observe viewer behavior. When configured correctly, it’s a system that enables OTT service providers to respond quickly to changes in viewer behavior.
For the uninitiated, OTT is an acronym that means “over-the-top,” and it’s a bit of a legacy term that describes additional, direct-to-consumer TV services “riding over the top of” traditional cable TV. The evolution of OTT is often referred to as “cord-cutting” or “cord shifting.” For the consumer, OTT means watching live and on-demand TV via apps on devices such as Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and most modern smart TVs.
OTT has been and continues to transform the TV landscape. For video-first media brands, OTT is the brave new world and offers opportunities to understand viewer behavior in ways that were not possible with traditional cable TV. These new insights grant providers the ability to create a more personalized content catalog, which increases engagement and reduces churn.
Over the years, OTT services have become much more sophisticated, and viewers expect high-quality content delivered in exceptionally great user experiences. Consider what Netflix has done to drive the industry forward. They have created the gold standard for the subscription-based, video-on-demand TV because they understand viewer behavior better than any other TV service in history. As the services evolve, so too must our ability to manage them.
In the mid to late 2000s, most consumers watched digital video through web-based video players. With only one delivery destination, the workflow was simple. Today, that story has changed significantly considering the number and variety of connected TV devices available to consumers.
As technology continued to increase and new consumer devices entered the market, OTT service providers required more efficient ways to manage the various distribution channels.