Author:James Patrick

It’s Time Sports Teams Started Winning on OTT

Why aren’t teams even playing the game when it comes to their own direct-to-consumer streaming service?   Open up your video streaming platform of choice and attempt to install your favorite sports team’s channel or app.  Chances are it does not exist, and if it does be prepared for an underwhelming offering that, in most cases, resembles something of a glorified YouTube channel.  Why have virtually no teams in any of the major sports leagues gone further than simply planting their flag...

Could Netflix Go AVOD?

Ads may be Netflix’s secret weapon in the streaming wars, allowing the World's largest subscription service to leverage their immense user data and create one of the highest value platforms in advertising.   With Apple, Disney and more vying for the streaming throne, Netflix needs to reexamine one of its core principles; will they embrace ads, the very thing the streaming service once swore to destroy, in order to remain on top? A vital question made even more pivotal when considering the...

Searching for Discovery on OTT

The OTT space is crowded. The sheer number of streaming services covering every niche’ of content and flavor of business model has become daunting. With every new network launched across OTT app stores, the level of competition to be discovered, let alone win over a user, becomes increasingly fierce. A chief concern for many of the networks we work with at Unreel is, if I put my amazing content out there on OTT, how can I ensure it does not...

Introducing ZINIO TV Powered by Unreel

ZINIO is a technology company that works with some of the largest publishers in the world to digitize and distribute their print magazines on smart devices. In early 2018, Unreel and ZINIO teamed up to begin developing branded streaming services for their publishing partners interested in distributing video on OTT.   With the help of Unreel, ZINIO has now launched their own branded streaming service, ZINIO TV! Serving as an aggregate distribution destination for video content from their partners, the streaming service...

Acquisitions, AVOD, and the Next Big Thing on OTT

OTT has undoubtedly arrived and it is not going anywhere but up. The scales are tipping and it won't be long before the vast majority of video consumption occurs via streaming rather than broadcast. Over the last decade plus, consumers have voted with their time and money for the convenience, content and business models of OTT over outdated alternatives.   Many consumers were first introduced to OTT content by subscription services. The original drivers for viewership on platforms such as Roku, iOS...

World Poker Tour and Unreel team up to launch New OTT Streaming Service WatchWPT!

We are proud to announce a new partnership with World Poker Tour, the premier name in internationally televised gaming and entertainment.   Working with Unreel's full stack OTT solution, WPT has launched, WatchWPT, a free OTT streaming platform for poker fans and players. WatchWPT gives users access to hundreds of hours of their favorite WPT video content, to be viewed on any device.   As an AVOD streaming service, WatchWPT rellies on Unreel's Adstack TV to help sell addressable ad inventory to advertisers across multiple...

The Definitive OTT AVOD Glossary

This blog post is only a section of Unreel's complete OTT glossary covering over 100 key terms every successful streaming service needs to intimately understand.  View the entire glossary here.    AVOD or advertising video on demand is not always easy for streaming services to implement.  It requires knowledge of current best practices and experience with the industry's in's and out's to navigate.  Even with ad spend on OTT rapidly increasing year-over-year, predicted to grow almost two and a half times by 2021, we have yet...

7 Tips to Grow Your Video Streaming Service

Success for a streaming service hinges on audience acquisition and retention. Growth has to be a conscious effort. The “if you build it they will come” mindset is a mistake new streaming services cannot afford to make. Consistent growth in any industry rarely happens by accident, and in an increasingly competitive OTT marketplace, it is near impossible. Consumers are hungry for new content from brands in the verticals they care about – but getting their attention is not easy. Simply...

The Future is AVOD – Pt 3 & 4: Why AVOD is Hard and How Unreel Has Solved it

In part one and two of our blog series, "The Future is AVOD", we established that advertisers are hot on OTT and that an AVOD model can grow and support industry-leading streaming services at scale.  With an expected 225% growth in OTT ad spend predicted over the next 3 years, the market is inarguably on a torrid trajectory. However, with money increasingly pouring in, there is unexpected friction for streaming services looking to implement ads.  There is no shortage of...

The Future is AVOD – Pt. 2: Can Streaming Services Scale on Ads Alone?

Give a moment’s thought to consider the early heroes of OTT.  For most — Netflix, Hulu, HBO and Amazon Prime come to mind as the Mount Rushmore of streaming.  With their hefty financial and corporate backings, ultra-premium content libraries, and consistent subscription revenue sources, it’s fair to say that they’ve dominated the streaming world thus far.  Their inarguable growth has led to a false narrative in the industry and a misinformed belief held by many; that subscriptions are necessary to...