Some days back, while I was going over some articles of OTT video, I came across some interesting news. According to a Market research firm (In-Stat), about 37 percent of the North American population is “extremely or very interested” in viewing OTT video content on the TVs in their homes. To me the news sounded quite encouraging. Anyhow, how does this particular news affect parties such as: Cable Companies, Telco’s etc?

I think that for Telco’s/Cable Companies to have future success, it will depend on how quickly they can evolve their business models in response with the changing business needs and rising customer expectations, which has been brought on by new technologies. The traditional way of watching TV has gone, and Internet is the main cause of that change.

Going further, there have already been a lot of big announcements in the targeted field, some of these have been:

• Wal-Mart’s acquisition of Vudu
• Cablevision announcing its PC-to-TV Relay service
• Sezmi launching with Best Buy
• Qwest Communications investing in Zillion TV

One thing that is certain is that with retail giants such as Wal-Mart and Best Buy, the OTT sector will be fiercely competitive. However, one can also say by looking at the news that OTT firms can play a decisive role in feeding technology related content to service providers.

Looking forward, will the growing interest in OTT video content prompt other big companies to enter the OTT field? Or are these companies (Wal-Mart, Best Buy) only interested in making small investments to test the viability of the market?

Lastly, Will Service Providers continue to look towards OTT firms for technology related content? Or as the industry grows, will they prefer to start their own in-house operations to cut down costs?

The OTT market does have a positive future.

I would be interested in hearing your views.

Jai Kooner

A few weeks back, I came across big news that Wal-Mart (the undisputed king of the retail sector) had decided to form ties with OTT content provider Vudu. Entering this field Wal-Mart goes head to head with dominant leaders as Apple and Netflix.

Wal-Mart previously attempted a movie and TV download service in 2007, but the whole operation only lasted a year as customers didn’t seem interested at the time. What makes Wal-Mart think that they will be successful this time out, what has changed?

According to me, one of the reasons why Wal-Mart has made the move is that their cash cow (DVD Sales) is starting to fade, as customers can now get the same over the net and that also free of cost. By entering a new field they are simply trying to expand their reach, or simply trying to move away from DVD sales. Another likely reason is that the OTT services are expected to grow at a very fast pace.

It will be exciting to see as how exactly Vudu grows after their merger with the retail king. I’m interested in hearing your views.

Going further, Wal-Mart is the third biggest company in the world; will other OTT service providers find it hard to compete? Or are they just buying Vudu to compensate for their fading retail DVD business?

Jai Kooner