Month: April 2019

Today live streaming is one of the luxuries we enjoy in a modern society and technology makes it easier than ever before due to the internet.

You may of heard that live streaming is expensive or that it might cause the attendance of your church to drop and several other rumors, however is it true?

With new Live streaming available today on Facebook and Periscope you need to understand the power of live streaming and how it can transform your live event.

Here are a few myths we busted when it comes to live streaming.

1) Only Livestream if its for a Large Event.

You do not have to be a media conglomerate to enjoy the benefits that live streaming bring to your event or church service. No matter the size of your event ( a small concert, business event, sermons, and more) you can increase its value through live streaming.

Livestreaming today increases the exposure of your event due to social media and the large online presence of viewers that now tune to the internet for video content. Especially if you have the ability to simultaneously broadcast to FaceBook, Periscope, and YouTube. This allows your followers and friends to check it out as well. Overall livestreaming can up the value of your small event significantly.

2) Livestreaming will decrease in person attendance

Why would someone attend in person if they can watch it online? This is the common fear that many have when it comes to streaming online. However the opposite is true. According to Digitell, 30% of the people that watch an online event will attend the even in person the next year. Enormous events like Coachella have actually seen this take place. It use to take them 3 days to sell out their event, but after they started livestreaming the previous years festival through YouTube it only took them 3 hours to sell out!!

3) Its Expensive and to Technical

This is a common fear that many have; that they will need a technical guru to get their live event streaming online. However with tools like TvStartup’s “Channel Manager” you have all the tools in one place with tech support to get you up quickly. Just one online toolbox and that’s all you need. You can be up and running for around a $100.

4) Nobody is Going to Watch

If you have any presence at all on social media, then it is highly unlikely that no one is going to watch. If you are consistent and are clear when you will be going live, social media is almost a guaranteed success to help you draw in an audience.

According to Facebook Live, users who watch live videos will watch 3 times as long and comment 10 times more than a recorded video. That is much more engagement than a standard post.

A few strategies to keep in mind to increase the amount of views is to give your viewers a behind the scene look for loyal fans, partner with others that have large followings in social media and invite them in as a special speaker, and include a Question and Answer series during the live broadcast to get more people involved.

5) When the Event is Over the Value of the Video drops

Whats fantastic about live video is that when its done you have a VOD to include on your Internet TV network and your social media pages. You can also re-purpose it for marketing and teaser videos.

A study done by Unruly showed that even a recorded video increased purchase intent by 97% and brand associate by more than 135%. Also it will help increase actual attendance of you next live broadcast.

Now that you understand that power of livestreaming its time that you learn how to do it. Sign up for our “Channel Manager” and get our online tool box to start your live broadcasts today. You can broadcast live (as well as simultaneously broadcast across social media) create and schedule playlist, automatically record your live broadcasts and more. To learn more click here.

The subscription model also known as the “Netflix” style business model is known as the most profitable business model when it comes to monetizing your online TV networks video content. If you take a look at companies like Netflix, Amazon and Spotify you can see where they are headed – millions and millions more subscribers to be added.

When you first start your network it can be a challenge to compete to add subscribers, however with our years of experience we can give you some tips that will speed things up for you.

1. Understand the Importance of Free Trials                                                     

Understand that a chunk of your potential audience is undecided about trying your platform and offering a free trial is just the little nudge that they need to get them started. The hack that you need to use is to make sure they enter their credit card “before” the free trial begins so that making the transition from a free trial to a paid member is a smooth one (and they don’t bounce).

2. Offer Bonus Content                                                                                

You have a better chance at keeping loyal subscribers if you can lure them in with some bonus content other than your standard subscription offer. Consumers love the idea that they are getting a great deal so use that to your advantage. Examples would be deleted scenes, bloopers, cast interviews and more. You can mix it up as well by offering bonus content with regular content at some discounted rate. The idea here is to make them feel special and that your viewers are getting more than just the standard deal.

3. Cater to as Many Devices as Possible

There is a reason that Netflix and Amazon have an app on every device, because they want to make it easy for their customers to subscribe. The easier you make it the more subscribers you will have. If you only offer subscription to your online network or video library on the web then you are missing out on thousands of more subscribers. Roku, FireTV, iPhone app, Android app, Apple TV, Smart TV’s and more are all devices that people use on a daily basis to watch video content.

You have to understand that today the majority of consumers in the developed world have a smart TV or some connected TV device as well as a smart phone. If your not on their favorite device then you are not going to get the paying subscription.

4. Price Accordingly

Its best to start off low and then raise prices gradually as your network grows. This will give you an idea of what people are watching on your platform and what they are not. Once you can identify popular content you can charge a premium or on a pay-per-view basis. For pay-per-view make sure you offer discounts for your subscribers and higher prices for non paying subscribers.

Make sure you keep checking what your competitors are doing and what they are charging their subscribers. This will give you a great idea of what the competition is doing and you don’t want to be to high or to low.

If you are doing international content then you want to price your subscription with locally pricing. For example in the US you can be $9.99 but in the UK or Europe you could be at € 9.99 or  £ 9.99

In other words you do not need to convert to the currency, just price it locally for that market.

5. Have a Great Analytic tool

Bringing in new subscribers is about understanding what your audience wants. You need great analytic to help you track what people are watching, who is watching it, when they are watching it and where people are watching it. With great analytic you can adjust your offers geographically or adjust pricing that fits better with certain age groups.

Conclusion:

Great content, great promotions, great analytic, great bonus content, a understanding of the local market, and making your channel availability across as many devices as possible all equal success in bringing in new subscribers.

You also need a partner that is well versed in the video world. T

his is exactly what we do at Tvstartup. Our core product is our “Channel Manager” and it has everything you need to run a successful subscription online video network (with great analytics). If you would like to get started check out our channel manager by clicking here.

What is Adaptive streaming? Or more accurately “Adaptive Bit-rate”? Sometimes we are sorry when we ask technical questions because we get our ears filled with answers like “HLS, DASH, codecs” and things that might seem to technical for us to ponder. However in this article I am going to try to steer clear of technical terms as much as possible and instead explain the benefits Adaptive streaming and how it can benefit your OTT platform.

In a nut shell adaptive bit rate is technology designed to deliver the highest quality video to your viewers with the least amount of video load time or “buffering”.

However the best way to describe what adaptive streaming is, is probably to explain what adaptive bit rate is NOT. Namely progressive streaming.

What is Progressive streaming?

Progressive streaming is when your video files are delivered to your viewers all in the same resolution no matter what device they are using. The device has to stretch or squish the video to make it display properly on the device. However no matter what device is playing the video the video remains the same. In other words if the video is a 720p at bit rate of 4Mbps no matter what device is playing it and no matter what internet connection speed your viewers has, the video remains the same.

As you can see from the picture above that the video file remains the same through the journey from the servers to your viewers.

Why progressive streaming is a problem

There are two main problems with this type of streaming. The first is video quality. A video that is 1280 by 720 will never display correctly on a screen meant for 1920 by 1080. It will be stretched to fit the screen and you will see some pixelation.

The next problem is video buffering and this is the main concern because when a video buffers viewers tune out. With progressive streaming nothing can be done to stop the buffering if the connection speed of the viewer is not fast enough to view the video. The video player will keep pausing as it tries to receive the data quick enough to display the video. This is a very common scenario.

How Adaptive Solves the Problem

Adaptive solves both problems of quality and buffering. When our CDN deploys adaptive bitrate it does so by creating a different resolution of video for each screen size. You can see from the diagram below the different videos created. In this scenario adaptive bitrate is configured with four outputs (1080,720,480,and 250)

In this example you can see video resolution is matched to screen size but when a drop in internet speed is detected adaptive bit rate will then send a lower resolution which also is a lower bitrate.

As you can see to avoid buffering a lower resolution is sent to the viewer when our servers detect a drop in internet speed.

However the real power of adaptive bit rate is that it “adapts”. Meaning that if the connection speed is to improve again it will then send to the viewer a video stream of higher resolution. This ensures that your viewer always has the best quality video with the least amount or zero buffering. In other words it always adapting to the viewers environment to ensure they can continue watching the best quality video their connection speed can handle.

If you would like to add adaptive bitrate to your Internet TV network or OTT platform you can do so from your “channel manager” account. If you do not have an account with us yet you can learn more about how to start your own OTT platform or network using our “Channel Manager” by clicking here.