OTT (over-the-top)
OTT describes media that goes “over the top” of traditional pay-TV infrastructure: the viewer needs an internet connection and an app, not a cable box. It is a delivery method, and it can be paired with any of the main ways to charge for video.
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Before streaming, a TV channel reached viewers through an operator that owned the pipe, such as a cable company or satellite provider, and that operator controlled billing. OTT removes the middle layer. The content owner or streaming service delivers directly to the viewer’s phone, tablet, computer, smart TV or streaming device, and sets its own price.
How OTT works
- Delivery. Video is streamed over the public internet, usually through a content delivery network, and adapts its quality to the viewer’s connection.
- Access. The viewer uses an app or a website. On mobile, that app is distributed through the App Store or Google Play.
- Billing. The service charges the viewer directly, through ads, or both, rather than through a pay-TV bill.
- Devices. The same account typically works across phone, tablet, web and TV apps.
OTT is often used loosely to mean “streaming service”, but strictly it describes how the content travels. Music streaming, podcasts and internet calling are also over-the-top services, although in advertising and media the term usually refers to video.
OTT business models: SVOD, AVOD and TVOD
An OTT service still has to decide how to make money. The three core models are named by how the viewer pays for video on demand.
| Model | Viewer pays with | Typical offer |
|---|---|---|
| SVOD | A recurring subscription | Unlimited access to a catalog for a monthly or annual fee |
| AVOD | Their attention to ads | Free viewing with ad breaks |
| TVOD | A payment per title | Rent a film for a limited period or buy it to keep |
Many services mix them. A subscription service may add a cheaper tier with ads, and a free ad-supported service may sell premium titles individually. FAST, free ad-supported streaming TV, is a related format that offers scheduled linear channels rather than an on-demand catalog.
OTT apps and in-app subscriptions
For a subscription-based OTT service, the mobile app is both the player and, often, the checkout. When a user subscribes inside an iOS app, the purchase usually runs through Apple’s in-app purchase system as an auto-renewable subscription. That makes an OTT app’s growth problem look much like any other subscription app’s: acquire users, convert them to trials or paid plans, and keep them renewing.
Rules on whether apps can link to web checkout differ by country and have changed in recent years, so check the current App Store guidelines for each market before planning around them.
What OTT means for app marketers
- Paid acquisition. OTT apps buy installs through channels such as Apple Ads, where a user searching for a show, sport or genre is already showing intent.
- Content-driven demand. Searches rise and fall with releases and live events, so keyword demand for an OTT app is often seasonal and spiky.
- Model-specific success metrics. An SVOD app cares about trials, subscriptions and renewals; an AVOD app cares about viewing time and ad revenue; a TVOD app cares about purchases per title.
- Churn after the hit. Viewers who subscribe for one show may cancel when it ends, so cohort revenue matters more than day-one conversions.
Related terms
SVOD, AVOD and TVOD are the monetization models that run on OTT delivery. For subscription-based services, subscriptions, trials and churn are the metrics that decide whether acquisition pays back.