Evolution from VOD to SVOD, TVOD and AVOD

Video entertainment industry has tremendously changed over the years and continues to rapidly proliferate. With the expansion in users and no. of devices, the underlying technology has evolved at a rapid pace to cater to ever increasing demand. The OTT services (streaming services over the internet) has also evolved to meet the demand of the user base. This evolution might be very interesting to know and understand.  

-

We have been hearing about the term VOD a short for Video On Demand which gives the customers a privilege to decide when, where and what to watch. VOD is a fundamental shift from linear TV programming.

We, from Oodles Technologies would like you to know about the different models by which user can consume content.  Let’s have a quick look on the outline on VOD models:

Going further, let's put more light on each of them:             

1. SVOD : Subscription Video on Demand

It is a type of service which demands for subscription based model. The consumer is supposed to have subscription agreement which will grant access to the content. The rights to content stays until the agreement is on. That means there is no limit to the watch.

Subscription can be operated monthly, quarterly or yearly and can be renewed as needed.  It is pretty much similar to the traditional Cable TV operator to whom we pay well in advance to receive the unlimited TV content.

Various services like Netflix, Hulu Plus , Amazon Prime, HBO Go, etc are on for SVOD Subscription.

2. TVOD: Transactional Video On-Demand
From the past few years, TVOD is in market but now it has evoke via STB (Set-Top-Box). TVOD believes in concept of paying for the stuff you watch. That means the consumer has to pay an amount based on the content being viewed. No matter what the content is, it might be sports, movies, TV series, etc. Like SVOD, the consumer is not expected to have a subscription or need to pay for sign-ups for any service.  

TVOD service increases their popularity by giving offers on any specific type of content. Or we can say that TVOD tends to grow on fields of video entertainment.  In order to have high revenue per view, more and more viewers, TVOD services offer discounts and more recent releases.

Various services like iTunes, Google play, amazon instant video, vimeo, YouTube, etc are on for TVOD Subscription.

3. AVOD: Ad Video On-Demand
AVOD model is not much familiar to all.  This model is based on the concept of paying by watching ads. The consumer are free to watch the content, just that they have to watch the advertisements.
As we know, the concept of marketing through advertising is on high peaks, so will see this concept much more in the future. AVOD service offers the great opportunity for targeted and automated advertising.

Various services like YouTube, hulu, Aol, Yahoo Screen, Crackle, Vevo, Popsugar, etc are on for AVOD Subscription.

Generally, we do have mixed model which are operated by various services. In such services, despite of customers having the subscription, which allows them to view certain type of content. But, sometimes consumer still has to pay extra to watch a particular content. Unfortunately, as this model is not consumer friendly so didn’t get much popular.  

Verdict:

We won’t be able to give the title of “perfection” to any of these model so they have to evolve, also to meet the increasing demand from the user base. Moreover, seeing the pattern of evolution, many new models are yet to arrive. Let’s keep our eyes on what’s next on our plate.