The Evolution of the Global Video on Demand Market

New Business Models and Content are Driving Growth in Streaming Platforms

The accelerated transition from pay TV to VOD services drove hundreds of media and entertainment (M&E) companies across the globe to launch their own streaming platforms. In the past five years, the proliferation of vendors has made the VOD ecosystem an increasingly crowded space.

With more online streaming service options than ever, VOD operators need to differentiate themselves amid fierce competition. Pricing strategies, content quality, and user experience are the primary factors influencing VOD platforms' performance and ability to retain end users.

Not only has the market become more fragmented in recent years, but rising inflation rates and the worsening macroeconomic conditions have also increased subscription fatigue and impacted end users' willingness to pay for multiple streaming services at the same time.

With the limitations on subscription-based revenue growth, VOD vendors are innovating their monetization strategies. Major market participants have adopted hybrid approaches, combining subscription, advertising, and pay-per-view strategies. Advertising, in particular, has proven to be a major revenue driver for streaming operators.

Rapid technological advancements in the broader M&E and streaming industries, especially with the expansion of artificial intelligence (AI), large language models (LLM), and machine learning (ML) use cases, are causing significant disruption in the VOD market.

VOD vendors are incorporating technologies such as AI and ML across their workflows to gain efficiencies in content distribution and advertising insertion, create intelligent recommendation engines, increase content personalization, and boost user interaction on their platforms.

This study covers the global market for video on demand (VOD) services that go over the top (OTT), i.e., providers that distribute video content directly to customers over a non-managed public internet connection. This report excludes other means of delivering on-demand video, such as satellite services or Internet Protocol TV (IPTV), video-hosting platforms like YouTube, and social live-streaming services such as Twitch or Kick.

VOD consists of a distribution system that allows users to instantly access and stream their preferred content from a platform's online media library. With the OTT model, end users can access content without requiring any memory space via an open internet connection and compatible devices such as tablets, laptops, smart TVs, smartphones, or streaming sticks. During the past decade, billions of users have adopted these services as their primary entertainment channel.

This study broadly addresses the global VOD industry in terms of drivers, restraints, pricing trends, and growth opportunities, along with a more detailed quantitative analysis for the subscription video on demand (SVOD) segment of the market. This analysis includes revenue, paid licenses, and net new licenses forecast, as well as a regional market share estimation.

The Impact of the Top 3 Strategic Imperatives on the VOD Industry

Competitive Intensity

Why

• The accelerated transition from pay TV to VOD services drove hundreds of media and entertainment (M&E) companies across the globe to launch their own streaming platforms. In the past five years, the proliferation of vendors has made the VOD ecosystem an increasingly crowded space.

Frost Perspective

• With more online streaming service options than ever, VOD operators differentiate themselves amid fierce competition. Pricing strategies, content quality, and user experience are the main factors impacting VOD platforms' performance and capacity to retain end users.

Innovative Business Models

Why

• Not only has the market become more fragmented in recent years but rising inflation rates and the worsening macroeconomic conditions have also increased subscription fatigue and impacted end users' willingness to pay for multiple streaming services at the same time.

Frost Perspective

• With the limitations on subscription-based revenue growth, VOD vendors are innovating their monetization strategies. Major market participants have adopted hybrid approaches, combining subscription, advertising, and pay-per-view strategies. Advertising, in particular, has proven to be a major revenue driver for streaming operators.

Disruptive Technologies

Why

• Rapid technological advancements in the broader M&E and streaming industries, especially with the expansion of artificial intelligence (AI), large language models (LLM), and machine learning (ML) use-cases, are causing significant disruption in the VOD market.

Frost Perspective

• VOD vendors are incorporating technologies such as AI and ML algorithms across their workflows to gain efficiencies in content distribution and advertising insertion, create intelligent recommendation engines, increase content personalization, and boost user interaction on their platforms.

Scope of Analysis

• This study covers the global market for video on demand (VOD) services that go over the top (OTT), i.e., providers that distribute video content directly to customers over a non-managed public internet connection. This report excludes other means of delivering on-demand video, such as satellite services or Internet Protocol TV (IPTV), video-hosting platforms like YouTube, and social live-streaming services such as Twitch or Kick.
• VOD consists of a distribution system that allows users to instantly access and stream their preferred content from a platform's online media library. With the OTT model, end users can access content without requiring any memory space via an open internet connection and compatible devices such as tablets, laptops, smart TVs, smartphones, or streaming sticks. During the past decade, hundreds of VOD platforms emerged across the globe, leading billions of users to adopt these services as their primary entertainment channel.
• This study broadly addresses the global VOD industry in terms of drivers, restraints, and growth opportunities, along with a more detailed quantitative analysis for the subscription video on demand (SVOD) segment of the market. This analysis includes revenue, paid licenses, and net new licenses forecast, as well as a regional market share estimation.

Growth Restraints

• Service providers compete not only against alternative VOD vendors, but also against other types of home entertainment services, such as pay TV, video games, and social media.
• Customer churn and subscription fatigue have turned into a major challenge for VOD platforms in recent years.
• With a growing number of customers cancelling subscriptions, future price increases are limited for vendors. With increasing hours of exclusive content being created by VOD service operators, piracy practices and illegal streaming became more frequent among customers.
• These unauthorized practices significantly impact platforms' ability to generate revenue.
• Changing entertainment habits, especially across the youngest generations, hinder the ability of VOD services to grow.
• With short-form video popularity growing exponentially, longer pieces of content on VOD platforms, such as movies and TV shows, are less able to capture the attention of young audiences.
• Strict regulations on content and user data protection legislation across some geographies increase compliance and operational costs for services providers.
• The lack of necessary digital skills across older age groups hinders future growth and VOD platform adoption among certain demographics.

Growth Drivers

• VOD service providers now operate as production studios.
• The ability to continuously create content and expand video libraries is significantly attracting and retaining users in VOD platforms.
• Constant technological evolution and growing adoption of smart devices with advanced streaming technology like high definition and 4K/8K resolution enhance the user experience and fuel VOD adoption among consumers.
• Rapid advancements in connectivity are notably expanding the VOD addressable market. With higher internet and bandwidth penetration across the globe, an increasing number of end users can access VOD platforms reliably and enjoy low-latency streaming.
• The emergence of new business models, especially ad-supported streaming, significantly boosts growth. AVOD enables revenue streams diversification while allowing users to access content more affordably.
• Developing regions, including markets in Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East, provide a wealth of opportunities for VOD vendors to expand their customer base internationally.
• The rise of AI and ML applications across the streaming industry is helping VOD platforms to gain efficiencies, increase user loyalty, and thus generate further revenue.