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Streaming Service

Streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, or Disney+ have become an integral part of our lives and today, it’s hard to imagine a leisurely weekend without binge-watching your favorite series. The popularity of streaming services opens a whole new niche for aspiring tech startups who want to create the next big thing in the Netflix-dominated industry. But how exactly do you develop a video streaming app and how to start a streaming service in general? In this article, we break down the process into several steps that you can use as a base for your business strategy.

What is the VoD and OTT service?

Before getting down to the development, it is important to understand the terminology. The two most commonly used terms are:

  • VoD: video on demand. Implies a video distribution system that grants users access to various content upon their request.
  • OTT: over-the-top. Means a streaming platform that provides services beyond the traditional ones (like cable TV). 

If you need an example, think of Netflix (obviously). It is a video-on-demand OOT streaming service that allows users to choose which exact content they want to watch and on what device. But what makes it so good? The answer is outstanding performance, rich functionality, and captivating design. All that can be achieved through partnering with a reliable entertainment software development company SoftTeco. In this way, you won’t have to worry about assembling and managing a development team since we will take care of these processes. All you have to do is provide us with your business strategy and we will use it as a base to outline a detailed video streaming app development plan with tangible milestones. But before you start streaming service, let’s first focus on the main functionality of a streaming application.

Essential features of a Netflix-like app

For many people, Netlfix is firmly associated with its signature sound, which is played while the capital letter “N” appears on the screen. But apart from that, what makes this platform so appealing to millions of users worldwide? 

The core features of any good video streaming app are:

  • User registration: allows users to seamlessly manage their preferred content and access their profile from any device. Don’t forget to include an option of a registration via social networks and Google to make it easier for users. 
  • Content search: the biggest selling point of VoD platforms is that they let users independently select and manage the content they want to view. Hence, you should enable search by genres, types of content, country of production, etc. 
  • Recommendations: personalized recommendations powered by machine learning enable you to provide relevant recommendations to users based on their search history. 
  • Payment gateway: you want to provide various payment options to users to avoid bounce rate so it’s important to integrate a reliable and secure payment gateway. 
  • Screencasting: another important feature that enables users to share the content of their mobile device on a smart TV via the Wi-Fi connection.

Of course, this list includes only several core features of a video streaming app and once you get down to the development, the list will expand significantly. And since we mentioned development, let’s finally discuss how to create a streaming service step by step.

The main steps of video streaming app development

The steps listed below will help you create your unique business strategy and can serve as a base for defining your own plan for media streaming software development. 

Find the right niche

Since video streaming is a highly competitive industry, you need to have a very clear understanding of what exact niche you want to occupy. This also includes crafting a detailed business plan and deciding on the type of content that you want to include in your platform. To get you started, here are three most popular niches to consider: entertainment, education, and fitness. Once you make your mind on the content type, it will be easier for you to decide on the app’s functionality and design since they will be based on the selected niche.

Decide on the content availability and get licensing

When you create streaming service, content is the king so the next step is to actually build your content. This includes deciding what the content sources will be and how often you will update it. 

For the first question, you need to decide whether you will partner with media houses and content owners, create content yourself, or both. In case of a partnership, you will obviously need to get licensing agreements – either from a disgributor or from a copyright holder. 

As for the content update frequency, think about how often you will be adding new content and whether there will be any paid content on the platform in addition to the one included in the subscription. Netflix, for example, adds all episodes of new series at once and updates its content on a monthly basis, with some movies and series becoming unavailable after a specific time period.

Decide on the monetization strategy

This brings us to the next question – monetization aka the way you will bill customers. There are several options available:

  • Subscription: the most popular payment model that bills customers on a regular basis and in exchange, offers unlimited access to the content library. Fees are usually charged on a monthly basis though some platforms offer yearly subscriptions at discounted prices.
  • Advertisement: in this case, you do not charge your users but receive money from advertisement. This means, you allow third parties to display their ads on your platform.
  • Pay per view: this model is mostly suitable for such content as sports events or live streaming since users pay only for those videos that they watch.

Think about design

Design is a big part of a video streaming app as it not only attracts users but makes their app experience more enjoyable. If we look at Netflix, not only does it have memorable branding but approaches its UX/UI design in a very smart manner. For example, it plays previews of TV shows and movies to help the user make a decision and allows changing language or adding subtitles in a very intuitive way. Thus, think what extra value you can bring to users with the help of design – and it might become your main USP.

Create an MVP and collect feedback

Finally, we highly recommend creating an MVP before full-fledged video streaming app development. An MVP, aka a minimum viable product, implies the development of a functioning application with only core functionality. This approach allows testing the app’s idea with real users, collect feedback and implement improvements before the app is officially launched. This, in turn, helps save money on app development and ensure that the app fully corresponds to users’ expectations and needs.

A word on tech stack

One more thing worth discussing in the light of the “ how to start a streaming service” question is the tech stack of your video streaming application. While you will be selecting the technologies based on your app type and desired functionality, the most popular tools and platforms are:

  • Web development: Node.js, C#
  • Mobile development: Kotlin (Android), Swift (iOS)
  • Smart TV: React, C#, Node.js
  • Content streaming: AWS

We recommend consulting with your software development partner to select the most fitting technologies for your project before you start streaming service. In this way, you will avoid extra costs and will ensure that the delivered results will match your expectations and vision.