To many Americans, relaxation is an evening where you have a lot of time to waste in front of the television with no chores to do for the day. We think that everyone enjoys lying down on a couch and binging on both snacks and movies for a while, and it seems like the world agrees, with an estimated 120 million people still subscribed to pay-TV.
What about the rest of the population, though? Does this mean that the remaining 230 million Americans don't watch TV?
They absolutely do – just not the traditional way. When people think of “watching TV,” they mostly consider viewing video-based entertainment. There's another way to consume your favorite TV shows and movies, though, that does not require a traditional cable or satellite subscription.
That's what we're going to get into today.
What Is Over-the-Top Content?
Over-the-top is a term that is used to refer to any streaming service or platform that is significantly more convenient and tailored to the experience of the viewer when compared to pay-TV subscription bundles.
Take into consideration a traditional bundle, for example, in which you'd pay a certain amount of money every month for the privilege of watching a specific array of content. If the only reason you have television is to watch high-quality videos of beautiful yachts sailing through the Mediterranean, then you'll only be interested in a handful of channels and not pay attention to the other several hundred present in your TV bundle.
Traditional television comes with the assumption that you're prepared to pay a set amount of money for a set amount of services, many of which you don't need, yet are already included in the price. Up until now, there were no alternatives, as pay-TV subscriptions were the only way in which we could easily come across worthwhile entertainment during a particularly boring day.
The rise of over-the-top streaming services, however, has led a lot of Americans to “pull the plug,” and “cut the cord,” when it comes to their TV subscriptions. This is mainly because OTT subscriptions offer very specific bundles that are tailored to what the viewers need.
Sports fans can subscribe to a bundle that primarily provides sports channels. History fans can subscribe to a history-focused OTT streaming platform that, for a fraction of the price of a pay-TV bundle, can offer them thousands of videos about their preferred subject.
The Benefits of OTT Services
First of all, we'll need to brief you on the single requirement to using OTT services: you need to have an internet connection. OTT services function with the use of the internet, which is the reason why you can watch whatever you want, whenever you want.
This is the first and most important advantage of OTT services: mobility. As long as you have a phone or a laptop and an internet connection, you can pretty much watch anything you want, regardless of where you are. In public transport on the way home, and fear that you might lose the first half of an expected sports game? No problem – just turn on your phone and tune into an OTT sports streaming platform.
Another advantage is that OTT services are far less costly than pay-TV bundles. For a traditional TV bundle, you pay a large sum of money for a collection of content that is all over the place and not very relevant to what you want to watch. OTT services cost less and provide you with exactly the sort of content you're looking for.
Most OTT services and platforms also feature exclusive content, such as TV shows that can only be watched on their respective websites. Media giant Netflix is known for this, having a huge variety of branded content that has become very popular and has attracted hundreds of thousands of subscribers.
The Future is Here
Humanity is always evolving, which is why we're not surprised an alternative to inflexible TV bundles has appeared on the horizon. Not only that, but it broke through the misty morning fog of boring and predictable content with a ray so bright it's left us all giddy with excitement at the thought of the next big exclusive content announcement.
Pay-TV just doesn't cut it any longer. How about you join the revolution?
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