The Democratization Of Education Via OTT Video

There is no doubt that the Over-the-Top Video-on-demand phenomenon has transcended beyond just entertainment. When you think of OTT video on demand, you just do not stop at Netflix or Amazon Prime anymore. The month of November 2019 witnessed Viacom18 launch its edutainment OTT platform VOOT Kids. There was also the launch of Hungama Kids, yet another OTT platform for kids that aims at providing a delightful mix of learning and fun.

The proliferation of smartphones and exponentially increasing internet penetration have enabled the world-wide democratization of education. As any information we seek is just a click away and truly at our fingertips, learning is not restricted to classrooms only. OTT VOD services will further revolutionize education by virtualizing the classroom where students can learn anytime, anyplace, on any device of their choice at their own pace of learning. OTT plays a vital part in the digital transformation of the education sector by shifting from the physicality of the classroom-based education delivery to a virtual environment that is augmented by immersive video lectures, interactive quizzes, real-time knowledge sharing in the form of webinars etc.

The need for OTT Video in Education:

Burgeoning population coupled with the need for students seeking higher education provides one of the most solid foundations of trying to disseminate education via alternate means. Not long ago, UNESCO, together with the International Institute for Educational Planning and the Global Education Monitoring Report published a report that pointed out that between 2000 and 2014, the number of students in higher education grew to 207 million globally. Add to it another 1.3 bn who are currently pursuing primary and secondary education. The present generation of students are digital natives who have grown up on Youtube videos. Education via Multimedia channels is not an alien concept to them. And with worldwide revenues from OTT digital video predicted to have reached 20.6 bn USD by 2019 (Source: Analyst firm Ovum), there cannot be a better time to invest in this sector.

Benefits of Monetizing video for Education:

The continued profitability and exponential growth of demand for online video in the education sector establish that the fact that the business of monetizing videos is here to stay. As per Global Business data platform Statista, revenue in the Video Streaming segment is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.1% between 2020 to 2024 resulting in a market volume of USD 30,410 m by 2024. With cord-cutting on the rise, user penetration is likely to grow from 15.2% in 2020 to 16.9% by 2024.

Educational videos have the scope to generate sustained revenues for a longer duration. Also, by monetizing educational videos instructors can see a substantial reduction in the amount of time they spend in classrooms thereby freeing up time for more dialogue and QnA sessions with students. As for the students, they can set their own pace of learning and can learn anywhere, anytime and on any device of their choice. The fact that they are paying for the video content could encourage them to value the content more and increase engagement with the material.

How to monetize Educational Video content?

Educational video content can be monetized using the popular VOD monetization models. The scenarios are represented below:

1. TVOD: This is a great model for students who are seeking individual courses or want to pace their own learning. Via this model they can opt to pay for each of the courses, they want to access. Some examples of these are Udemy, Coursera, etc where students sign up for specific courses and have full access to that content.
2. SVOD: One of the prominent examples of SVOD in education is the famous learning app that has thousands of hours of content. It provides access to unlimited content at an affordable price per month.
3. AVOD: With all the ad blockers around, this VOD monetization model is considered inferior to both TVOD and SVOD. However, one must remember that people do use Youtube for educational purposes as well and Youtube is one of the prominent examples of AVOD.
4. Live Classrooms: Yet another method to monetize educational videos is via Live Classrooms. As mobile data plans become more affordable, live streaming of classes online is evolving as a prospective tool for monetizing video by Edtech companies such as Unacademy, Toppr, Doubtbox, Vedantu etc. KPMG in collaboration with Google have reported that the paid subscriber base for online education will likely reach 9.6 mn by 2021. It is this captive student base that the Edtech firms want to monetize further by offering live video subscriptions on their own platforms.

Conclusion

In the Digital epoch, linear media services give way to interactive non-linear services. The education sector is strategically poised to capitalize on the burgeoning OTT video content industry. It is also evident from various sources of market research that the insatiable appetite for great educational videos will not get stymied soon. This makes monetizing educational videos a wonderful proposition for educational video content owners.

HSC has been helping content owners not only manage their assets and their metadata but can also test video content under different network conditions as well as get deeper insights into student viewing patterns and improve the quality of viewing experience. We have worked on projects in the education and hospitality sector that involved similar experiences and would love to assist you to help your online education VOD business grow.

References

1. Looking into the future, over the top: OTT trends that will lead the way in 2019
2. What Is the Best OVP to Stream Live Paid Educational Videos?
3. Converging Advances in Online Learning: OTT, OER, and OEI
4. Edtech firms see money in live streaming classes