Content creators and businesses in today's digital landscape constantly seek innovative ways to engage with their audiences and establish their brand presence. One such avenue that has gained significant traction is having their own streaming platform. Owning an Over the Top (OTT) streaming platform provides numerous advantages, from greater control over content distribution to the ability to monetize their creations. However, building a custom streaming platform from scratch can be a time-consuming and complex process. Thankfully, using a third-party service to create a custom streaming platform offers a quick and easy solution to these challenges. 

This article will explore why content creators and businesses should want their own streaming platform, the benefits of leveraging third-party services to achieve this goal, and several commercially available services.

WHY 3RD PARTY?

Content creators and businesses should consider using a third-party streaming platform for several compelling reasons:

1. A third-party streaming platform offers a broad reach and access to a large and diverse audience. By leveraging these platforms, content creators and businesses can tap into a global user base, increasing the visibility and exposure of their content or products.
2. These platforms provide advanced analytics and insights, enabling content creators and businesses to gather valuable data about their audience, including demographics, viewing habits, and engagement metrics. This information can be leveraged to optimize content and marketing strategies, ensuring that the right content reaches the right people at the right time.
3. Third-party streaming platforms often provide monetization opportunities through advertisements, sponsorships, or subscription models. This allows content creators and businesses to generate revenue and sustain their operations.
4. Partnering with a third-party streaming platform reduces the technical burden and costs of building and maintaining an in-house streaming infrastructure.

These platforms provide reliable and scalable streaming solutions, freeing up resources to focus on content creation and business development. In conclusion, utilizing a third-party streaming platform can offer content creators and businesses a multitude of benefits, including broad audience reach, valuable analytics, monetization opportunities, and simplified technical requirements.

WHAT 3RD PARTY STREAMING PLATFORMS ARE AVAILABLE?

Video platforms have emerged as powerful tools for content creators, revolutionizing how we consume and share information online. With their rising popularity, these platforms have become the standard digital services delivered online, offering a perfect medium for professionals dedicated to content creation, music, and much more.

There is a wide range of providers that offer similar services. Here are three:

Zype

Zype markets itself as the only solution that offers an end-to-end platform out of the box, serving as a flexible, API-centric architecture to create customized experiences. They boast an open framework that enables enterprises to utilize their storage, encoding, video player, DAM/MAM, or CDN to serve as a hub for video infrastructure.

Their full-stack video API enables encoding, storage, player management, playout, and playlist management for long and short-form video clips, linear video feeds, and live streams, all powered by a headless Video API that serves over 3 billion monthly requests. 

With Zype, you can create a powerful video paywall compatible with any player, stream, or payment service. For marketers, Zype supports a robust data capture to collect customer information at the point of viewing. All major mobile and TV marketplaces are pre-integrated, so your development team can devote all their time to innovation.

Cloudflare

When one thinks of Cloudflare, it's usually their CDN that provides improved performance for millions of websites worldwide come to mind. But that same technology backbone can be utilized to build a streaming platform for organizations at a comparatively low price point. 

One of the primary advantages of using Cloudflare's Anycast network is its ability to reduce video startup times and buffering significantly. Traditional video delivery methods often suffer from lengthy loading times, causing frustration for viewers. However, Cloudflare's network strategically caches and delivers HTTP(S) video content, including adaptive bitrate formats, resulting in a seamless and uninterrupted video playback experience.

Bandwidth costs can quickly add up for website owners, especially when streaming videos to a large audience. Cloudflare recognizes this challenge and offers a cost-effective solution. Organizations can save valuable resources on origin server bandwidth costs by leveraging their network. 

VPlayed

VPlayed emphasizes its branding options, allowing content owners to fully customize their streaming platforms. With a plethora of options, businesses can create a unique, visually appealing website that aligns with their brand identity.

One of the key advantages of VPlayed's white-label video streaming solution is the ability to monetize content seamlessly. Content owners can explore monetization options, such as ad integrations, subscription models, pay-per-view, and more, to generate revenue while delivering content to their audiences.

In the vast landscape of OTT service providers, choosing the right platform can significantly impact the success of your business. From user-friendly interfaces and comprehensive analytics to advanced customization options and global reach, OTT service providers today offer a diverse range of features tailored to meet your specific needs. By carefully evaluating your demands and objectives, you can select the perfect fit that envisions the growth of your OTT venture.