Video on Demand App Development: Features, Benefits, Cost & More

Video on demand (VoD) has revolutionized the way we access video content. Binge-watching offers users to enjoy their favorite movies, seasons, and videos uninterrupted with any time, anywhere convenience.

Streaming apps like Hulu & Netflix have become an integral part of our lives just like GrubHub or Uber. And, the increase in Smartphones and Smart TV usage has further boosted the number of subscriptions for VOD services across the globe.

Due to this, video-on-demand app development has taken the center stage for companies in the Media & Entertainment Industry. If you want to capitalize on this lucrative market opportunity and explore its future potential then this article is for you.

Table of Contents:

• What is a VOD App?
• Compelling Reasons to Invest in VOD Application Development
• Benefits of VOD App Development
• VOD Monetization Models
• Must-have Video Streaming App Features to Consider
• VOD application development process – Essentials
• On-Demand Video App Development Cost Considerations

A video-on-demand app is essentially a media application software that enables users to select and stream any video file listed in the system of any smart device to watch at their convenience. They can stream even it live or download it for future access.

The anytime flexibility, affordability, and variety coupled with the freedom to watch videos of choice make it attractive to the masses. Naturally, the demand for such apps has increased exponentially.

The business potential of the video streaming market is massive. And, now is the time to invest in a video streaming app.

Here’s why!

• The video streaming market is anticipated to generate a revenue of $124.6 billion by 2025. (Techjury, 2020)
• By the end of 2021, SVOD subscriptions are expected to be 383 million worldwide. (Techjury, 2020)
• 45% of video viewers would pay for live streaming from their favorite performer, speaker, or sports team. (Livestream, 2018)
• Search engine results revealed that there was a 300-500% boost in searches for live streaming apps during 2020. (Google Trends)
• The fitness industry witnessed a big boom with an increase of 1300% in minutes streamed, during the lockdown from March to August 2020. (Uscreen, 2020)

The above-mentioned statistics do validate that the fact that VOD industry has a rewarding future. Further, we’re witnessing a surge with different industries, like M&E, Sports, Education, Health & Wellness and more investing in video-on-demand app development projects to generate a fair deal of revenues.

Here are the top 6 reasons why people prefer video streaming apps over traditional TV content. So make sure your app offers all of these benefits!

1. Anytime, Anywhere Convenience 
   The freedom to stream and watch videos without location and time boundation without disrupting the schedule for the day is the great benefit of any VoD application.
2. A Wide Variety of Content
   Video streaming apps offer a wide variety of videos that caters to the taste and preference of every family member. From movies and web series to fitness and sports, every category is further subdivided for quick and easy access.
3. No Dependency on any Device
   Unlike Cable TV, VOD applications can stream content on all types of devices. Whether it is a laptop, smart TV, iPad, or smartphone, users can watch videos uninterrupted.
4. Ad-Free Viewing Experience
   A constant influx of random ads in between the sports telecast, movies and shows is a major drawback of television viewing. But with on-demand video streaming platforms, the viewers can binge-watch videos, ad-free.
5. Budget-friendly for Users
   People ideally prefer affordable plans with maximum entertainment. Content owners can build platforms that offer unlimited access to diverse video content on any device with pocket-friendly options.
6. Steady Stream of Passive Income
   VoD apps generate income from content creators and distributors who use the platform to launch & promote their videos. Apart from this, the monthly fees provide passive income every month.

Before you unlock the full potential of the live video streaming market, it is important to learn how these apps make money.

SVOD: The Subscription Video-on-demand model requires its subscribers to pay a monthly fee to access the app and watch unlimited videos. These services include platforms like Hulu Plus, HBO Go & Amazon Prime Video.

TVOD: With the Transactional Video-on-demand distribution model, users have to pay for the videos they want to watch. A cost-effective plan as it offers the users to only pay for individual content pieces that they want to watch.

AVOD: This is an ad-centric model that is entirely free for viewing videos. YouTube is an example of the Ad-based, on-demand plan. However, it is also a hybrid model that combines all the 3 models.

Being a highly competitive marketplace, it is important to analyze, map and assess the viewing preferences of your target audience before creating a list of key features for consideration. Meanwhile, we’ve done some groundwork for you and listed the core features that you might need to launch your video streaming app.

Social Signups and Login
VOD app development team must prioritize multiple registration options to make sign-ups quick and easy. If you want to maximize subscriptions, users should be able to sign up using any social media account.

Recommendation Algorithm (AI)
The advanced analytics with the help of machine learning and artificial intelligence would collect & monitor the ranking and reviews from the users to recommend and filter the final content that will be pushed to the user’s screen.

Realtime Analytics
An important element of a VoD app, it would help the strategic planning for the M&E company on how to market their content and when. With statistics in the form of pie charts, reports and dashboards this would provide a real-time performance of live shows with audience retention numbers.

Management of Digital Assets 
The video streaming app store helps organize the digital assets (videos) with secure inventorization of videos with restricted rights.

Data Management 
The streaming apps archive all their data for future needs. Any relayed stream is sent straight to the user’s device via the server and gets deleted after it is viewed. This feature ensures that the video provider’s server completes the transmission after the broadcast is complete.

Role-based Dashboards
User behavior analysis is essential for the success of any marketing strategy. Visualization dashboards offer inputs and insights on usage patterns, time spent can be monitored through the app.

Bitrate
A service provider must ensure that all the videos are high quality and have the required bandwidth for the network connection of different devices.

Multiple Revenue Models 
Different monetization models such as VOD, SVOD, and AVOD, or third-party ads with the option of skip or view are good ways for generating revenue.

Even OTT platforms & apps allow greater flexibility with pricing, how viewers access content and provide recommendations on what to watch. They are taking the online entertainment industry by storm. You must act now if you want a profitable piece of this popular pie.

To Build a user-centric on-demand video App, you’ll need to find a profitable niche for which you want to create and distribute quality content.

Step1: Get Your Product License
You can build a VOD delivery system based on enterprise video platforms or you can use cloud-based platforms. However, for distributing a large volume of video content to a wider audience, you need to avail of B2B licensing from content owners.

Step 2: Choose the Right CDN
The content delivery network distributes dynamic location-based videos on mobile apps with enhanced personalization. Based on your primary geographic focus you will have to select a CDN provider. It can help serve billions of requests simultaneously without reducing load times.

Step 3: Avail a Hosting Service
Video hosting solutions that are based on a SaaS platform come with an in-built streaming server. This server makes it easy to manage and distribute your video content.

Step 4: Select the Storage Space
Cloud synchronization is beneficial for storing and protecting data. It ensures seamless app functionality even when videos are streamed offline.

Step 5: Finalize on Key Features
With a multi-user video streaming app, it is very important to think like the average user. We’ve included all the must-have features above for you to consider and decide on what works for the requirement.

Step 6: Design the UI/UX
In line with step 5, it is critical to study your target user’s behavior patterns, preferences and other related factors to offer the right user experience. It involves a combination of essentials like elaborate graphics, color themes, icons, and their placement with seamless interconnections, intuitiveness, and logic.

Step 7: Develop the VOD App
Along with intuitive experience, it is vital to have robust connections with the database, the app server, and the webservers. When the core of the backend architecture is complete, functionality can be worked out.

Step 8: Test & Launch
The QA must ensure there are no flaws and shortcomings in the product quality. And, they are addressed to avoid future issues. The stage is vital to ensure a glitch-free app beta release before the final version. It eliminates the possibility of bugs and functionality issues that can lead to the failure of your launched VOD app.

The total cost of the development project will depend on various factors like the type and size of the app, integrated channels, platforms, devices, customization, maintenance costs, and other complexities.
The main factors would include;

• Design of the app
• Type of Features
• Technology Stack
  • Frontend: React & Java
  • Backend: HTTP Live Streaming, MPEG-DASH, Node.js
  • CDN: AWS
  • Media processing platform: AWS Elemental Media Services
  • Database: Amazon DynamoDB, MongoDB
  • Streaming Media System: Nginx server, Helix Universal Server
  • Compressing and converting video: REDIS server, queue concept
  • Real-time Analytics – Hadoop, Apache, Spark
  • Data Management – Datastax

Based on your choice of business model, you need to hire an experienced app development partner who has the expertise and the technology stack to realize your business vision. Rishabh Software can help you develop custom VoD applications as part of our media and entertainment software development focus. We integrate all the essential features available in a comprehensive video streaming platform. Plus, you get the assurance of data security, scalability, and prompt support with full customization!

At Rishabh Software, our developers have the expertise and domain knowledge to build secure, feature-rich, and high-performing VOD apps compatible with all platforms.