Over-the-top content
The term over-the-top content (OTT) describes the transmission of video and audio content via Internet access without an Internet service provider being involved in the control or distribution of the content. These can be free or paid offers.
Registration is usually not necessary for news content. The content is often provided by major media companies such as NBC Universal and News Corp and their individual broadcasters. The offer thus represents an alternative to common Internet video portals . Financing can be provided through advertisements or subscriptions. The user has to register for films and series, as these services are usually chargeable.
transmission
Although the Internet service provider has knowledge of the IP packets sent, he is not responsible for the copyrights, viewing of the material and possible forwarding of the content. He is also not able to control these, but only takes care of the transport of the packages through his provided infrastructure. The OTT process can be seen as a counterpart to the older IPTV offers of the major Internet service providers ( Telekom Entertain or Vodafone GIGA TV). The new offers such as Magenta TV from Telekom are now also designed as an OTT service. OTT also only refers to content that is provided by a third party (e.g. Hulu , Amazon Prime , Twitch or Netflix ).
reception
Users can access OTT content via Internet- connected devices such as smart TVs , PCs , laptops , tablets , set-top boxes and game consoles such as the PlayStation 4 , Nintendo Wii or the Xbox 360 . By checking the IP address, the content is restricted country-specifically.
Problems
OTT providers do not participate in the infrastructure measures for broadband network expansion up to the consumer, although they are usually the trigger for higher bandwidths. Network operators are not involved in the business model of OTT providers.
The OTT method requires a sufficiently high data rate ( DSL ) and can therefore not be used with all Internet connections. Due to the different end devices (television, smartphone, tablet) with different resolutions and operating systems , the providers of OTT content have to adapt their content so that the content can be shown correctly on all platforms.
Situation in Germany
In Germany , due to copyright and license issues, OTT offers with current offers were initially rather rare. MyVideo was the largest German online video portal that can be described as an OTT offer . The content that can be offered via OTT is not licensed worldwide, but mostly nationally and is therefore mostly subject to a charge. For this reason, users in Germany initially only had the option of accessing their own productions via the fee- financed media libraries ( ARD Mediathek or ZDFmediathek ) of the individual broadcasters. Netflix and Amazon Prime are the world's leading providers of OTT services. In addition, there are Sky Go , Dazn and Eurosport Player offerings, which offer exclusive sports rights as paid streams.
Over-the-top TV
"Over-the-top TV" is a process that allows customers to receive Internet content on their television sets. Peripheral devices such as DVD players or game consoles receive content from the Internet via a (wireless) LAN connection and send it to the TV set. Often this content is specially prepared for the TV set (e.g. Google TV , Apple TV , Chromecast ) so that easier navigation using a remote control is possible.