More than half (52%) of OTT service providers are researching, getting ready to launch or have already launched VR-video content, according to a global study commissioned by Level 3 Communications.
Unisphere Research, in partnership with Streaming Media, interviewed 628 people from media and entertainment companies across the globe.
Findings show that 67% of OTT service providers believe VR is here to stay, but they acknowledged primary business and technical challenges including a lack of consumer awareness, interest and fear of competition from free services, user-generated content and bandwidth caps.
Close to 50% of respondents have plans for 4K broadcasts, 4K VOD streaming and/or 4K live-linear or live event streaming.
On the HDR and HFR front, almost 70% of respondents confirmed they offer or plan to offer both HFR in existing HD video, as well as offering HDR content for greater color depth.
Also, 87% of respondents stated offering OTT services is a viable revenue opportunity.
About half of respondents (48%) expected their OTT revenue to grow between 11%-50% from 2015 to 2016, and almost 20% of respondents anticipated growth to be more than 50 percent year over year.
Some impending OTT sevice offerings are expected to begin emphasizing live OTT content over on-demand content. If this occurs, it will signal the first time the OTT industry has highlighted live content instead of on-demand content and catch-up services.