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PART 1: Please provide a competitive analysis of 3 top video hosting companies.
Hello! Thanks for requesting a competitive analysis of three top video hosting companies. The most useful sources I found to answer your question are the reviews from the DeCast website. The short version is that Kaltura, Bright Cove, and Ooyala are three of the top video hosting companies in the Online Video Platform (OVP) space. Generally, the strengths of these companies reside in the areas of monetization through ad revenue and customization capabilities. Their weaknesses are concentrated around the difficulty in the assesment of their pricing. Below you will find a deep dive of my findings.
KALTURA
Kaltura's two main offerings include VPaaS--Video Platform as a Service--and Kaltura Management Console (KMC), a one-stop-shop for managing, publishing, distributing, and monetzing media. The latter is a robust platform that offers various customization options, and its open-source nature allows developers and community members to develop and expand features. This company was founded in 2006, and it is based in New York City. Kultura's big clients include MetLife, Toggle, SAP, and the University of New Hampshire.
KMC allows bulk uploads, granular access control, and live streaming. Because of its open-source nature, extensibility is one of its benefits. Also, reviewers say that Kaltura integrates well with other systems. But when it comes to the LMS (learning management systems), some reviewers say that integration could be better.
The VPaaS platform allows people to develop their own video workflows with a set of comprehensive APIs. Its offering also includes a set of SDKs, developer tools, and code recipes.
Hosting and streaming services via Kaltura VPaaS are sold using a pay-as-you-go model. The charge of bandwidth is $0.10 per GB. Storage is $0.20 per GB. Transcoding is $2.25 per GB. Live streaming uses a flat rate of $0.25 per minute streamed. Based on usage, billing is done monthly. Because Kultura is aimed at larger businesses, its plan starts at $1,000 per month.
One of Kaltura's drawbacks is that its platform is complex--too much for the average user. Negative reviews state that the platform is extremely difficult to customize, and that its user interface is clumsy. Social media sharing requires users to visit an external page. For new streamers, VPaaS is unpredictable when it comes to calculating pricing.
BRIGHT COVE
This is an online video platform that provides video marketing resources for building viewership. The streaming service they offer is called Video Cloud, and it is useful for on-demand and live content. The product allows video monetization through advertisements and content distribution. This company has been the leader of the Online Video Platform (OVP) space for a few years, and they work with many large publishers. Some of the big names that use Bright Cove include Conde Nast, Newsweek, the New York Times Company, Ford, BBC Worldwide, Time Inc., Gannet, Samsung, Oracle, Merck, and Vox.
Video Cloud offers a three screen strategy that allows viewers to see content on various devices with no difference in quality. It will also sync your media library into a single CDN account, and it offers a strong stream encryption (RTMPe) that prevents people from pirating and ripping content. It further ensures that this content is only played in authorized locations. In the basic package, users can chose the advertising on their videos. Bright Cove is highly customizable and can be used with plug-ins. Its servers are fast and work well with live streaming. Also, it offers great analytical depth.
Bright Cove offers three pricing plans: an Express Package, Professional Package, and an Enterprise Package. All of these are custom-like, depending on the needs of the client. Some reviewers see their pricing as a drawback. Cost is related to individual requirements, and, after the initial thirty-day free trial, the lack of pricing clarity is a challenge.
OOYALA
Ooyala doesn't have the market share of Bright Cove, but it does have a reputation for offering a better analytics system. They have a similar spec when it comes to quality, but Ooyala is more video-content centric . With Bright Cove, all of its system and procedures are based around the player; for Ooyala they are based around video. Important companies that use Ooyala include Sky Sports, NBC Universal, Mediacorp, RTL, STV, and channel 4.
Ooyala's smart engagement feature allows content owners to calculate their ROI and get an idea of their annual average revenue. Ooyala allows users to view TV quality video on multiple devices, and its security uses Encrypted Real Time Messaging Protocol (RTMPE) to limit content to specific geographical areas.
Monetization for videos uses top ad platforms; this is Ooyala's focal point. It allows for the customization of content and ads. Viewers are centrally and automatically charged through Ooyala's easy management system.
This company offers four different pricing packages: Publisher Package, Standard Package, Professional Package, and an Enterprise Package. However, with the exception of the Standard Package, one must contact them to discuss the pricing of these packages. The Standard Package is priced at $500/month, but the extent of what this covers is not disclosed.
CONCLUSION
To wrap it up, Kaltura, Bright Cove, and Ooyala are three of the top video hosting companies in the Online Video Platform (OVP) space. Generally, the strengths of these companies reside in the areas of monetization through ad revenue and customization capabilities. Their weaknesses are concentrated around the difficulty in the assesment of their pricing.Thanks for using Wonder! Please let us know if we can help with anything else!