8 Reasons to Start A TV Channel Now (And How to Make it Happen)
Have you considered starting your own TV channel? OTT (Over the Top TV) is one of the fastest growing segments of viewers across the U.S.
Businesses, people, and brands can easily have their own channel on services like Roku (27 million subscribers) and Amazon Fire TV (30 million active subscribers), as well as AppleTV. Live streaming on your channel is also available. The cost is very reasonable and affordable for most small businesses.
Ready to learn more? Fill out our form here: https://www.youontvnow.com/get-started/
Let’s define what we are referring to:
OTT= (Over the Top) A device (Roku Express, Amazon Fire Stick) that connects to the internet to facilitate video viewing on TV, desktop, mobile and tablet via dedicated OTT apps/sites
Connected TV = A smart TV with internet capabilities or a regular TV that is connected to an OTT device with internet capabilities (i.e. streaming player)
Digital TV= Online TV content via desktop, mobile & tablet devices
Linear TV= TV provided through a set-top box (STB), which uses cable /satellite to deliver live, scheduled programming on traditional TV channels.
VOD= “Video On Demand” is the opposite of live/scheduled TV, allowing viewers to select and view content at the time of their choosing.
SVOD= “Subscription” VOD services charge a flat subscription fee.
AVOD= “Ad-Supported” VOD is free to watch but includes ads.
But why would you start a TV channel for your business or personal brand?
There are many possible reasons, but these are eight of the most important to consider…
New content formats
-By 2021, it’s estimated that 82 percent of all internet traffic will be for video.
-Internet video to TV will increase threefold between 2017 to 2022.
-Internet video to TV will be 27 percent of fixed consumer Internet video traffic by 2022.
-Consumer Video-on-Demand (VoD) traffic will nearly double by 2022. The amount of VoD traffic by 2022 will be equivalent to 10 billion DVDs per month.
Cisco Visual Networking Index: Forecast and Trends, 2017–2022 White Paper
If you’re interested in content marketing, you’re going to have to consider more formats than just text-based content. Video is important. Don’t ignore it. Embrace it!
Starting a TV channel gives you a powerful medium to produce and distribute video content, which is only going to become more important from here.
Ready to learn more? Fill out our form here: https://www.youontvnow.com/get-started/
Audience Size
You’ll also be engaged with a massive audience. There are more than 27-million Roku users around the world, and 30-million Amazon Fire TV users. Of course, that’s no guarantee that your first video is going to reach 30-million people, but even a fraction of a percent of Roku or Amazon’s user base could give you an enormous amount of visibility. Added with your other social channels, like YouTube and Facebook, could easily multiply your exposure.
Ease of video production
For basic forms of video content, like interviews or monologues, you can get away with a basic setup — a few hundred dollars if you want some basic equipment, or nearly free if you rely on your smartphone. Editing isn’t much of a problem with the basic editing software you likely already have on your laptop. Videos are less expensive and faster to make than you think. Programs like BeLIVE, Camtasia, OBS, and dozens of different apps for Apple and Android are available to make video creation a breeze.
Additional syndication
Your TV Channel isn’t the end of your effort, it’s the beginning. Any video you upload to your channel has the potential to be shared across your other social channels as well (YouTube/Facebook/Twitch). If you produce a clip you think is amazing, you can share it across your other social channels, netting thousands of additional impressions (and hopefully, views), and gaining new followers on every platform.
Marketing Your Channel
Promoting your TV Channel is easy. You can add promotions and directions on how to view your TV Channel, on your own website and social media platforms. You can run ads for your TV Channel on Facebook to inspire more subscribers to your TV Channel. Having a solid marketing plan that integrates the presence of your TV Channel is key.
Engage on Many Platforms
If you engage with your social media followers regularly, they’ll probably start following you on your other channels and platforms. Similarly, if you have existing social followers on platforms like Facebook or Twitter (or email subscribers), it won’t take much convincing for them to subscribe to your TV channel as well.
Direct revenue
If your TV channel becomes popular enough, it could become a source of additional revenue for your business. You can enable 7-minute roll ads and pre-roll and post-roll ads on your videos. Selling advertising on your channel is completely up to you and your team.
YouTube Demonetization
It’s harder than ever to make money on YouTube.
“Demonetization” is the YouTube community’s word of the day, the year, and the future. If creators can’t monetize their videos, it becomes increasingly more difficult to earn a living from making videos full-time.
Julia Alexander– https://www.polygon.com/2018/5/10/17268102/youtube-demonetization-pewdiepie-logan-paul-casey-neistat-philip-defranco
The continued trend of demonetization has been a long-standing issue amongst the content creation community. Looking at the various flashpoints of the ‘Adpocalypses’ a trend that suggests YouTube is moving away from the grassroots, independent content creator in favor of larger advertisers is coming into sharper focus. Because of this, it could very well become necessary for certain business to consider alternative avenues of advertisingin order to reach the most effective audience for their product or service.
Peter Thomson- https://learn.g2.com/youtube-demonetization
Moving Forward
Let’s say you’re interested in starting a TV channel. What should you do first?
Identify a target audience
Plan-ahead if you want to be successful. Everything starts with your target audience.
- Who are these videos going to be for?
- What are their core values?
- What content do they want, but are currently lacking?
- What age group are you targeting?
What is Your Specialty?
Figure out what your competitors are doing and find a way to differentiate yourself. Ideally, you’ll find a niche in which you’re an expert, but one specific enough to hold off the competition. With that in mind, you can start crafting your initial content drafts.
Just having a TV Channel is a great differentiator, but that won’t last long. Adopting this format early is the best way to set the precedent and claim your territory.
Produce your initial content or use your current YouTube content
Now it’s time to start your business’s channel (Which can be a little complicated if you have never done it.)You’ll want to produce your first few videos to upload so your channel has multiple pieces of content to view.
Choose an OTT or Connected TV Channel development partner, such as You. On TV, Now!, who will create and launch your channel in the Roku Channel Store, Amazon Fire TV App Store, and in the AppleTV App Store.
Create a production schedule
From there, create and commit to a production schedule. Produce at least one new video every week. You’ll also want a small stash of videos so you always have something to publish, even if you’re running behind schedule on your latest contributions. Consistency is key to maintain your audience’s loyalty.
Start marketing
With all these other ingredients in place, you’ll want to start marketing your channel, as well as the videos contained within for subscribers. You’ll follow many of the same considerations that you would for traditional online marketing, such as promoting it on various social media channels, promoting each new episode or video, and frequently reminding your audience that they can see you on TV. As your subscriber count increases, you’ll learn what’s working and what isn’t.
Sample Statistics for One Channel on ROKU Over the Last 30 Days
Are you ready to get started on the TV Channel extension of your brand?
It’s going to take some work, but if you have the audience for it, and the content your viewers crave, you could explode your brand — and make some money at the same time.