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An over-the-top media service (also known as over-the-top television, OTT TV, or simply OTT) is a digital distribution service of video and audio delivered directly to viewers via the public Internet, rather than through an over-the-air, cable, satellite, or IPTV provider.[1][2][3] The term is synonymous with "streaming platform".[4]
OTT bypasses broadcast, cable, and satellite transmissions—the system through which companies have traditionally acted as controllers or distributors of television content. This content may include shows and movies for which the OTT acquired licensed rights from the content owner.[7][8][9] Programming may also include original content produced by the service or specifically for it.[10][11][12]
In 2011, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), Canada's telecommunications regulator, stated that it "considers that Internet access to programming independent of a facility or network dedicated to its delivery (via, for example, cable or satellite) is the defining feature of what has been termed 'over-the-top' services".[25]
In contrast to video on demand systems offered by cable and IPTV, which operate over managed networks where channels can be changed instantly and thus content available instantaneously, some OTT services such as iTunes require that the video be downloaded first and then played.[26] Relatedly, some OTT services require movie download but can start playing the content before the download completes (streaming).[27]
any entity that provides video programming by means of the Internet or other Internet Protocol (IP)-based transmission path where the transmission path is provided by a person other than the OVD. An OVD does not include an MVPD inside its MVPD footprint or an MVPD to the extent it is offering online video programming as a component of an MVPD subscription to customers whose homes are inside its MVPD footprint.
In broadcasting, over-the-top (OTT) content is the audio, video, and other media content delivered over the Internet, without the involvement of a multiple-system operator (MSO) in the control or distribution of the content. The Internet provider may be aware of the contents of the Internet Protocol (IP) packets and may be able to block or restrict their transit to end users (unless that internet provider operates within a jurisdiction that requires "net neutrality"). However, the ISP is not responsible for the viewing abilities, copyrights, and/or other redistribution of the content from the OTT provider. This model contrasts with the purchasing or rental of video or audio content from an Internet service provider, such as pay television, video on demand and internet protocol television (IPTV).[a]
OTT refers to content from a third party that is delivered to an end-user, with the ISP simply transporting IP packets.[30][31][32][33] OTT content is delivered via the public Internet instead of a closed, private network system that uses exclusive equipment like set-top boxes,[34] or through IPTV services (such as U-verse TV).[citation needed]
OTT television signals are received over the Internet or through a cell phone network, as opposed to receiving television signals from terrestrial broadcasters, cable networks, or via satellite transmission. The video distributor controls access through an app, a separate OTT dongle, or a box connected to a phone, PC, or smart television set.[35] By mid-2017, 58 percent of US households accessed one OTT service in a given month through a streaming device, game console, or Smart TV; with 84 per cent of advertising revenues originating from OTT channels, exceeding revenues from videos playing in web browsers on desktops and laptops.[35]
In 2019, the record of simultaneous users watching an OTT event was set at 18.6 million in India by Disney Entertainment's video streaming platform Hotstar.[36] This was surpassed in 2023 with 59 million concurrent viewers on Disney+ Hotstar.[37] In 2025, the record was broken again with 61.2 million viewers on JioHotstar.[38][b]
In 2023, the viewing of TV content on streaming platforms represented 38% of global television consumption with 1.8 billion subscriptions to OTT platforms.[20] In 2024, OTT TV became the most popular content in the US.[c] By 2025, it had surpassed cable and network television viewing.[23]
The results of a 2018 in-house data analysis of their subscribers by Uscreen (a membership platform for video creators and entrepreneurs) reported that 45% used iOS and Android mobile devices to access their OTT content, while 39% used web browsers for streaming.[42]
The term "OTT" has also been used to describe no-carrier cellphones, for which all communications are charged as data,[43] avoiding monopolistic competition, or apps for phones that transmit data in this manner, including both those that replace other call methods[44][45] and those that update software.[45][46][12][47]
OTT voice calling, usually called VoIP, capabilities, for instance, a softphone or as provided by FaceTime, Skype, Viber, WhatsApp, WeChat, and Zoom use open internet communication protocols to replace and sometimes enhance existing operator controlled services offered by mobile phone operators.[51]
^IPTV is the delivery of television content using signals based on the logical Internet protocol (IP), rather than through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal and cable television formats.
^Disney+ Hotstar India and JioCinema merged to form JioHotstar on February 14, 2025. Hotstar was launched February 11, 2015 and rebranded as Disney+ Hotstar on April 3, 2020. JioCinema was launched on May 4, 2016.[39]
^"What started as [a] niche corner in the media landscape in the early 2000s has grown to the dominant form of TV viewing in the U.S."[5]
^Gibbon, David C.; Liu, Zhu (2008). Introduction to Video Search Engines. Washington, DC: Federal Communications Commission (FCC). p. 251. Bibcode:2008ivse.book.....G.
