A streaming service (OTT) is a company that sends films, shows and live sport over the internet to its apps on phones, smart TVs and laptops, and charges for them by subscription, by ads, or both. OTT stands for over-the-top, because the video travels over an ordinary internet connection, not a cable or a dish. In India, examples include JioHotstar and ZEE5.
A streaming service is made of a few large pieces of software. It builds separate apps for each kind of device, because a TV remote and a phone screen need different designs. A content recommendation engine decides what each viewer sees first. A delivery system sends the video from servers near each viewer. A payment system handles subscriptions and ads. And live streaming at scale keeps a cricket match playing when crores of people join at once.
Most services buy the technology for the video itself from other companies. A video encoder compresses each title into copies at several qualities. A content delivery network (CDN) stores the copies in many cities. Video DRM encrypts each film, so that only paying viewers' devices can play it. Server-side ad insertion puts ads into the stream.
Here is a typical case. A college lecturer in Bhubaneswar subscribes to a service for ₹299 a month, paid by UPI Autopay. UPI Autopay is a standing instruction that lets a company debit a fixed amount from your bank account every month. The service's subscription billing system renews his plan on the 5th of each month. On Saturday he watches a new Odia film. On Sunday he watches a Test match. His plan includes some ads during live sport, and the service earns from both his subscription and those ads.
There are three main ways to pay for a streaming service. A subscription gives the viewer the whole catalogue for a monthly fee. A free, ad-supported plan earns from advertisers instead. Renting or buying a single film is the third way. The page on AVOD, SVOD and TVOD explains the three. In India, prices are low and many viewers will not pay, so most large services offer a cheap plan with ads.
What brings in the most viewers? In India, it is live cricket. The right to stream a tournament such as the IPL costs thousands of crores of rupees, as the page on sports media rights explains. A service pays this amount because a single season can bring in crores of new subscribers. The same match is also the service's hardest technical task, because crores of viewers arrive together for the last over.
How is a streaming service different from a television network? A TV channel plays one schedule for everyone. A streaming service lets each viewer choose what to watch and when.