over-the-top media service An over-the-top (OTT) media service is a media service offered directly to viewers via the Internet. OTT bypasses cable, broadcast, and satellite television platforms: the types of companies that traditionally act as controllers or distributors ...

is a streaming media service offered directly to viewers via the Internet. OTT bypasses cable, broadcast, and satellite television platforms, the companies that traditionally act as a controller or distributors of such content. Most of these services are owned by a

major film studio Major film studios are production and distribution companies that release a substantial number of films annually and consistently command a significant share of box office revenue in a given market. In the American and international markets, the ...

. Some streaming services started as an add-on to

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

offerings, which are supplements to the programs watched.

Streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

is an alternative to file downloading, a process in which the end-user obtains the entire file(s) for the content before watching or listening to it. A client end-user can use the media player, computer, mobile phone, and smart TV to start playing

digital video Digital video is an electronic representation of moving visual images (video) in the form of encoded digital data. This is in contrast to analog video, which represents moving visual images in the form of analog signals. Digital video comprises ...

content before the entire file have been transmitted. Users will need an Internet connection to stream or download video content. Users lacking compatible hardware or software systems may be unable to stream or download certain content.

Streaming video on demand

More than 100 million subscribers

50–99 million subscribers

20–49 million subscribers

1–19 million subscribers

Fewer than 1 million subscribers

Free, Ad-Supported Television (FAST)

Streaming television

The following services are owned and operated by

television networks A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay television providers. Until the mid-1 ...

cable channel Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broadc ...

s, or other conglomerates in that market. They are major content producers, and their streaming services serve as the primary means of distributing the content that often first airs on their networks or channels.

Streaming music/audio on demand

Internet radio

Livestreaming

Active services

17Live 17 Live is a global live social entertainment platform, operating in eight different markets across the continents.’ The business was first founded in Taiwan in 2015 by Machi (hip hop group), Jeffery Huang. The company has maintained its leadin ...

* AcFun * AfreecaTV *

Bigo Live Bigo Live is a live streaming platform owned by a Singapore-based Bigo Technology, which was founded in 2014 by David Li and Jason Hu. As of 2019, Bigo Technology is owned bJOYY a Chinese company listed on the NASDAQ. Bigo Technology has deve ...

Bilibili Bilibili (stylized bilibili), nicknamed B Site, is a video sharing website based in Shanghai where users can submit, view and add overlaid commentary on videos. Since the mid-2010s, Bilibili began to expand to a broader audience from its origi ...

Caffeine Caffeine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant of the methylxanthine class. It is mainly used recreationally as a cognitive enhancer, increasing alertness and attentional performance. Caffeine acts by blocking binding of adenosine t ...

(2018–) *

Dailymotion Dailymotion is a French video-sharing technology platform owned by Vivendi. North American launch partners included Vice Media, Bloomberg and Hearst Digital Media. It is among the earliest known platforms to support HD (720p) resolution video. ...

DouYu DouYu () is a Chinese video live streaming service. The site is the largest of its kind in China with 163.6 million monthly active users in 2019, more than the 140 million monthly active users of Twitch. In July 2019 DouYu International Holding ...

* DLive (owned by BitTorrent) (2017–) * Facebook Live (owned by

Meta Platforms Meta Platforms, Inc., (file no. 3835815) trade name, doing business as Meta and formerly named Facebook, Inc., and TheFacebook, Inc., is an American multinational technology conglomerate based in Menlo Park, California. The company owns Facebo ...

) (2015–) * GoodGame (2008–) * Huya *

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

(owned by

) * KakaoTV *

Kuaishou Kuaishou ( zh, c=快手, l=quick hand) is a users short video-sharing mobile app, a social network, and video special effects editor, based in Haidian District (Beijing), developed in 2011 by Beijing Kuaishou Technology, by engineers Hua Su (宿� ...

Likee Likee (; formerly LIKE) is a short-video creation and sharing app, available for iOS and Android operating systems. It is owned by Singaporean tech firm BIGO Technology, whose parent company is JOYY Inc., a Chinese firm listed on NASDAQ. The f ...

* LINE LIVE * LinkedIn Live *

Livestream Livestreaming is streaming media simultaneously recorded and broadcast in real-time over the internet. It is often referred to simply as streaming. Non-live media such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos are technically streamed, but no ...

* NaverTV * Niconico * OK.ru * OnlyFans * Patreon * Pixiv Sketch * SHOWROOM *

Steam.tv Steam is a Digital distribution of video games, video game digital distribution service and storefront by Valve Corporation, Valve. It was launched as a software client in September 2003 as a way for Valve to provide automatic updates for their ...

* TikTok/Douyin * Triller * Twitch (owned by

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

) (2011–) *

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

* VK *

V Live V Live (stylized as VLIVE), sometimes referred to as V App, is a South Korean live video streaming service that allows celebrities based in the country to broadcast live videos such as live chat sessions with fans, performances, reality shows ...

(owned by Naver Corporation) (2015–) *

Youku Youku Tudou Inc. (formerly Youku Inc.), doing business as Youku (), is a video hosting service based in Beijing, China. It operates as a subsidiary of Alibaba Group Holding Limited. Youku has its headquarters in the Sinosteel Plaza in Haidian ...

YouNow YouNow is a American broadcasting service where users stream their own live video content or interact with the video streams of other users in real time. The service is available on its website, on Android and iOS apps. As of August 2015, the ...

(2011–) *

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

(owned by

Alphabet Inc. Alphabet Inc. is an American multinational technology conglomerate holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. It was created through a restructuring of Google on October 2, 2015, and became the parent company of Google and sev ...

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

) (2005–) * YuppTV

Former services

* Azubu (2012–2017) * CaveTube (2011–2016 or 2017) * Colon (2018–2019) * Cube TV (2018–2019) * FAN LIVE (2016(?)-2018) * FRESH LIVE (2016–2020) *

Hitbox Collision detection is the computational problem of detecting the intersection of two or more objects. Collision detection is a classic issue of computational geometry and has applications in various computing fields, primarily in computer grap ...

(owned by Azubu) (2013–2017) * Houseparty (2016–2021) * Huomao (2014–2021) *

Justin.tv Justin.tv was a website created by Justin Kan, Emmett Shear, Michael Seibel, and Kyle Vogt in 2007 to allow anyone to broadcast video online. Justin.tv user accounts were called "channels", like those on YouTube, and users were encouraged to br ...

(owned by Twitch Interactive/Justin.tv, Inc) (2007–2014) * KingKong (2018–2020) *

Meerkat MeerKAT, originally the Karoo Array Telescope, is a radio telescope consisting of 64 antennas in the Meerkat National Park, in the Northern Cape of South Africa. In 2003, South Africa submitted an expression of interest to host the Square Kilom ...

(2015–2016) * Mixer (owned by

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

) (2016–2020) * Panda.tv (2015–2019) *

Periscope A periscope is an instrument for observation over, around or through an object, obstacle or condition that prevents direct line-of-sight observation from an observer's current position. In its simplest form, it consists of an outer case with ...

(owned by

) (2015–2021) * Play2Live (2017–2019) * Quanmin.tv (2015–2018) *

Rabb.it Rabbit, also known as Rabb.it, was a video streaming website and mobile application. Launched in 2014, and based in California, United States, the service enabled multiple people to remotely browse and watch the same content in real-time. A hos ...

(2014–2019) *

Smashcast Smashcast was a live streaming platform that materialised after the merger of Azubu and Hitbox in May 2017. History Azubu's acquisition of Hitbox was announced in January 2017. At the time, they announced they were "launch a new platform, focu ...

(2017–2020) * Stream.me (2015–2019) * StreamCraft (2018–2019)

Explanatory notes

References

{{VOD services Home video Internet television streaming services

Streaming video on demand

More than 100 million subscribers

50–99 million subscribers

20–49 million subscribers

1–19 million subscribers

Fewer than 1 million subscribers

Free, Ad-Supported Television (FAST)

Streaming television

Streaming music/audio on demand

Internet radio

Livestreaming

Active services

Former services

See also

Explanatory notes

References