• by Wayne Friedman , April 11, 2013

Worldwide over-the-top video revenue continues its sharp growth -- with Netflix, Hulu, Apple, and Amazon pushing the business.

The OTT market is now $8 billion as of 2012, growing at a near 60% clip over the previous year. Continued rapid growth will push the market past $20 billion by 2015, per ABI Research.

Much of this will occur as traditional entertainment content providers become more comfortable with new media distributors/platforms. “The shift to digital and OTT distribution is accelerating, particularly as content providers increasingly warm up to these channels,” stated Michael Inouye, senior analyst at ABI Research.

ABI Research say the three biggest markets -- North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific -- had year-over-year growth in excess of 50% in 2012.

Subscription Video On Demand (SVOD) services, like Netflix, will continue to dominate the OTT business. But newer business/consumer models will also gain ground. In 2012, ABI says 58% of OTT video revenue came from subscription services. It estimates that subscription's share of the business will drop to less than 32% in five years.

Sam Rosen, practice director of ABI, says: “Whether it’s Netflix expanding to International markets or ABC and CBS enhancing catch-up services, the building blocks that will restructure the how, when, and where consumers view content are starting to give shape to a new media future."