What is OTT? The future.
OTT stands for over-the-top. If you use Netflix, you use OTT. It’s when people stream content through the internet rather than tuning into cable or broadcast TV. As more young people “cut the cord” and eliminate cable TV services, it’s essential for broadcasters to invest in OTT since these younger consumers are more likely to watch content on their phones and laptops than on televisions.
Right now, the OTT landscape in local TV news is where Netflix was 15 years ago, disrupting established means of media consumption to offer viewers, particularly young ones, high-quality content in a totally new medium. OTT is already here, but local television stations need to be even more inventive and aggressive in tapping into its full potential. That’s where the Reinventing Local TV News Project at Northeastern comes in.
Our Latest Research
For this new phase of our research, we are funding four year-long fellowships: three full-time OTT Streaming Content Producers at WCBS-TV in New York, WLS-TV in Chicago, and WCVB-TV in Boston along with a shared Visual Content Producer/Animator used by all the stations.
The OTT Streaming Content Producers will work with newsroom producers, reporters, photographers, and editors to produce hard-news content in longer formats for the stations’ OTT channels and other digital platforms. For example, the stations’ investigative units work for months on some stories, but so much of the video is never aired due to time constraints in television newscasts. Some of that content could be reimagined and expanded upon to produce mini-documentary-style stories that provide more in-depth coverage and context.
We will also help the stations produce original content as we launch the Underreported Story Generation Team at Northeastern which will identify issues and stories that are important to viewers’ understanding of their communities but aren’t receiving any (or enough) widespread media attention in their markets. The Northeastern team will identify sources, collect data, and provide research and information to the OTT Streaming Content Producers so they can cover these stories in their markets on-air and for digital platforms.