One of the most glaring revelations that came out of Apple’s recent press conference about their new streaming service was that the company intends to launch it on a variety of existing platforms, including Roku, Amazon Fire TV and via smart TVs. Even Apple, which has been notorious for keeping to its own ecosystem, is acknowledging that in today’s TV market, the only strategy that makes sense is to be available across as many platforms and devices as possible.

But being distributed on a multitude of platforms isn’t necessarily the only recipe for success in the long run‚ and especially for programming services without Apple’s deep pockets. There have been a lot of conflicting headlines about the viability of various TV business models: “Linear is Dead!,” “Linear is Still a Majority of TV Viewing,” “No One Watches Ads — SVOD is Soaring,” “Subscription Fatigue has Curbed the Growth of SVOD,” “AVOD is the New King of Streaming.” Which path is the right one?

Rather than change the course of your business plan every six months, it’s probably best to take a wise investor’s approach and diversify your portfolio.

Whether its linear, subscription video-on-demand or ad-supported VOD, by offering MVPDs, vMVPDs and apps the customized version of your service they need, you’re already giving them a compelling reason to want to consider adding it.

I’ve spent most of my career in cable TV and while the TV business looks very different now than it did when I started, it’s still a business of mutually beneficial relationships and content is still king. But once you establish a standout brand and content offering that you know viewers will want, it’s no longer good enough to deliver it in a one-size-fits-all format. Whether you’re trying to launch your service on a traditional cable platform, an OTT service, as an app on Android or iOS, on smart TVs or via social media channels, it pays to have a business model that fits the platform and its audience.

One of the biggest factors in how the TV business will morph and evolve in the next few years is purely an economic one. How many services will consumers be willing to pay for? Certainly, the recent rise in AVOD channels and platforms is an indication that subscription-only services may struggle for market share if the average consumer is only subscribing to 2.1 services. Can a channel that relies solely on subscription revenue reach the kind of critical mass needed to support a robust commercial-free programming offering?

“Once you establish a standout brand and content offering that you know viewers will want, it’s no longer good enough to deliver it in a one-size-fits-all format.”

The rollout of 5G will also have an impact on the industry. The increased bandwidth that is brought by 5G will bring yet another reliable path to deliver bandwidth-heavy UHD content, driving UHD further.

Channels that produce and own all rights to their content can deliver that content everywhere and anywhere by taking advantage of all of the different routes to market, including linear, SVOD, and AVOD. And having content that is poised to take advantage of upcoming technological advancements and innovations like 5G is a way to future-proof your business.

By controlling, delivering and marketing content to relevant audiences via linear and digital platforms, channels can create the size, scale and customer base that makes their unique propositions competitive in a TV landscape that is getting more and more crowded and complex by the minute.

Mark Romano is vice president, Americas, at Insight TV, a 4K UHD channel featuring adventure, lifestyle and extreme sports original content.

YouTube outlined its plans for entering the online VOD subscription model fray, as the video giant announced a premium version of its site, YouTube Red, during an executive briefing Wednesday.

Priced at $9.99 a month and available beginning Oct. 28, YouTube Red will allow users to surf the site completely ad-free, across multiple sources, from desktop to mobile. Original programming and movies will also be available to YouTube Red subscribers, beginning next year.  

Leveraging the sites growing stable of digital stars, the original programming runs a fairly large gauntlet, including Scare PewDiePie, a reality-comedy show featuring Felix Kjellberg, better known as PewDiePie, getting thrown into scary, video game-inspired gags and situations. The Walking Dead’s Skybound Entertainment and Maker Studios are producing.

Also on the slate are a scripted spoof of the reality music genre called Sing It! from Fine Bros Entertainment and Mandeville Films; a zombie reality show from Alpine Labs called Fight of the Living Dead, a feature length concert film from YouTube singer/comedian Lilly Singh, as well as romantic drama from Wong Fu Productions and New Form Digital entitled Single by 30.  

Hulu is considering an advertising-free version of the multiscreen OTT service that would sell for $12 to $14 per month, and create an option that would put it in even closer competition with Netflix and Amazon Prime Instant Video, The Wall Street Journal  reported.

Hulu declined to comment on the report, but the paper said the project is called “NOAH” (for “No Ads Hulu), and would present a new option for an existing subscription/hybrid service that sells for $7.99 per month. The ad-free option, which would address at least one objection some would-be subscribers have with Hulu, could debut this fall, the WSJ reported while also pointing out that programmers are increasingly wary about the impact subscription-based OTT services are having on the TV ecosystem.

But if Hulu decided to move forward that option would enter view as Hulu continues to expand its distribution options, as well.  Hulu, which is now offering  Showtime’s new standalone service in a bundle, has distribution deals in place with several MVPDs and ISPs, including AT&T, Cablevision Systems, Armstrong, Atlantic Broadband, Mediacom Communications, Midcontinent Communications and WideOpenWest (WOW!).

Hulu, which recently added Pluto TV as a content distribution partner and has been beefing up its own content mix, has nearly 9 million subscribers. Netflix ended the second quarter with 42.51 million paid U.S. subs, and 66.61 million worldwide.Hulu is co-owned by NBCUniversal, Walt Disney Co., and 21st Century Fox. 

Looking to broaden its international reach, Netflix announced that it will launch its subscription OTT video service in Italy, Spain and Portugal in October.

Netflix said those offerings, which will be localized with subtitles and dubbing, will feature originals such as Marvel’s Daredevil, Sense8, Bloodline, Grace and Frankie, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and Marco Polo, as well as access to the service’s growing 4K library and Netflix’s kids-focused offering.

Netflix said addition details on pricing, other programming and the full range of supported devices supported in those markets will be announced later. Netflix has also set up a way for consumers there to be alerted when service will be available by submitting their email addresses at Netflix.com.

International expansion is playing a big role in Netflix’s growth strategy, expressing plans to offer its service to about 200 countries by the end of 2016. It’s at 50-plus now.

On the international front, Netflix added 2.6 million international subs in the first quarter of 2015, extending that total to 20.88 million. Netflix expects to add another 2.9 million in the category during Q2 thanks in part to recent launches in Australia and New Zealand.

Netflix added 4.9 million new streaming subs worldwide in Q1, giving it 59.62 million.

Having grown from a small convention showcasing comic books and fantasy literature to a mega-event for promoting feature films, TV series, video games, collectibles and more, Comic-Con is now expanding via a subscription video-on-demand service it will offer in partnership with Lionsgate.

The service, which Comic-Con International: San Diego and Lionsgate will launch in the U.S. later this year, will feature exclusive original short-form content, and films and television series from Lionsgate and other studios.

For hardcore Comic-Con fans, archived footage from the expo's 45-year history will also be available exclusively on the service. The companies said they will also use the channel to extend the Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival (CCI-IFF) into a year-long online event.

"The biggest pop culture event of the year will become a year-round digital channel for Comic-Con fans and audiences around the world," Jim Packer, Lionsgate president of worldwide television & digital distribution, said. "The fan base for the kind of films and television series showcased at Comic-Con has grown exponentially, and a subscription video-on-demand service is the ideal platform to capture the magic and excitement of the Comic-Con experience year-round."

The new channel is Lionsgate's third SVOD service. It also recently launched the Lionsgate Entertainment World platform with the Alibaba Group in China. It also has announced, the planned launch this summer, in partnership with Tribeca Enterprises, of Tribeca Shortlist, an SVOD service for film aficionados.

The Comic-Con service will be "distinguished by its imaginative curation, depth and diversity of content, and fierce loyalty to the Comic-Con brand," said Peter Levin, Lionsgate president of interactive ventures & games.

Comic-Con International has grown from 300 attendees in the basement of San Diego's U.S. Grant Hotel in 1970 to more than 130,000 fans from around the world last year. Badges for this year's Comic-Con, scheduled for July 9-12 at the San Diego Convention Center, sold out in 60 minutes, Comic-Con said.

Fans can watch for more news about the SVOD service at the joint venture's website.