In the future, will OTT (Over-The-Top Media Service) surpass cable TV in popularity?

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Last year, it was the weekend, the fourth week of January 2024, and hardly a few days remaining before Dubai Shopping Festival would come to end on Saturday, 29 January 2024.

Keeping in view the deadline, Maya along with her friend Dora decided to visit Dubai Shopping Festival. So when they stepped inside the Mall by Dubai Metro, couldn't believe looking at the huge crowd of various nationalities including Pakistanis, Indians, Bangladeshis, Europeans, Americans, Britons, Australians, Japanese, Chinese, Filipinos, Germans, Sri Lankans, Russians, Africans, Arabs, Koreans, Egyptians, Lebanese, Malaysians, Sudanese, Asians, Malaysians, Canadians, and others from all across the world flocked for shopping.

Two young ladies thought it was the right opportunity to shop because renowned international brands BVLGARI, Cartier, Chloé, Chopard Boutique, Christian Louboutin, Henry Jacques, Level Shoes, Louis Vuitton, Roberto Cavalli, Symphony & Tiffany & Co. and countless other brands under one roof were offering huge discounts and promotions on their products and services for international shoppers.

Albeit Maya was from India so she was Indian Muslim but she has been living in Dubai since she got job into one of real estate properties as a real estate consultant four years ago.

Dora was from Lebanon so she was Arab Muslim but she has been living in Dubai since she got a job on TV News channel as journalist five years ago.

Maya had reddish brown long curly hairs while Dora had golden chestnut long straight hairs but both had hazel eyes in common.

They both had captivating, beautiful, appealing, classy, delicate, fascinating, enticing, and graceful bodies, the Skin color of Maya was light brown while Dora was white. Maya’s height was of 5 ft. 5 inches and weighs 110 lb. while Dora had 5 ft. 4 inches and weighs 120 lb.

Interestingly, Maya's corset had of a large size but Dora’s bodice of Medium size so both couldn't exchange to wear each other dresses because their bust-waist-hips varied in general.

Every weekend, Maya and Dora used to visit gym Fitness First together for a workout and when they swam in their bikinis at Dubai Sunset beach, the pear and hourglass shape bodies of both elegant ladies noticed by everyone so club members often recalled them with names, Maya a bombshell and Dora a babe.

Dubai Marina

Their friendship began when Dora visited real estate office to cover her documentary story on the real estate property market in United Arab Emirates (UAE). Since then Maya and Dora had been living together in a rented Studio apartment at Dubai Marina.

Seeing their best friendship and liking towards each other left many neighbors into dirty thoughts, and hence labelled them as lesbians. But it was their false allegation and the main reason behind was that men had been overlooked in many occasions.

During the shopping festival, the outlets that Maya and Dora visited to purchase were Yamamay, Calvin Klein Underwear, K. Lynn Lingerie, and Victoria’s secret for undergarments; Aldo, Bulgari, Armani, CH Carolina Herrera for handbags; BOSS, Chloé, B Hype, Alexander McQueen; Alaia, Bershka for fashion clothing; DKNY, Charles & Keith, COS, Chanel, Bershka, Baldinini for shoes; Adidas, Puma, Pit Stop, Hollister, Next, Gap for sneakers; Stitch In Time Tailoring, Salem Atla Moda for tailor; Ajmal, Acqua Di Parma, Aqua Flor for perfumes; Apple Store, Bose, Dyson, Huawei, Canon, Mobicom, HI Phone for electronics; lifestyle Nutrition, Boots Pharmacy, Befit, BinSina Pharmacy, Beurer, Mediclinic for healthy nutrition; Cartier, Buccellati, Breitling, Blancpain, Al Masroor Jewellery, Audemars Piguet for watches and jewelery and in the end Debenhams & Tom Ford for cosmetics.

After shopping, Maya and Dora bought cinema tickets to watch Bollywood movie Laal Singh Chaddha starring Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, and Kareena Kapoor at Reel Cinema. During watching a movie, while eating popcorn and drinking diet Pepsi, Maya told Dora that the concept of the Indian film Laal Singh Chaddha was adopted from the Hollywood movie Forrest Gump, and Aamir Khan had to spend and work hard for 14 years in understanding famous Hollywood movie character of Tom Hanks. When the movie got finished, both charming ladies headed to food stalls to feed their appetite. Maya ordered BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza from Pizza Hut while Dora ate a Big Mac meal from McDonald’s. For every purchase, Maya swiped her Master Card while Dora’s her Visa Card.

After eating their meals and refreshments they ate their favorite ice cream at Baskin Robbins, watched a fashion show where renowned fashion models including Barbara Valente, Kendall Jenner, Jade Nguyen, and others showcased world-class fashion stylish outfits through the catwalk, and also danced to the best tune of Arabic music when world renown Arabian singers Amr Diab from Egypt, Nancy Ajram from Lebanon performed on stage.

Soon after, when both Maya and Dora were enjoying watching the spectacular Dubai Shopping Festival Drone Light Show, suddenly male Arab representative named Salman from one of the top market research companies in Dubai, a researcher and strategist for brands and startups, approach to talk Maya and offered her to give away 500 UAE Dirham gift voucher if she would cooperate to participate ten-minute survey regarding creating awareness about OTT (Over-The-Top Media Service) over cable TV platform so she finally agreed, apart from real estate agent she was also tech savvy.

The interesting discussion that had took place between the two after revealing the questionnaire was as follows:

How does OTT provide the best alternative option for viewers instead of cable TV? – Maya

OTT (Over-The-Top Media Service) service is internet based, if you have an internet connection then not only you can watch in your smart TV at home but if you go outside and wish to watch your favorite videos on the go then you can also watch anywhere in your devices including smartphone, laptop, and tablet. OTT service will provide you freedom of movement, you can use our internet service while driving a car, listening to an educational video, or watching entertainment videos during waiting in queue during shopping at groceries counters, in short, there are numerous benefits if you acquire a service from us. But, on the contrary, the Cable TV system consists dependent on the cord, could gradually become obsolete in days to come because you cannot always watch live streaming videos and often confronts problems of the low-quality picture. – Salman

She smiles in the background of Survey Questionnaire

Is OTT platform an expensive one? – Maya

No, not at all, if you compare OTT platform fee with cable TV, it is not costly and charges lower than other TV providers. – Salman

I am a real estate consultant by profession, works in Real Estate Company and have to visit various business premises for marketing purpose so from a business point of view, is OTT a profitable for business owners? – Maya

Oh, but I thought you were a fashion model, are so beautiful, adorable, and dazzling that for a moment I wished could take a selfie with you. Anyways, most OTT platform owners earn their revenue through the AVOD platform (Advertising-based Video on Demand). They get paid by advertisers by placing their ads on popular videos. Advertisers promote their client brands by buying space on the OTT platform. – Salman

Maya laughed unexpectedly but surprisingly thanked Salman for praising her beauty, when he get closer to her for taking a selfie, got stunned, saw her big hazel eyes, glossy heavy upper lips and hot figure size from very proximity and he fell in love but she hadn't expressed any such feelings at that moment.

Meantime, Dora who was sitting relaxing on bench outside after watching with enthusiasm fountain show at Burj Khalifa, heard alert tone message in her smartphone that was subscribed a month ago, so she swiped mobile screen to read WW2 book review on The Boy From Block 66 in the website readers blog.

What if I don’t want to watch any ads while watching my favorite videos, does OTT provides ads free service? – Maya

Yes, of course, you can watch ads free videos but you will be required to pay monthly or subscriptions charges. – Salman

Is binge watching facility available in OTT? – Maya

Yes, binge watching is available in OTT where you can watch multiple episodes of any television series program in rapid succession without waiting for several hours through by means of DVDs or digital streaming. – Salman

In the conclusion, when conversation between them ended, he thanked her for providing good feedback and then left after giving Maya a gift voucher worth 500 UAE Dirham.