How to Create a Linear TV Channel: A Full Streaming Guide

While traditional TV has become a thing of the past, digital evolution has given rise to online linear TV channels. These channels help content owners and broadcasters to reach a global audience, eliminating the geographic and platform barriers of traditional television broadcasting. 

Do you plan to create an online linear TV channel? If so, VPlayed provides a cloud-based solution for seamless content management, broadcasting, and monetization. 

You don’t need to start building your online linear TV channel from scratch; VPlayed makes everything easier. Whether you’re a media enterprise, a broadcaster, or a content owner, you can create your own linear TV channel, distribute your content, and drive enough traction. 

In this blog, we’ll walk you through how to start an online linear TV channel. But before that, let’s understand the basics, like what Online Linear streaming is, why you need to create an online linear TV channel, and more.

It’s Time to Launch Your Own Linear TV Streaming With VPlayed

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• Lifetime Ownership
• On-Premise/On-Cloud
• 100% White-label
• Zero Revenue Share
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What is Linear Streaming? ✨

Online linear streaming is the broadcasting of live, scheduled video content over the internet, unlike traditional TV channels, which broadcast over cable or satellite. It broadcasts content on a fixed program schedule, unlike video-on-demand (VOD), where viewers can watch any content at any time. 

Online linear streaming is ideal for several types of content, including live events, news broadcasts, sporting events, and more. It strives to provide the communal feeling, like traditional broadcast television, but of course, over the internet (this time!).

Content is delivered with near-zero latency, creating a shared viewing experience for viewers with simultaneous watching.

Strategic Benefits of Launching a Linear TV Channel 🎥

For content owners, broadcasters, and content distributors, creating a linear TV channel brings several benefits, including:

1) Flexible Viewing Across All Devices

One of the most compelling advantages of building a linear TV channel is its flexibility. Viewers can access linear TV channels on any device (smart TV, tablet, or smartphone) at any time. This multi-device compatibility means your video content can meet its intended audience where they are, tailoring libraries to meet their daily routines.

Linear channels reinstate the communal feeling and a sense of shared experience among like-minded peers, even if they are separated by distance. This shared capability ensures that your viewers don’t have to sacrifice their communal-watching experience due to geographic limitations. 

2) Consistent Performance Builds Viewer Trust

As the name implies, the ‘linear’ format provides inherent reliability through its structured programming schedule.

When you create an online linear TV channel, establishing and maintaining consistent performance becomes the cornerstone of building viewer trust and loyalty. 

Unlike traditional TV broadcasts that suffer due to satellite and cable outages, online linear TV channels leverage Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) and adaptive bitrate streaming (ABR) technology to ensure smooth, uninterrupted playback.

3) Instant Deployment with Seamless Integration

Online linear TV channel is the perfect amalgamation of the set schedule of linear television and technological supremacy of video streaming. 

You can create an online linear TV channel and connect with viewers instantly, unlike tedious setup agreements or never-ending deal negotiations with cable or satellite TV providers. Smart connectivity means linking your online linear TV channel with third-party integrations that enhance your operations, deliver content seamlessly, and monetize better.

4) Programming Variety That Keeps Audiences Coming Back

Online linear channels with extensive video content libraries can rotate programming to ensure variety. Viewers who check in weekly discover new content without the burden of searching through catalogs. This careful curation keeps viewers hooked and persuades them to keep coming back.

Specialized online linear TV channels benefit from varied choices. An education-focused online linear TV channel might offer virtual courses, live webinars, student success stories, skill-building workshops, and interactive Q&A sessions.

This inherent trait of online linear TV channels prevents content monotony, caters to different learning styles, and keeps learners engaged across multiple touchpoints throughout their educational journey.

5) Start Affordable with Online Linear TV Channel

Linear streaming requires minimal upfront capital investment, unlike traditional TV channels, which require a massive investment. 

When you create a linear TV channel, you can always start small. Launch with a modest content library and limited features, then expand as your audience and revenue grow. 

You’re not locked into massive upfront investments or long-term contracts with platform providers. This flexibility allows you to test your market, refine your content strategy, and scale only when it makes financial sense.

How to Start an Online Linear TV Channel?🚀

Launching a successful linear TV channel requires careful planning across platform selection, content acquisition, technical setup, monetization strategy, marketing execution, and continuous performance optimization.

Here’s a detailed explanation of each step:

🎯 Step 1: Choose the Right Streaming Platform

While technically you can build a streaming platform from scratch, affording the time and effort required may be difficult. So, the option is to use a ready-to-use linear video streaming platform like VPlayed, which helps you launch the linear TV channel.

There is this option to popular streaming platforms like Twitch, but if you want complete ownership, branding control, and monetization freedom, this option is not advisable. 

We’d recommend a ready-to-go linear video streaming platform like VPlayed, which offers 100% branding freedom, monetization freedom, and bestows complete platform ownership.

In VPlayed, you can customize:
⭐Logo/branding
⭐HTML5 Video Player
⭐Overlays
⭐Frontend and backend
⭐Features

With built-in drag-and-drop functionality, VPlayed lets you organize and categorize video content in your linear streaming channel.

🎯 Step 2: Plan Your Linear TV Channel

Before sourcing video content, you first need to define your linear TV channel. Your channel identity encompasses your niche, content theme, and unique value proposition. This clarity also helps viewers immediately understand what you offer and why they should tune in.

Research existing channels when you create a linear TV channel to figure out untapped opportunities that can differentiate your channel. 

Comprehensive planning transforms your channel from concept to strategic linear streaming venture with clear direction, defined metrics, and realistic pathways to sustainable profitability.

🎯 Step 3: Acquire Content

Your content strategy, the content you acquire or create, determines the consistent inflow of viewers into your channel. 

Most of ’em build their video content library through two means;

1) Creating original content or,

2) Licensing content from rights holders.

Creating original content comes with full creative freedom. You create content that perfectly aligns with the brand identity while taking viewers’ content preferences into account. But one can’t disregard the fact that it requires massive upfront costs.

Licensing or acquiring rights to the video content comes with the ‘proven’ badge, which means you’ll be acquiring content that has already demonstrated appeal. However, challenges like geographic restrictions, time-bound restrictions, and exclusivity clauses increase the investment required.

🎯 Step 4: Encode and Transcode the Content

Without proper video encoding and transcoding, your channel faces serious problems. Large file sizes cause endless buffering. Videos that look perfect on desktop computers appear pixelated or won’t play on smart TVs.

 Getting this technical foundation right ensures your content looks great, streams smoothly, and reaches every viewer regardless of their device or connection quality.

🎯 Step 5: Scheduling and Playout

The engine of creating a linear TV channel is its ability to broadcast content seamlessly according to a predetermined schedule. 

This is where playout functionality becomes indispensable; it’s the engine that manages, organizes, and delivers your programming exactly when and how you intend, transforming your content library into a professionally orchestrated broadcast experience.

VPlayed’s cloud TV playout platform supports multiple output formats and streaming protocols simultaneously. Plus, it uses drag-and-drop functionality to build and organize Linear OTT broadcasting schedules.

🎯 Step 6: Set Up Monetization

If you plan to create linear TV channel and video monetize it, then you should consider these popular options:

* Subscriptions: Provide access to the subscribers who pay recurring fees (monthly, quarterly, or annually).

* Advertisements: Monetize advertising space on your channel and video content while offering free content access for viewers.

* Pay-per-view: Monetize video content on time-specific rental basis, especially suitable for virtual concerts, live webinars, or sports broadcasts.

* Hybrid Model: Combine various monetization models to amplify average revenue per viewer. 

🎯 Step 7: Promote Your Linear TV Channel

Building an authentic viewership for your linear TV channel is crucial. You can promote your channel on social media platforms, influencer collaborations, dedicated email marketing campaigns, and live streaming sessions (to build a community).

🎯 Step 8: Track, Strategize, and Improve

Continuously monitor your linear TV channel’s viewership (through its highs and lows), track revenue performance, and gather feedback. Use granular insights offered by the analytics of your linear streaming platform; for instance, leverage VPlayed’s location metrics to optimize content strategy depending on viewer demographics. 

Conclusion

You now have the foundation to create an online linear TV channel, from choosing the linear streaming platform to acquiring content, and setting up monetization to monitoring the channel’s performance. 

Start with what you have, experiment with your video content format, and let your passion guide the process. Over time, you’ll not only build a linear TV channel but also shape a community around your content.

Behind every great linear TV channel lies a powerful streaming foundation. The right platform determines how efficiently you can deliver content, manage ads, and reach viewers across devices. Choosing a solution like VPlayed gives you the control and customization to grow on your own terms.

Curious to see how it all works? Check out the VPlayed demo and experience how easily you can create, stream, and grow your own channel.

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