They can personalise exactly what they want to pay , what they want to watch and how they want to watch it .”
But while technology has strengthened the robustness of exist ing live streaming technologies , are there still some challenges broadcasters are facing when they try to do live streaming ?
Aspera ’ s Wastcoat cites some of the technical difficulties : “ Traditional TCP-based approaches such as ABR streaming over HTTP are too slow over commodity Internet WANs . As network distance increases , the average Round Trip Time ( RTT — the time for IP packets to traverse the path and return along the same path ) between the two end-points increases and the probability of packet loss increases .
“ Standard TCP , the reliable transmission mechanism used in HTTP-based streaming , reduces its transmission rate in response to packet loss , and the reduction increases with increased RTT , which limits its effective transfer speed .
“ For streaming , this reduction in speed requires that the sender either reduces the sending rate ( by reducing the video quality with a lower bitrate ) or wait until enough of the stream has arrived
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The transition to a more datacentric world creates more challenges for broadcasters , because it creates a particular need for greater viewer privacy and ‘ safer ’ data management , cautions Chem Assayag ( pictured ), EVP , marketing and sales for Viaccess-Orca .
to start playing ( buffering ), and can cause the stream to glitch during playback .”
Wastcoat says that ABR works by detecting the amount of bandwidth available , and adjusting the video bitrate down to match . But ABR still relies on HTTP transport , which in turn relies on TCP , so ABR is affected both by the amount of bandwidth available and by the latency and packet loss on the network .
“ For streaming over longer Internet distances or ‘ bad ’ network connections , the HTTP stream reduces its transmission rate , and in turn causes ABR to reduce the bitrate , resulting in lower quality video and a diminished user experience . It is also operationally
complex , requiring all video sources to be encoded into many bitrates with additional storage and encoding costs ,” he concludes .
For live streaming of sports , there should be no room for error , stresses NeuLion ’ s Wagner . He cites the unhappiness viewers are likely to experience should they miss a goal , a touchdown or a key passage of play due to a streaming error , adding : “ It is therefore critical to control the entire end-toend delivery of live content from acquisition to delivery .”
Wagner recommends implementing a “ rigorous workflow ” that efficiently manages how video is collected in the stadium ; how it is put into the right formats for different devices ; and how each of those formats is then delivered through the Internet to a viewer ’ s smartphone or PC — all of this in a ‘ live ’ format .
Viaccess-Orca ’ s Assayag , on the other hand , zeroes in on privacy as a streaming challenge . “ Viewer privacy is a key challenge . With live streaming , there are also new opportunities . Broadcasters can collect a massive amount of data about viewers . When analysed , this data can help operators understand the increasing complexity of consumer behaviours and open up
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new business models .”
Yet , the transition to a more data-centric world creates more challenges for broadcasters , Assayag cautions , with a particular need for greater viewer privacy and ‘ safer ’ data management .
Understanding the changing market and legal requirements is thus essential to the successful monetising of the live streaming experience , he recommends .
For Ooyala ’ s Davis , he reckons that the biggest challenges with live streaming are two-fold : monetisation and matching services for audiences — both of which can be tackled in tandem . Understanding how audiences want to pay for content — either by ad-supported services ( AVoD ), subscriptionbased services ( SVoD ) or transactional , or pay-per-view models ( TVoD / PPV ), will help focus in on the challenges .
He highlights : “ If you ’ re an SVoD or TVoD service , ease-ofaccess and a simple logging-in process are paramount . Beyond that , the streams should load quickly and in high quality , especially when customers are paying high price points to access it . A poor experience will cause churn and unsatisfied customers .”
Ad-supported streams , however
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, present challenges of their own , especially when it comes to how ads load and are inserted into the live stream .
“ The best foot forward is to have a live server-side ad insertion solution that ‘ stitches ’ the ads in with the content ,” Davis advises . “ The result is a single , seamless stream that ’ s both buffer-free and provides customers with a true TV-like experience .”
Analytics can also help broadcasters improve streams in real time and in the future by monitoring the health of the stream , tracking the number of concurrent users , pinpointing reasons when there are high rates of viewer drop off , and better understanding the relationship of ad load to their content .
Davis concludes : “ As live streams are increasingly global , broadcasters need to keep in mind that the quality of streams are consistent across different geographic locations . However , infrastructure capabilities , such as bandwidth , are not the same across all markets .
“ Broadcasters need to ensure that their live streaming platform can cater to different needs and adjust accordingly to provide the same level of experience — regardless of the viewer ’ s location .”
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