Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Video streaming: publish or be damned!

13/02/2020

By Shawn Carnahan, CTO, Telestream

Contributor 2 hours ago

By Shawn Carnahan, CTO, Telestream

target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin> By Shawn Carnahan, CTO, Telestream

https://www.tvbeurope.com/features/video-streaming-publish-or-be-damned title=Share via Email class=share-email>

When we look back over 2019, we see a year of really significant change. One of the biggest areas is the rise and rise of video streaming across a diversity of viewing platforms. We have been witnessing some basic changes in consumer behaviour for some time. From their perspective, consumers are seeking to transition to more flexible ways to consume content.

The MSO/Aggregator model is steadily being replaced by direct relationships between content creators and their consumers. This is fragmenting the market. This cord cutting' idea that going OTT is cheaper for consumers is a myth. Consumers will replace one major subscription with multiple individual subscriptions, and I don't see any significant cost savings to be made.

However, this will drive the market since now we see content creators standing up their own distribution channels. These can be their own standalone channels or through third-party platforms, such as Brightcove and BAMTech. In this environment content creators are in control of their brands to a far greater extent.

Then there is a large group of linear TV broadcasters that are seeking to replicate their channels in OTT. These factors are definitely driving the technology companies to support these moves. At Telestream, it is driving our roadmap, and in conversations with colleagues at Harmonic and other companies, they say the same thing. Our collective challenge is how to build more cost-effective, flexible and elastic origins.

Is it an OTT-first approach, and if so, how important is a quality consumer experience?

Looking at one of our core markets - owner operated linear multi-channel broadcasters - they are almost exclusively focussed on OTT build out. Currently, virtually everything we are doing with them is in response to the challenge of how to create an OTT network that is on a par with linear television in terms of quality of service and experience.

The transition from OTT being a novelty to having the same consumer expectations as the linear TV experience in your living room is massive.

The bigger operators in this market want to control the viewer experience and build their brands. Today, the technology is not experimental: there has been a shrinking in the options for how they distribute content across all the consumer platforms that they need to cover.

It's not as much of a mystery for them as it once was. So, I believe that many of the bigger players will build their OTT channels out internally, whereas earlier, the strategy was to wholesale outsource the challenge. This internalisation process will include the entire workflow including App development for these platforms. This will enable them to better control consumer behaviour, consumer experience, monetisation and analytics of the process.

From a technology perspective, you can't just throw the QoS responsibility at companies such as Akamai, who really don't want to be in the media business - they want to be in the data business.

As they learned from the IPTV transition, there is a massive difference between IP for data and IP for media. At Telestream, the development of our iQ portfolio is driven by the problems that are unique to the delivery of media over IP. This continues to be true for OTT delivery - it's just a different set of problems. Our customers seek control over this, and also to control costs. When OTT was an experimental novelty, organisations weren't staking revenue on these new channels. But as they transition to OTT becoming the core business then bottom-line profitability is directly related to costs.

For Telestream, this speaks to the level of integration we have within our customers' workflows. As a technology vendor, we can do so much more depending on the amount of the whole process that we're participating in. OTT is not as componentised as television was in the past. We must have a broader portfolio of system solutions. We're not there yet, but strategically it is where we are heading.

In practical OTT applications, the more that you're involved with across the entire workflow, the more value you can add, especially in the absence of standards. Take latency as an example. If you can inject instrumentation into the signals that you're encoding early in the process, this allows you to pick up problems as they travel through the distribution food chain, particularly when you lose sight of the signals.

If you can instrument your signals up front it enables you to measure latency and find problems further out in the network. Our customers won't find this level of integration in a multi-vendor scenario unless the vendors get together and generate standards that they can all interoperate with.

Is latency still an issue in live streaming?

Absolutely, latency is still an enormous issue - for all the reasons that have been explained ad nauseam! If it's sports, or anything that is timely, you need to reduce latency as much as possible. If the consumer is switching between live linear TV and OTT it is essential.

The big question is what are your expectations? The elegance of http-based OTT is that it enables media distribution through content delivery networks that don't treat media any differently than a web page. We're leveraging an infrastructure that is very broad based as long as we can make everything look like chunks of data that can be accessed via http. With this comes a requirement to segment the video into chunks that can be cached on http. This is where the latency is introduced.
LINK: https://www.tvbeurope.com/features/video-streaming-publish-or-be-damne...
See more stories from tvb

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

09/04/2026

Hearst Taps Merzigo to Expand Presence on YouTube, Facebook

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/04/2026

Fox Jumps Into Prediction Markets with Kalshi Integration

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/04/2026

NAB Show: Kokusai Denki To Feature New, Affordable 4K Broadcast Camera

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/04/2026

Corus Taps Appear for IP-First Operations

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/04/2026

2026 NAB Show Exhibitor Insights: Big Blue Marble

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/04/2026

FCC Extends Audible Crawl Rule Waiver for 18 Months

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/04/2026

Pliant Technologies Showcases Expanded Accessories at NAB...

New Charging, Connectivity, and Mounting Solutions Now Available LAS VEGAS, APRIL 8, 2026 Pliant Technologies will highlight a range of new accessories at th...

09/04/2026

Media Links Brings Ultra Resilient IP Transport Proven at...

As live production continues its shift to IP, the challenge is no longer adoption it's reliability. At NAB Show 2026 (Booth W2033), Media Links will demon...

09/04/2026

QuickLink Launches StudioPro Town Hall at 2026 NAB Show

QuickLink, a leading provider of award-winning video production and remote guest contribution solutions, launches its new AI-powered add-on for its StudioPro p...

09/04/2026

The Hive Group Releases White Paper on the FCC Upper C-Ba...

The Hive Group has published a new white paper, No Safe Harbor: Why the FCC's Upper C-Band Auction Demands Early Action from Broadcasters ahead of NAB Sho...

09/04/2026

Saranyu Technologies Renews VisualOn Optimizer VoD Subscr...

Saranyu Technologies today announced the renewal of its Optimizer VoD subscription with VisualOn. The announcement coincides with NAB Show 2026, taking place Ap...

09/04/2026

April 08, 2026

New technique for synthesizing branched molecules could accelerate the development of future medicines Scripps Research chemists solve a longstanding problem in...

08/04/2026

SVG College Sports Media Awards 2026: Entry Deadline is Monday, April 13

The deadline to enter the 18th Annual SVG College Sports Media Awards in association with NACDA is rapidly approaching! Submit your entries to this year's c...

08/04/2026

SVG Campus Shot Callers: Trever Sheets, Senior Director, ACC Network, Virginia Tech

The Pittsburgh product helps lead more than 100 annual ESPN broadcasts as part o...

08/04/2026

SVG Sit-Down: Harmonic's Jean Macher on Turning Live Sports Content Into a Smarter Monetization Engine

Dynamic ad insertion, AI-based technologies, programmatic advertising are some o...

08/04/2026

Announcing the 2026 Fellows for the Sundance Institute Cultural Impact Residency on Sundance Collab

Seven Fellows Selected for Second Year of Residency in Honor of Social Justice L...

08/04/2026

From Tokyo to the World: Watch Bad Bunny's Billions Club Live Concert on Spotify

On March 7, Bad Bunny made history with his first-ever performance in Asia, taki...

08/04/2026

De Tokio para el mundo: Mira el concierto Billions Club Live de Bad Bunny en Spotify

El 7 de marzo, Bad Bunny hizo historia con su primera presentaci n en Asia, subi...

08/04/2026

Tube Lab from Fuse Audio Labs

New channel strip plug-in revealed The latest plug-in to be added to the Fuse Audio Labs line-up emulates a selection of vintage hardware units, combining c...

08/04/2026

Blue Cat Audio release Axiom 2.3

Guitar & bass multi-effects software overhauled Blue Cat Audio's flagship guitar and bass multi-effects software has recently received a significant upd...

08/04/2026

Merging Technologies launch Pyramix 16

PanNoir mixer integration, Dolby Atmos Renderer & more Merging Technologies have just launched Pyramix 16, the latest major update to their renowned DAW sof...

08/04/2026

Updating QUARTZ Router Module Firmware Over-The-Air

Applicable Products Part number Description QUARTZ-22-LTE (EU) Dual Port Dual SIM LTE Router (EU) QUARTZ-COMPACT-11-LTE (EU) Single Port Compact LTE ...

08/04/2026

YEP September 2025 Newsletter (2)

The September 19, 2025 YEP Newsletter highlights a group visit to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, where participants explored exhibits showcasing the art...

08/04/2026

Proven On Orbit: L3Harris Congratulates Missile Defense Agency for Receiving Top Defense Honor for HBTSS

The L3Harris HBTSS satellite is proven on orbit, successfully demonstrating trac...

08/04/2026

From Earth to Mars: Resilient Communications Powering the Space Economy

Image Credit: NASA. Artist rendering of a space communications satellite in orbit, representative of the resilient, multiband infrastructure supporting mission ...

08/04/2026

Precision in Practice: Flight Test Confirms Key Air-to-Air Capabilities

Latest evaluation validates image quality, Inertial Navigation System performance and long-range tracking in operational flight conditions....

08/04/2026

Gen Alpha Leads Shift to AI-Powered Entertainment Search, Discovery and Recommendations

New Gracenote study finds behavioral change well underway, but trust in AI-gener...

08/04/2026

Media Links to Focus on IP Transport Solutions at 2026 NAB Show

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/04/2026

Telestream and Mimir Integration Facilitates Real-Time Pr...

Integration eliminates ingest bottlenecks by ensuring content is immediately usable across cloud and hybrid editorial workflows. See it at NAB 2026. Nevada Cit...

08/04/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia Bringing...

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the commercial availability of Dalia, its media-aware, agentic AI...

08/04/2026

Synamedia unveils Senza Ignite to transform deployed devi...

Leading video software provider Synamedia today announced Senza Ignite, a cloud-based platform that transforms existing connected devices through a single firmw...

08/04/2026

Appear works with Corus to transform national news contri...

Modernised architecture increases operational control and agility, while reducing cost and simplifying nationwide media transport across affiliates and news bur...

08/04/2026

LynTec to Showcase High Density Power Control Solutions f...

Company to Feature DMX Dual Relay, High-Density 48-Channel Relay Panels, and New Private Label Power Program LynTec, a leading manufacturer of innovative ele...

08/04/2026

BCE integrates BCNEXXT Vipe to power cloud playout in Med...

Broadcasting Center Europe (BCE), a European media technology and services partner, today announces a technology partnership with BCNEXXT, a Netherlands-based c...

08/04/2026

Encompass Strengthens Global Media Operations with Expans...

Encompass Digital Media today announced the expansion of its Master Control Room (MCR) facility in Riga, Latvia, establishing it as one of the most advanced and...

08/04/2026

Synamedia lights up Las Vegas with innovations that will...

Leading video solutions provider Synamedia is back at The 2026 NAB Show with innovations that connect tomorrows audiences today. On display will be a range of t...

08/04/2026

COW Jobs: Director Needed for WWII Indie Docudrama

COW Jobs: Director Needed for WWII Indie Docudrama Brie Clayton April 8, 2026 0 Comments Director Needed for WWII Indie Docudrama March 17, 2026COW ...

08/04/2026

ESPN Expands Global Reach on Disney+

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/04/2026

Broadcast Industry Initiatives Promise To Speed Adoption of ST 2110

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/04/2026

Remembering Television's Role in the U.S. Bicentennial

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/04/2026

Synamedia Unveils AI by Quortex

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/04/2026

Carrie Healey Joins NAB as Vice President of Communications

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/04/2026

Amagi Launches Newspulse

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/04/2026

Marshall Electronics Unveils CV376 NDI HX3 HDMI POV Camer...

Marshall Electronics introduces its latest POV camera with the new CV376 Compact NDI |HX3 HDMI POV Camera at NAB 2026 (Booth C8339). Designed for versatile 4K c...