By Kalle Henriksson, research and innovation, founder, Edgeware
Contributor 2 hours ago
By Kalle Henriksson, research and innovation, founder, Edgeware
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin> By Kalle Henriksson, research and innovation, founder, Edgeware
https://www.tvbeurope.com/features/taking-control-of-your-ott-content-delivery title=Share via Email class=share-email>
As consumers increasingly opt to get their TV through OTT services distributed over HTTP-based CDN networks rather than traditional packages, many service providers now need to use multiple networks to deliver their content. Ovum predicts that spend on CDN services will grow from just under $11 billion in 2018 to nearly $16 billion in 2023. This upsurge is because multi-CDN environments provide increased reach, redundancy and flexibility around peak traffic. So having a choice of CDNs to use becomes critical to ensuring fast, buffer-free streams that meet viewers' increasingly high standards.
There are, however, some very real issues when distributing TV content over the internet in a multi-CDN environment. The quality of the OTT TV delivery, for example, is left in the hands of the CDN provider. Content distributors, therefore, have limited visibility and no means to instantaneously fix any potential issues that may arise during the streaming session.
So what are the key challenges facing OTT TV providers and how they can be overcome?
Limited control and measurement options
By relying on multiple third-party CDNs rather than having their own CDN infrastructure, OTT TV providers are losing overall control and insight of the end user experience when streaming media.
In OTT streaming, the vast majority of decisions are negotiated between the client and the CDN. This means that even the service providers themselves are outside of the decision loop. The client autonomously takes decisions about what media to fetch from a menu of variants, significantly limiting visibility into the customer experience and making it difficult for the content provider to know what actions to take in order to fix possible quality issues.
Quality of Experience (QoE) information and insight into how viewers are experiencing content can be provided using client-side solutions, but this requires client integration, which can be a considerable drawback. And with today's explosion of client devices, it's hard to reach 100 per cent coverage. The current client landscape is more fragmented than ever, consisting of an ever-growing mix of brands, models and versions. Integrating with client devices, therefore, becomes complex, time-consuming and costly - often ending with the provider sampling a subset of clients instead of all of them.
This is all made even more complicated by the fact that each CDN comes with its own features and capabilities. Because these are not standardised, there is a risk that one CDN's capabilities cannot be provided by another. This makes it difficult to create one overall control functionality that works independently of which network is delivering the content.
Limited options to impact the service quality in real time
A multi-CDN approach typically involves relying on third-party CDN services, rather than distributing the content over a fully managed network. This means broadcasters and content distributors are in the hands of the CDN provider when it comes to acting on potential problems with the quality of the TV service.
The issue is that they lack instant access and the ability to act on key session data. This can include bitrate, the timing between segment requests, the type of device used, the video format and performance data from all delivering CDNs. As a result, a potential service complaint could easily end up in an SLA review, but won't be resolved during the ongoing TV show. This will heavily impact that customer's quality experience and may put them off from using the service in the future.
So, the ability to proactively identify potential drops in performance and manage the OTT TV delivery in real time - before a potential quality issue arises - is very limited.
These two challenges highlight some key questions for content providers. Firstly, is there a way to gain visibility into their customers' QoE without having to integrate with the client devices? And secondly, is there a way to control OTT TV content delivery across multiple CDNs even if they don't own and manage the CDN infrastructure themselves?
How content providers can take control
The good news is that the answer to both of these questions is yes.
In today's age of OTT TV where QoE is one important success factor, content providers have to find a way to take back control of the delivery of their content and gain visibility into the QoE without having to go down the client integration route.
One of the most effective ways of doing this is to introduce a control plane-based model that can, in real time, select the optimal delivery on a per-segment granularity, independent of both client and CDN.
Such a model can provide a new level of control when it comes to multi-CDN delivery and bring content providers back into the loop, between the client and the CDN. Sitting in the control plane allows the content provider to orchestrate the delivery of streamed media and decide - at a granular level - where each segment request should be directed, i.e. which CDN should deliver it.
Giving content distributors independence towards both CDN providers and clients for both features and quality, thus avoiding any complicated client integration, is a strategic position to be in. Every segment request can be measured and should a problem occur, the session can be moved to another CDN to overcome it. What's more, the common denominator for the sessions experiencing a pro
Europe Stories
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
17/09/2025
Transatlantic collaboration combines experience and agility to drive innovation in network design and delivery
Luxembourg, September 16, 2025 - SES, a leading ...
17/09/2025
For the Moon Safari anniversary tour, AIR opened the doors to their backstage. Just a few hours before the Paris concert, DPA met with two key figures of the te...
17/09/2025
Auditions will be held in Dublin, Cork and Galway
The County Parade returns f...
16/09/2025
Hace una d cada, la m sica latina representaba apenas el 8% de las reproducciones globales en Spotify. Hoy, constituye m s de una cuarta parte (27%) de toda la ...
16/09/2025
A decade ago, Latin music made up just 8% of global Spotify streams. Today, it a...
16/09/2025
Spotify is expanding our video lineup with a new partnership with Zoo 55, part of ITV Studios. For the first time, acclaimed content from ITV Studios is landing...
16/09/2025
Calrec has strengthened its collaboration with audio metering expert RTW by integrating RTW's new TMxCore metering platform across its full range of Argo IP...
16/09/2025
Leading space solutions company will use optical ground stations to deliver faster, more secure data from space
Luxembourg, September 15, 2025 - SES, a leading...
16/09/2025
Comscore Unveils The Scoreboard: An Interactive Destination Surfacing Consumer B...
15/09/2025
Global K-Pop sensation aespa is redefining what it means to be rich with the r...
15/09/2025
Every day, millions of people around the world turn to Spotify to enjoy the audi...
15/09/2025
After months of intensive planning and implementation, Brembo SGL Carbon Ceramic...
15/09/2025
Unique sports content orchestration platform builds momentum among SES's cus...
15/09/2025
-- Opens door to growth in renewable energy New Delhi, India - 15th September -- Global business and industry leaders from around the world are joining technol...
13/09/2025
Harmonic's Software-Based XOS Advanced Media Processor Provides Unparalleled Efficiency and Unlocks New Business Models SAN JOSE, Calif. - Sept. 13, 2025 -...
12/09/2025
For fans, we know how important it is to stay plugged into music culture and dis...
12/09/2025
Link ping, Sweden and Shipley, United Kingdom, September 12, 2025 - Agama, the expert in video observability and analytics for service quality and customer expe...
12/09/2025
Feature-length retrospective from Studio Crook to air in 2026
Sir David Jason returns to the nation's favourite comedy channel, U&GOLD, for Open All Hours:...
12/09/2025
Friday 12 September 2025
The Boomtown Rats, Nyah Grace, Soweto Kinch, Royal Ballet and Madness also announced to perform at the ceremony on Tuesday
Sky today ...
12/09/2025
Wuppertal September 12, 2025
Riedel Unveils Ultra-Light Bolero Mini Wireless Intercom BeltpackAt IBC2025 in Amsterdam, Riedel Communications unveiled Bolero M...
12/09/2025
Wuppertal September 12, 2025
Riedel Communications Acquires hi human interfaceRiedel Communications today announced the acquisition of hi human interface fro...
12/09/2025
CORE+ virtually removes distortion, setting a new standard for church sound and giving worship teams the clarity and confidence they need.
Read the full artic...
12/09/2025
The Late Late Show is back with a bang after the summer break, and Patrick Kielt...
12/09/2025
The World Athletics Championships, Ireland v France in the Women's Rugby World Cup quarter-final, the Irish Champions Festival, and two Sports Direct Men...
12/09/2025
The Records Show starts Sunday at 6.30pm on RT One and RT Player.
Katie Hanno...
11/09/2025
RADAR, Spotify's program for emerging talent, recently hit a major milestone...
11/09/2025
Link ping, Sweden, September 11, 2025 - Agama, the expert in video observability & analytics for service quality and customer experience, announced today the la...
11/09/2025
Under the USD 89.6 Million award, SES Space & Defense will provide global commer...
11/09/2025
Leading Balkan DTH provider adds capacity to consolidate its m:Sat TV platform at 23.5 degrees East and serve more customers across the region
Luxembourg, 11 S...
11/09/2025
UKTV's free streaming service U launches on Sky Q
Free streaming service U has launched on Sky Q in the UK, UKTV and Sky confirm today, expanding the footp...
11/09/2025
From the discreet 2061 lavaliers to 4099 and 4011 mics, the setup delivered clean, natural sound in one of the most challenging broadcast environments.
Read th...
11/09/2025
From rugged build quality to natural, detailed sound, the verdict is clear: big performance can come in a very small package.
Read the full review here!...
11/09/2025
Tonight on Prime Time
RT One and RT Player at 9:35pm
Tonight RT Prime Time...
11/09/2025
RT Statement: 2026 Eurovision Song Contest
At the General Assembly of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) in July, a number of EBU members raised concerns ...
10/09/2025
Lossless on Spotify Premium is here.
Lossless audio has been one of the most a...
10/09/2025
The Television Will Be Revolutionised Sep 10, 2025
Written by Sunit Kotecha, Director of Delivery and Operations, YouView
2025 marks a century since the f...
10/09/2025
First of Spains F110 frigates get future-ready with Rohde & Schwarz communicatio...
10/09/2025
Harmonic's cOS Platform Supports DOCSIS and Fiber, Enabling Midco to Deliver Reliable Multi-Gigabit Connectivity to Subscribers SAN JOSE, Calif. - Sept. 10,...
10/09/2025
RT brings three days of live radio, live entertainment, live news, live weather, personal appearances, and more
Join RT Radio 1: Morning Ireland, The Oliver ...
09/09/2025
Since 2020, Spotify's RADAR program has been a launchpad for emerging talent...
09/09/2025
In 2020, Spotify launched RADAR with a clear mission: to identify, nurture, and ...
09/09/2025
If you're on BookTok, you know the drill. You scroll, you tap, and suddenly your To Be Read list is overflowing with trending must-reads. Not unlike Spoti...
09/09/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
09/09/2025
Harmonic's VOS360 Ad SaaS Enables Personalized Ad Delivery and Seamless Integration with the Ad Tech Ecosystem SAN JOSE, Calif. - Sept. 9, 2025 - Harmonic ...
09/09/2025
St. Luke's Episcopal Church in New Jersey needed audio that truly connects and they found the answer.
Read the full case study here!...
09/09/2025
From AI-driven sound design to adaptable systems and uncompromising audio quality, the discussion highlights how innovation is shaping the future of performance...
09/09/2025
The conversation covers DPA's natural, uncolored sound, how to choose the right mic for any application and the company's latest innovations including C...
By Kalle Henriksson, research and innovation, founder, Edgeware
