Vivo IPL Cricket Final Is a Record-Breaker for Hotstar and Akamai
18/06/2018
Monday, June 18, 2018 - 11:49 am
Print This Story
Story Highlights
As the world stops to watch the World Cup, it's worth asking what the most-streamed sports event has been. A major soccer final? The latest Super Bowl? No, believe it or not, it was cricket, and it took place in late May in India.
On May 27, a peak 10.3 million concurrent viewers watched the Chennai Super Kings and the Hyderabad Sunrisers face off in the final match of the Vivo Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament from Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The event was carried by Indian streaming platform Hotstar and distributed by content-delivery network (CDN) Akamai. The 60-day-long tournament was streamed in six languages: Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Kannada, Hindi, and English. (By the way: the Chennai Super Kings won.)
Though televised, Hotstar's Vivo IPL games still attracted a massive streaming audience.
The two teams have played each other in the IPL on 10 occasions, with the Chennai Super Kings dominating the head-to-head record, winning eight matches while Sunrisers Hyderabad has won only two, says Parimal Pandya, head of Akamai's media business in Asia Pacific Japan.
The next-largest concurrently viewed online event is Felix Baumgartner's 24-mile jump from space, which more than 8 million watched live on YouTube in 2012. Hotstar and Akamai knew they had something big this season when, on April 10, their live-streamed match between the Super Knights and the Kolkata Knight Riders peaked with 5.5 million concurrent viewers. And that was just an early-season game.
Surprisingly, Hotstar's Vivo IPL games were televised and still attracted a massive streaming audience. Hotstar parent Star India owns the broadcast and digital rights to the IPL for five years for India and the rest of the world, allowing Star India to deliver the IPL to Indian audiences abroad.
To best serve its customers, Hotstar created a mobile-first experience for this year's tournament, producing lower-bitrate encodes optimized for smaller screens and lower-bandwidth delivery.
One of the things that's really important when architecting a streaming solution is making sure that, if you know your audience is coming in for a particular device set, you're using a bitrate-encoding profile that's tailored and catered to that device, explains Shawn Michels, director, media product management, Akamai.
Hotstar also created an engaging interactive experience. It included mixing in Watch'NPlay, a game that let viewers test their cricket expertise while watching the game. Social features and even a VR view were also offered.
Watch'NPlay is a skill-based game wherein a user gets to test his or her cricket knowledge and expertise along with millions of other users tuned into the match, Pandya explains. The game takes the Indian cricket enthusiasts' innate behavior of providing running commentary on player performance and strategy into an actual game where they stand to win big.
This season's concurrent-live-views records easily beat Akamai's previous record of 4.8 million during the ICC Champions Trophy Final between India and Pakistan in June 2017, also a cricket match offered by Hotstar. Akamai's next-largest live stream was the U.S. presidential inauguration in January 2017, with 4.6 million views.
When Akamai's engineers see that an upcoming event has the potential to create a significant draw, they do a little advance work to prepare for the load. That includes taking a look at their mapping systems to make sure they've mapped the event properly, creating a delivery map that not only builds in resiliency and redundancy but also allocates additional server capacity in regions where they expect extreme demand.
Akamai monitors high-capacity events to be sure the streaming experience is equivalent to television. For monitoring, nothing beats eyes on glass, with personnel in the broadcast-operations center watching the streams as they happen, looking for interruptions or delays. The company also runs load tests to be sure it can scale up based on guidelines determined by the customers.
Live-streaming an event carries special challenges, such as delivering the video to customers with the lowest-possible startup time. A two-second startup delay can lose as much as 16% of the total audience; a five-second delay can cause 25% of the audience to go elsewhere. The answer for Akamai is to map and architect delivery systems so that it can always stream video to customers with the lowest startup time. As major live-streamed events grow in importance, Akamai is looking for new technologies that let it provide quick delivery from edge servers.
With live streaming to both desktop and mobile playing an increased role in the way fans get their sports, Akamai should have plenty of opportunities to test and refine its systems. Besides IPL cricket, it has worked with the Super Bowl, March Madness, The Masters, and the World Cup.
Typically, Michels says, there are very few major large sporting events that aren't delivered and originated over the Akamai network.
LINK: | https://www.sportsvideo.org/2018/06/18/vivo-ipl-cricket-final-is-a-rec... |
See more stories from svg |
Most recent headlines
03/06/2024
Dalet and Veritone Reach Agreement to Distribute, Transact and Monetize Media Archives
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
19/03/2024
Barco announces collaboration with NVIDIA and SoftAcuity to add AI and data analytics applications to the operating room
Mar 18, 2024 Barco announces collaboration with NVIDIA and SoftAcuity to a...
19/03/2024
Hear from New Bulls Manager Morgan Ensberg on latest The Durham Bulls Podcast
Meet the Bulls' new manager, hear from 2 former managers, a former player and a person with a very special connection to Wool E. Bull. Tune in to The Durham...
19/03/2024
What Is Dembow? Tracing the Roots of a Global Phenomenon
What Is Dembow? Tracing the Roots of a Global Phenomenon The story of the dembow beat, which can be found in reggaeton, hip-hop, pop, and far beyond, speaks t...
19/03/2024
Berklee's Roger H. Brown Jr. Building Honored by Boston Society for Architecture
Berklee's Roger H. Brown Jr. Building Honored by Boston Society for Architec...
19/03/2024
Applications Open for 2024 Berklee at Umbria Jazz Clinics
Applications Open for 2024 Berklee at Umbria Jazz Clinics The 39th edition of the program will be held from July 9-21. By Callista Chan March 21, 2024 Ima...
19/03/2024
Smoke and Mirrors: Monday's episode, 18 March 2024 [VIDEO]
Smoke and Mirrors: Monday's episode, 18 March 2024 [VIDEO]Stay up to date with the latest episodes of your favourite South African soapie on The South Afric...
19/03/2024
Umkhokha: The Curse - Monday's episode, 18 March 2024 [VIDEO]
Umkhokha: The Curse - Monday's episode, 18 March 2024 [VIDEO]Stay up to date with the latest episodes of your favourite South African soapie on The South Af...
19/03/2024
Gqeberha: The Empire - Monday's episode, 18 March 2024 [VIDEO]
Gqeberha: The Empire - Monday's episode, 18 March 2024 [VIDEO]Stay up to date with the latest episodes of your favourite South African soapie on The South A...
19/03/2024
Muvhango: Monday's episode, 18 March 2024 [VIDEO]
Muvhango: Monday's episode, 18 March 2024 [VIDEO]Stay up to date with the latest episodes of your favourite South African soapie on The South African websit...
19/03/2024
Uzalo: Monday's episode, 18 March 2024 [video]
Uzalo: Monday's episode, 18 March 2024 [video]Stay up to date with the latest episodes of your favourite South African soapie on The South African website. ...
19/03/2024
Generations: The Legacy - Monday's episode, 18 March 2024 [VIDEO]
Generations: The Legacy - Monday's episode, 18 March 2024 [VIDEO]Stay up to date with the latest episodes of your favourite South African soapie on The Sout...
19/03/2024
Skeem Saam: Monday's episode, 18 March 2024 [VIDEO]
Skeem Saam: Monday's episode, 18 March 2024 [VIDEO]Missed an episode of Skeem Saam? No problem! Watch the latest episode of your favourite South African soa...
18/03/2024
USC Basketball Star Juju Watkins on Fashion, Film, Friendship Bracelets, and More
Listeners turn to Spotify to connect with their favorites-from artists and album...
18/03/2024
Young professionals successfully complete vocational training at SGL's Meitingen site
Seven young professionals completed their vocational training at SGL Carbon in M...
18/03/2024
Vintage Allure
Released this past January, the music video for Ariana Grande's yes, and? brings a modern approach to vintage allure. The video was directed by Christian ...
18/03/2024
ST Engineering iDirect Unveils Intuition at SATELLITE 2024 Conference and Exhibition
Global satellite communications leader gives market a first look at its next-gen...
18/03/2024
Box to Box Films shares with MediaSilo
Box to Box Films Shares with MediaSilo Amy and Drive to Survive producer updates collaborators simply and securely Boston, MA, March 18, 2024 - Box to Box Fi...
18/03/2024
Telestream Introduces AI-Powered Tools for Rapid Content Delivery at NAB Show 2024
Telestream Introduces AI-Powered Tools for Rapid Content Delivery at NAB Show 20...
18/03/2024
Docufiction Film Bringing Down a Mountain Edited with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Docufiction Film Bringing Down a Mountain Edited with DaVinci Resolve Studio Brie Clayton March 18, 2024 0 Comments Blackmagic Design today announced ...
18/03/2024
FingerWorks Telestrators Releases Enhancements to Computer Vision Live Tracking Software at NAB 2024
FingerWorks Telestrators Releases Enhancements to Computer Vision Live Tracking ...
18/03/2024
DirecTV to Allow Subscribers to Opt Out of Local Stations
DirecTV announced a new feature over the weekend that will allow its subscribers to opt out of their local stations in return for a discount. Customers who ch...
18/03/2024
Logging and reviewing: Moving towards a sustainable workflow
Jane Sung, COO at Cinedeck, explains how broadcasters and content production companies can achieve the goal of moving towards creating a more sustainable, effic...
18/03/2024
Altice Media sold to French shipping tycoon for 1.55 billion
The deal includes BFM TV, one of the country's largest 24-hour news channels, as well as documentary channel RMC D couverte, and RMC Story By Jenny Priestl...
18/03/2024
Meet the CEO and founder
By TVBEurope Staff Published: March 18, 2024 Nick Franco tells TVBEurope how he went from being a master plasterer and refurbishing the ornate plasterwork ...
18/03/2024
Master the Avatar State: Glowing Eyes in Adobe After Effects
Master the Avatar State: Glowing Eyes in Adobe After Effects Levi Borland March 18, 2024 0 Comments In this step-by-step tutorial, learn how to recrea...
18/03/2024
Next Season of Doctor Who' on Disney Plus May 10
The next season of Doctor Who, with Ncuti Gatwa as the 15th Doctor, premieres on Disney Plus and around the world May 10. It is the first season to launch on Di...
18/03/2024
Screen Australia and VicScreen launch new Screen Careers initiative
18 03 2024 - Media release Screen Australia and VicScreen launch new Screen Careers initiative LTR Denise Eriksen, Esther Coleman Hawkins, Caroline Pitcher, K...
18/03/2024
CBC/WRAL Night Helps Bring in Over $26k for PBS NC
Capitol Broadcasting and WRAL-TV continued a decades-long tradition of supporting PBS North Carolina, our state's public television station, to good result ...
18/03/2024
Tonight on My Brother's Keeper: Nomusa leaves Moketsi's house in a rush
Tonight on My Brother's Keeper: Nomusa leaves Moketsi's house in a rushDon't miss Monday, 18 March's riveting episode of South African soapie My...
18/03/2024
Tonight on House of Zwide: Zola discovers she's pregnant
Tonight on House of Zwide: Zola discovers she's pregnantDon't miss Monday, 18 March's riveting episode of South African soapie House of Zwide on e.t...
18/03/2024
Big Brother Mzansi 4: Papa Ghost secures back-to-back Head of House wins
Big Brother Mzansi 4: Papa Ghost secures back-to-back Head of House winsPapa Ghost has clinched consecutive victories as Head of the House in the latest edition...
18/03/2024
NVIDIA Edify Unlocks 3D Generative AI, New Image Controls for Visual Content Providers
NVIDIA Edify, a multimodal architecture for visual generative AI, is entering a ...
18/03/2024
From Atoms to Supercomputers: NVIDIA, Partners Scale Quantum Computing
The latest advances in quantum computing include investigating molecules, deploying giant supercomputers and building the quantum workforce with a new academic ...
18/03/2024
New NVIDIA Storage Partner Validation Program Streamlines Enterprise AI Deployments
A sharp increase in generative AI deployments is driving business innovation for...
18/03/2024
NVIDIA Unveils Digital Blueprint for Building Next-Gen Data Centers
Designing, simulating and bringing up modern data centers is incredibly complex, involving multiple considerations like performance, energy efficiency and scala...
18/03/2024
Generative AI Developers Harness NVIDIA Technologies to Transform In-Vehicle Experiences
Cars of the future will be more than just modes of transportation; they'll b...
18/03/2024
All Eyes on AI: Automotive Tech on Full Display at GTC 2024
All eyes across the auto industry are on GTC - the global AI conference running in San Jose, Calif., and online through Thursday, March 21 - as the world's ...
18/03/2024
All Aboard: NVIDIA Scores 23 World Records for Route Optimization
With nearly two dozen world records to its name, NVIDIA cuOpt now holds the top spot for 100% of the largest routing benchmarks in the last three years. And thi...
18/03/2024
We Created a Processor for the Generative AI Era,' NVIDIA CEO Says
Generative AI promises to revolutionize every industry it touches - all that's been needed is the technology to meet the challenge. NVIDIA founder and CEO ...
18/03/2024
Banglalink Gets Unified Licence to Deliver Superior Digital Services in Bangladesh
18 Mar 2024 Banglalink Gets Unified Licence to Deliver Superior Digital Service...
18/03/2024
Thuraya partners with Niflink to deliver telemedicine and eLearning to users across its network
Abu Dhabi, 18 March, 2024 : Abu Dhabi, 18 March 2024: Thuraya Telecommunication...
18/03/2024
Thuraya partners with Niflink to deliver telemedicine and eLearning to users across its ne...
Abu Dhabi, 18 March, 2024 : Abu Dhabi, 18 March 2024: Thuraya Telecommunication...
18/03/2024
Major League Soccer: IMG on Capturing Fan Rituals and Delivering Consistent Coverage
Major League Soccer: IMG on capturing fan rituals and delivering consistent cove...
18/03/2024
Smashing Padel: Inside Aurora's Innovative Production of the Inaugural Hexagon Cup
Smashing padel: Inside Aurora's innovative production of the inaugural Hexag...
18/03/2024
Airspeeder Teams Up With EMG for World's First Live Broadcast of Flying Car Series
Airspeeder teams up with EMG for world's first live broadcast of flying car ...
18/03/2024
Netflix Announces News About 26 Upcoming Nordic Titles - Including 12 Brand New Titles
Back to All News Netflix Announces News About 26 Upcoming Nordic Titles - Inclu...
18/03/2024
Final sprint in the AS4 market communication
Final Sprint in the AS4 Market Communication: All Arvato Systems Customers Are Ready to Go Customers for market communication AS4-ready Arvato Systems is now...
18/03/2024
Tonight on Uzalo: Nkunzi takes a drastic decision
Tonight on Uzalo: Nkunzi takes a drastic decisionDon't miss Monday, 18 March's riveting episode of South African soapie Uzalo on SABC 1 on DStv channel ...
18/03/2024
Thales to modernize Montreal Mtro blue Line,improving passengers' punctuality and train reliability
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Following a call for tenders, the Soci t de tra...