SAN FRANCISCO-COVID-19 stay-at-home mandates are proving to be a double-edged sword for the streaming and OTT industry, as viewers in droves have turned to these services to keep them entertained but in the process have driven up their costs, according to a new report from a video infrastructure provider serving digital media companies worldwide.
The latest edition of the Video Developer Report from Bitmovin revealed the top challenges facing video developers, the state of the video streaming and OTT industry and other key trends. Findings come from the company's fourth Annual Video Developer Survey.
LOWERING COSTSAccording to the report, reducing costs topped the list of challenges facing respondents and replaced concern over complex technology, such as live low latency, as the No. 1 challenge identified in the 2019 edition. More than half of respondents identified the cost of items like bandwidth and storage as the greatest challenge-this despite the majority of respondents holding technical roles at their companies.
The results indicate there's a clear belief in the industry that video streaming services must focus on cost optimization as a means of survival, the report said.
The report noted that although the COVID-19 shelter-in-place requirements propelled growth around the world in subscriptions to video streaming services and hours of content viewed, uncertainty over the global business landscape is resulting in companies scaling back on new projects as a cost control mechanism.
When it comes to the biggest challenges to remaining competitive, the results showed reducing cost and taking services and assets faster to market topped the list.
LIVE STREAMING AT SCALEThe survey found that while mastering live streaming at scale remains a major challenge, respondents viewed it as the greatest opportunity for innovation. Not even the abbreviated and improvised schedules of some sports leagues due to COVID-19 could discourage respondents from selecting live streaming at scale as the No. 1 item on their list of innovation topics.
Respondents also identified innovations by developers in the areas of streaming content recommendations and personalizations as service providers look for different ways to engage viewers.
CODECSThe report revealed software encoding on premise remains the top location for video encoding. It also found cloud-based encoding is increasing slightly-up three percentage points to 32% when compared to the report's 2019 findings.
Hardware encoding saw a reversal from last year. In 2019, there was an increase of 5% in the category. This year, it recorded the biggest drop, down 9%. The reason for the decline is unclear. The report offered some possible reasons, such as fewer live events being produced due to COVID-19 and the cost efficiencies of cloud encoding.
This year's survey asked video developers for the first time about the types of encoders they use. Fifty-one percent reported using a mix of commercial encoders. When it came to open source alternatives, ffmpeg was the encoder of choice, it found.
Choosing a codec to use is driven by business goals. While multicodec use is a reality, adopting and supporting a new codec depends on the business criteria of developers and organizations. Reaching a targeted audience, targeted device or platform as well as supporting 4K and 8K content are among the commonly cited reasons respondents selected a particular codec, the survey found.
When it comes to audio, the study revealed AAC continues to be the dominant audio codec. Offering higher sound quality at the same bitrate, it promises to become the successor to the MP3 format, it found.
With the role sound quality plays in enhancing the viewing experience, Dolby Atmos immersive sound technology is being widely accepted by artists, content creators and developers, and is trending to be widely used in the future. Helping to drive uptake is the effect COVID-19 had on movie theaters, closing many and prompting studios to go straight to on-demand. That in turn enhanced the role of living room and large screen viewing and drove demand for innovation, the report said.
BROWSERS VS. GAME CONSOLESThe survey revealed HTML browsers on devices like PCs and Macs are the top place where developers are focusing their efforts. That's followed by native iOS and native Android and then Apple TV.
Only 13% are developing for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and just 3% are streaming to Nintendo Switch, it found. While game consoles have not caught up with streaming devices, that might change with the launch this fall of PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S and Series X, the report said.
In today's COVID world, there is huge volatility that is accompanied by large demand. The industry players that best recognize the changing technological and financial landscape will be the ones to not only survive, but to thrive, said Bitmovin CEO Stefan Lederer.
This year's Bitmovin Annual Video Developer survey was conducted June 29-Aug. 9. Seven-hundred ninety-two of the company's customers, which include broadcasters, integrators and OTT streaming services, from 87 countries made up the survey sample.
More information is available on the company's website.
Most recent headlines
16/12/2025
Hawkins has landed on Spotify, just in time for Stranger Things Season 5, Volume...
16/12/2025
Wherever you are, your favorite music and audio content should go seamlessly with you. That's why Spotify has partnered with NAVER Corp, Korea's leading...
16/12/2025
2025 Wrapped arrived bigger and bolder than ever. This year's experience is designed to be ultra personal and shareable, with new features like Wrapped Part...
16/12/2025
Three 12-kilowatt Advanced Electric Propulsion System thrusters, supplied by L3Harris Technologies, form the core of Gateway's propulsion system. Pictured i...
16/12/2025
The challenge facing America's defense industrial base is not just about speed - its about rebuilding the foundation that makes speed possible. Our nations ...
16/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
16/12/2025
SEVILLE, Spain Canal Sur, the public broadcasting service for Andalusia, Spain, has completed a total technology refresh based on Pebble's resilient, softwa...
16/12/2025
NEW YORK Teleprompting hardware provider Telescript International has acquired all software code and intellectual property previously owned by Telescript West. ...
16/12/2025
As cable operators face increased competition from 5G fixed wireless access providers, a new report from Ookla Research finds that T-Mobile is the FWA speed lea...
16/12/2025
Apple has announced a major upgrade to the Apple TV app for device owners outside the Apple ecosystem with news that the Apple TV app for Android now supports G...
16/12/2025
Space42 grows Direct-to-Device partner ecosystem through a Memorandum of Underst...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON Announces Release Date for Full Year and Fourth Quarter 2025 R...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON's Kyivstar Invests in Renewable Energy in Ukraine with Acq...
16/12/2025
Back to All News
Emma Appleton, Fares Fares, Frida Gustavsson and Jakob Oftebro...
16/12/2025
Back to All News
Docu-reality My Korean Boyfriend Gets a Trailer and Premiere D...
16/12/2025
Harmonic's XOS Advanced Media Processor Improves Streaming Video Quality and Boosts Viewer Engagement SAN JOSE, Calif. - Dec. 16, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: ...
16/12/2025
RT Sport Awards 2025 live on RT One and RT Player at 8:05pm on Saturday 20 December.
On Saturday 20 December live on RT One and RT Player at the earlier t...
16/12/2025
Singer -songwriter Brian Kennedy has been announced as the final celebrity dance...
15/12/2025
Harlem Globetrotters Celebrate 100th Anniversary With New Brand Campaign From Th...
15/12/2025
Top L-R: La Tierra Del Valor (The Home of the Brave), Mangittatuarjuk (The Gnawe...
15/12/2025
L3Harris will leverage 15 years of experience supporting the E-4B Nightwatch and...
15/12/2025
CONWAY, Ark. In a notable example of how the loss of federal funding is forcing public stations to make massive cuts and operational changes, the statewide pub...
15/12/2025
BOULDER, Colo. Public Media Venture Group (PMVG), Venture Technologies Group (VTG), and WQED have completed a multipart agreement that they say will significant...
15/12/2025
Cape Town, November 13, 2025 - SES and International artist and humanitarian, Fo...
15/12/2025
Luxembourg, December 15, 2025 - SES, a leading space solutions company, and Abra Group launched fast and reliable multi-orbit inflight connectivity service on t...
15/12/2025
How Rivian s Design Puts Drivers First-And Why That Matters Published on Dec 15, 2025 Categories: Business Solutions
LinkedIn Corporate Communications
Sha...
15/12/2025
Space42 and Cobham Satcom completed the full range of advanced terminals for the...
15/12/2025
15 Dec 2025
VEON's Beeline Kazakhstan Delivers First Starlink Direct to Cel...
15/12/2025
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor finds himself the topic of year's cracker jokes
Oasis, David Harbour, Celebrity Traitors and Angela Rayner all feature in this y...
15/12/2025
Comscore Expands Cross-Platform Campaign Measurement to Include Audio and Social New capabilities strengthen cross-platform campaign reporting suite; CCR rebran...
15/12/2025
NVIDIA today announced it has acquired SchedMD - the leading developer of Slurm, an open-source workload management system for high-performance computing (HPC) ...
15/12/2025
RT .ie has reached one billion page views this year and is on track to finish 2025 2% ahead of last year. Average time spent on the site is up 3% on 2024, with ...
15/12/2025
Modern workflows showcase the endless possibilities of generative and agentic AI on PCs.
Of many, some examples include tuning a chatbot to handle product-supp...
13/12/2025
Powering Client Growth: Horizon Deepens Nielsen Partnership, Enabling More Effic...
13/12/2025
In a move that will help it offer more flexible and less costly programming options, YouTube TV has announced that it will be launching YouTube TV Plans with mo...
13/12/2025
SINGAPORE Magna Systems has designed, built and completed what is believed to be the first full UHD and IP-based OB truck in Southeast Asia for a Singapore medi...
12/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Everything You Need to Know for Next Week's Big Sho...
12/12/2025
Hailey Gates at the Atropia premiere (photo by George Pimentel / Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival)...
12/12/2025
Last month, Spotify announced a new collaboration with the ATP Tour, the global governing body of men's professional tennis, aimed at bringing the next gene...
12/12/2025
CONWAY, Ark. In a notable example of how the elimination of Federal federal funding is forcing public stations to make massive cuts and changes in the way they...
12/12/2025
Wisycom and DPA Microphones announce the appointment of Ren Moerch as Group Product Director, Wireless, a strategic leadership role that will guide the combine...
12/12/2025
SMPTE , the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, in conjuncture with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the Entertainment Technolog...
12/12/2025
Keepit, the vendor-independent, cloud-native data protection provider, today announced a strategic go-to-market relationship in Poland with Ingram Micro, a lead...
12/12/2025
Atomos announced the immediate availability of a new firmware update for its Ninja TX GO and Ninja TX monitor-recorders, unlocking Open Gate 48P RAW recording w...
12/12/2025
Professional Wireless Systems (PWS) once again played a critical role in delivering flawless wireless coordination and support at the 2025 Latin Grammy Awards a...
12/12/2025
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), together with the Video Services Forum (VSF), the Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) and the European Broadc...
12/12/2025
DHD audio will demonstrate the latest additions to its range of digital audio production solutions on Booth 321 in Hall B6 at Hamburg Open 2026. The show will b...
12/12/2025
Chaos today announces the release of V-Ray for Blender, update 2, bringing its award-winning rendering technology to even more Blender users by adding support f...
12/12/2025
Lighting specialist UltraLEDs has launched Precision LED Tape, a high-CRI lighting solution designed specifically for professional film, TV, and studio use.
P...
SAN FRANCISCO-COVID-19 stay-at-home mandates are proving to be a double-edged sword for the streaming and OTT industry, as viewers in droves have turned to these services to keep them entertained but in the process have driven up their costs, according to a new report from a video infrastructure provider serving digital media companies worldwide.
