Want video anywhere, any time? Adaptive Bit Rate (ABR) Streaming makes it happen
Decades ago, when VCRs became a mass market product, consumers were excited because we could view content previously only available in movie theaters at home. Now, quite the opposite is happening. Consumers are jumping on the TV Everywhere concept. We subscribe to video content at home, and we want to take it with us wherever we go.
For operators, TV Everywhere (TVE) means distributing and delivering television and movies to viewers over any screen, any time. More and more users have smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles and connected TVs. Users are beginning to expect to view all of their content (premium, long form content and boredom-killing, “snackable” content included) over many devices--and are likely not willing to pay the price per device.
The opportunity for operators
But users can access similar services through other means. TV content producers and distributors have begin launching their own apps (HBO GO is one example). Netflix’s popular streaming service has also been a pioneering technology and business model.
Pay TV operators see TVE as an opportunity to fight these rising competitors and reduce the threat of “cord-cutting” in subscriber’s homes. With the right TVE infrastructure, operators can provide Video-on-Demand (VOD) and even Live (a.k.a. Linear) TV programming on any smart screen or connected device.
Adaptive Bit Rate (ABR) Streaming: the essential TV Everywhere Technology
Service providers are launching TVE services by embracing innovative methods of video streaming pioneered by companies such Apple, Microsoft and Adobe. A key technology of Internet video streaming is known as Adaptive Bit Rate (ABR) streaming.
In ABR streaming, what appears as a live stream is actually fragments of video delivered across a series of caching servers positioned in a Content Delivery Network (CDN). Even before an app requests to download a media asset’s files, they are prepared and packaged for CDN-based ABR delivery. The CDN copies these files to hundreds of caching servers closer to the user. Because the files are closer to the user, the CDN to delivers requested fragments more quickly. Operators can use a similar technology for a live or linear television program stream. Tellabs CTO Vikram Saksena described the benefits of CDN networks and content caching in his recent blog post.
The downside, and the smart solution
Adopting ABR streaming for TVE delivery will result in literally millions of files on the CDN. It’s logistically complicated, so it’s essential that operators install a smart network element at the edge of the CDN. This element should provide per-session admission control, content protection, bandwidth and policy enforcement. That will help operators keep ABR streaming under control.
But a smart network element also enables content and advertising related individualization of ABR streams. This is critical for operators looking at the big picture: how do I make money off of TV Everywhere?
I’ll explore monetizing TVE further in my next post.
