In Broadcast - July 2020 - 58

58

www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 10 - Issue 7 | July 2020

InMedia

Trends in OTT, VoD & IPTV
Now more than ever apps and services need to launch fast,
be available cross-platform and with the right content to succeed,
Contributing Editor Adrian Pennington investigates...

C

OVID-19 is leading to an
irreversible shift in media
technology investment, away from
legacy and towards digital business
models and workflows. That is the stark
conclusion of an IABM report which has
tracked the impact of the crisis on the
content supply chain.
Where media technology buyers
were once inclined to take a 'wait-andsee' approach when investing in new
technologies such as cloud and remote
production, those risk preferences
are shifting radically as a result of the
global external shock.
No-one seriously imagines things
going back to where they were prepandemic. But it's not just the vendors
and their clients which will accelerate
the digital transition. Consumers may
also not go back to their old viewing
habits post-lockdown. Far from
slowing down as a result of the crisis,
IP networking and direct-to-consumer
models represents the short and longterm focus of the media industry.
The single goal is to get content out
to consumers while optimising the
experience at the same time.
During COVID-19 viewer experience
suffered (temporarily) from increased
consumption
numbers,
forcing
organisations to reconsider how they
deliver content. Even companies as
large as Netflix had to adjust to the
new norm by limiting resolution during
hours of peak bandwidth.
Bitmovin saw the effects of
increasing viewer figures in the
data from across its Analytics
customer base. The download speed
for downloading video segments
decreased by 15% and viewers had to
wait 30% longer for the videos to start.
The shift towards lower quality videos

A new rapid digital transition is in progress (Image: Blackbird)

is a result of less bandwidth availablecompanies that didn't reduce bitrate
expenditure were the ones who saw
the consequences with higher start-up
times. Companies able to implement
solutions like multi-pass encoding and
multi-codec applications will overcome
these challenges with reduced bitrate
expenditures.
"These adjustments will save you on
CDN costs and dramatically increase
your organisation's device reach,"
Bitmovin's Joshua Shulman says.

Market demands faster releases
Now that streaming is so highly
sought after, businesses need to
launch faster to capture audiences and
to grab a piece of the market share
owned by the big players (Netflix,
Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube).
Less than two months after its launch,
Disney+ has become the third-largest
subscription video on demand service
in the UK, showing that it's possible
to break into the saturated streaming
market, but also proving that apps
and services need to launch fast, be
available cross-platform and with the
right content to succeed.
"The question you should be
considering is not 'If I should reach
more
devices?'"
suggests
Schulman. "Rather, 'When will
I reach more devices?' Will it
be too late to launch in a too
saturated market?"
Video
app
development
remains an expensive and
time consuming process, but
Applicaster claims its new
app development framework
enables media companies to
Applicaster has launched an app development
quickly launch and update
framework Quick Brick

bespoke D2C video apps that scale
across mobile and TV platforms,
without writing any code.
Called Quick Brick, the framework
is available within the company's
SaaS app development platform,
Zapp. Unlike traditional video app
development, Applicaster says its
platform enhances React Native UI and
UX with critical native app functionality
which not only drastically shrinks time
to market but allows for rapid postlaunch iterations.
"With Quick Brick you don't need a
computer science degree to deploy
beautiful apps like Netflix or Hulu.
It's going to revolutionise the OTT
industry," said Jonathan Laor, cofounder and CEO of Applicaster.
Go REMI
Remote production was already
growing in popularity pre-Covid but
as rights holders and other content
producers ramp up their coverage of
live sporting events, even in empty
stadiums, we will definitely see a shift
to remote set-ups to ensure a safe
production workflow.
"Simply put, REMI provides a
practical, deliverable and proven
option for producing live events that
lightens the load when it comes to
travel, equipment and onsite staffing
- without compromising the quality of
the broadcast," asserts Glenn Adamo,
Managing Director of The Switch
Production Services. "It also allays the
fears of travel weary production and
technical crews who fear for their and
their family's safety being exposed."
Broadcasters and other rights
holders will aim to have as few people
onsite as possible, reducing numbers

of crew, support staff and even the
talent, with a stage manager being
virtual from the remote production
site.
"The remainder of the high-end
technical crew (TD, audio, replay,
graphics, video) would operate
remotely along with the producer,
director, associate producer," says
Adamo. "That said, there still needs
to be careful planning at the REMI
site itself to ensure social distancing,
such as the installation of plexiglass
dividers and sanitising of headsets,
rooms, air flow and surfaces."
The Switch recently launched a fully
cloud-based TV production platform
for live events. MIMiC is offered as an
on-demand 'as-a-Service' that means
all aspects of the production workflow,
from editing and graphics creation,
to comms and talk-back, is handled
in the cloud, while distribution is via
OTT services or over The Switch core
network.
The Switch says this opens up
broadcast quality live production for
smaller, niche sports events and adhoc or one-off live event production
by removing the cost and complexity
which
can
burden
traditional
production models.
Blackbird, a rival video cloud
production technology which is
optimised for rapid highlight clipping,
is also gaining customers. Recent
announcements include adoption by
Liverpool FC for production of media
to the LFC website and social

Blackbird for superfast
editing from the cloud

"REMI provides a
practical, deliverable &
proven option
for producing
live events"
Glenn Adamo, The Switch
http://www.inbroadcast.com http://www.blackbird.video http://www.blackbird.video http://www.applicaster.com http://www.blackbird.video
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