Streaming Content and Video on Demand: are they Really Pushing Broadcast by Schedule to the Back Burner?

Just think for a minute. How did your grandparents consume content on their television sets? They structured their commitments around the schedule of the broadcasting companies for the privilege of enjoying their favorite shows. 

Then came the era of live telecasts and the element of anticipation was added to the mix. From sports championships to beauty pageants, millions of eyeballs greedily took in events and results, as they happened in real time and were as knowledgeable and savvy as the newspaper editors. 

At the turn of the new millennium though a trend burst onto screens, literally, and it was that of personalized, streaming content. It allowed viewers to watch what they wanted to when they wanted to and at their own terms of frequency and ‘pauses.' And the concept of non-linear visual entertainment was born. 

But is traditional television going the land-phone way? Will it soon be an object of nostalgia for times simpler?

If the advertisement numbers for linear entertainment are to be considered, conventional ‘TV’ is still a powerhouse and will continue to be so for a very long time to come. 

WHAT DO THE EXPERTS SAY? 

Those with industry experience and objectivity feel that content personalization on streaming platforms, like Netflix and Hulu, make for an enjoyable experience. But some disadvantages and problems will slowly but surely manifest themselves, disillusioning enthusiastic adopters.

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•   First and foremost, with choices come the penalty of potential user interface complications. People need to jump from one platform to another to enjoy features that they like. Yes, broadcasts provided next to nothing regarding interactivity and convenience when compared to the streaming and VOD options of today but Millennials think differently, and they want the best of all that is available to them. Thus with engagement (that stems from tailoring hands-on what one can watch) comes the fatigue of navigating different applications which can get tedious after a while. And the broadcast system can be supplanted only when the alternative is just as easy a habit to slip into.   
•  Analysis Paralysis is also a likely problem. With so much going on, leisure time is wasted in ‘deciding what to watch’ instead of actually watching it. Busy Millennials can get exasperated by the growing number of options presented to their overstretched minds, and this might cause friction where non-linear viewing is concerned. The world may as well return to the comfort of the couch and allow someone else – the broadcasters - to take decisions on their behalf for the majority of their entertainment needs 
•  Last but not the least, fragmentation may actually bump up prices. Personalized content promises to be cheaper than channel bundles because you only pay for what you wish to enjoy. But a closer evaluation of this business model shows that in the search for a ‘complete’ viewer experience that can justify the shift from good old television broadcasts people often end up subscribing to more streaming content platforms and channel modules than they realistically need to. A la carte sounds lucrative and cost-effective but rarely is so.

SO THE FUTURE IS…

Linear entertainment is not going to retire anytime soon. It is simply going to evolve. It will stick to its broadcast model and its simplicity but will offer a roster of personalization features for the people who would like to take advantage of them. Recording programs, the ability to play and ‘pause’ live television, movies on demand are just a few examples. More is on the horizon – especially with the popularity of smart television sets that can access the internet. 

Streaming services will continue to play second fiddle and provide content that is completely in control of the audience for when it is in the mood to diligently choose its entertainment.

So hold on to your flat screens and your Direct-to-Home cable guy. The revolution is still far away. 

Adaptive Bitrate Streaming – An Overview

In an age of rapidly increasing mobile computing, tablet use, and internet video streaming, adapting to user preferences relative to their current device and providing a great user experience on that device has become a chief objective within the technology community.  With the sharp increase in mobile use, wireless connectivity has been steadily improving, whether for mobile (LTE) or wireless internet (wifi and some other interesting protocols).  However, the problem with wireless connections and mobile usage, as many users know is that they are inconsistent.  With an inconsistent connection, a streamlined user experience becomes more difficult to attain.

The answer to this problem is adaptive bitrate streaming.  The basic premise is that the video is encoded at several different rates, and adjusts in real time to the quality of the user’s connection to change the quality or resolution of the stream, depending on the bandwidth available to the user at a given time.  The burden of this technological advance comes down on the encoders – it is a much more complex technology than previous fixed-rate streaming protocols.  However, the results for user experience make the technology much more desirable – so much so that there are several different adaptive protocols on the market, from Apple and Microsoft and other businesses that create proprietary solutions for their own products , as well as a new industry-standard protocol called MPEG_DASH (for Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP). 

Whether a universal standard is eventually adopted or not, adaptive bitrate streaming is an exciting and still-evolving topic of conversation that affects consumers and technology companies alike.  The task here for encoder manufacturers like Telairity here is not to dictate the standards that will be used by the industry to dynamically adapt video to fluctuations in bandwidth, but rather to support the standards that emerge for this purpose as quickly and efficiently as possible.

The Translation of Video Transmission

The modes by which we receive and interact with video as a culture are undergoing a shift.  As internet streaming speeds improve, and a more á la carte approach to television increases, the broadcasting industry is experiencing a potentially radical shift.  Much like the music industry, subscription services are changing the way many consumers understand and enjoy video:  Youtube is ever increasing in popularity; businesses like Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO Go, and Hulu Plus are gaining more traction; and products like the Apple TV, Roku, and the new Chromecast are enabling this rising tide of video to easily reach your TV via the internet.

While some are quick to forecast the end of broadcast TV, the reality is that typical broadcast  services don’t quite overlap with what is available on the web.  There are still some things that subscription and streaming services can’t offer.  News is one example – the digital transmission of live events for a public audience is something uniquely offered by broadcasters.  Additionally, local programming, emergency alert systems, and other real-time services are staples of the broadcasting industry that can’t be as effectively disseminated by any other current method.

The staple of broadcasting is video, the rising tide that increasingly floats all internet boats. The pressing need of the internet age is not for established broadcasters to be replaced by new entrants, providing some analog of the news and other services now offered by today’s cable, satellite, and over-the-air broadcasters. Rather, the need is for broadcasters to fully embrace the internet’s potential as an interactive, world-wide delivery channel in order to adapt, expand, and enhance the services they already know how to provide uniquely well.

It is precisely at these exciting crossroads of change and evolution that businesses involved in  video technology must understand and analyze the shifting nature of today’s landscape in order to better provide their customers with what they want and need.  Though the method and markets for broadcast media are undoubtedly changing, you can be sure that our experts at Telairity are on top of the trends, and intent on providing broadcasters together with all other professional video providers the latest innovative technology to answer the demands of new media.