The more the merrier
S03E08: Game of Streams (The more the merrier)
Our Media Solution Consultant, Magnus Svensson, is sharing his reflections from the online streaming industry in this post. This is part of a monthly series so make sure to follow us here if you don’t want to miss an episode.
Streaming Video has never been a hotter topic. Every week we either read about a new streaming service that will launch or updates of the upcoming services. Towards the end of this year, we will have more options than we will afford and more than what the market will handle.
The “solution” that arises is a concept that has been tried before in this industry, bundles. You could say that subscription services, so-called SVOD, by itself is a bundle. But the big players in the market is about to take that a step further. Disney has announced a bundle with Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ and Amazon already have a bundle called Amazon Prime.
Apple is about to launch new services for video, music, games, and news. Like many others, I would not be surprised that Apple will make an attractive offer for their combined services which could also include other parts of the Apple ecosystem such as iCloud. Google, AT&T/HBO, and others will follow.
On top of the above, we have many companies that fight for the TV landing page, the one-stop-shop for television services. The operators and distributors have already claimed this position, with various success. Apple, Google, and Amazon are trying and new vendors, the latest Plex, are doing their best. On top of this, we have the streaming device vendors.
However, I’m still not convinced that bundles will be the solution to this puzzle. With the subscription services that exist today you already pay for a lot of content you don’t watch. With bigger packages, the amount of content and services left unused increase. And with bigger packages comes higher prices which mean that an average subscriber will afford only one or maximum two of the big bundles.
Instead, it might be better to pick and choose services depending on the content available. This will lead to that you start and stop subscriptions more frequently, and churn will be a commonality for the service providers. It might be better for the service providers to make this process easier and focus to keep subscribers by attractive content?
Premium Quality Video
In the last episode, I mentioned the concept of Premium Quality Video. This will become increasingly important as the competition increase. To stay relevant in the hard competition you need to offer premium quality content. Disney just announced that they have understood this, and will offer their content in 4K, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos as part of their standard subscription.
What does Premium Quality Video mean in reality?
For content owners it means that you need to produce your content in 4K and HDR and you will not be able to charge your subscribers more for this quality level, it has become standard. The market has been very reserved, but from now on there is no choice.
For distributors, it means that you need to be prepared for higher volumes of video. In reality, this means more efficient codecs and better distribution networks. Also, the devices need to be able to handle the new technology required for premium video quality.
Technology vendors must make premium video quality easier for content owners and distributors. The workflows from production until the videos are played on the devices must be built to handle the increased demands. Ease of use and efficiency is of equal importance than advanced feature growth. The price pressure on technology will become harder and technology vendors will find better margins in services. Instead of selling software and hardware, the vendors should offer a complete service.
To watch out for the coming months…
If the last week’s news has been dominated by content and new services, it has been a bit less product announcement. It feels a bit like the calm before the storm as IBC is around the corner. IBC in Amsterdam, a long weekend with lots of new product announcements. I’m sure we will see announcements around more efficient compression, lower latency, and machine learning improvements. I hope that we also will see some vendors that focus on ease of use and simple workflows.
Later this fall, the 7th of November, we have Streaming Tech Sweden coming up for the fourth year. The agenda this year will cover an educational session around contribution formats over the Internet, serverless media processing, the new VVC codec, Smart TV development, video player optimizations and a couple of surprises that will be revealed later. This is an event that you don’t want to miss, and tickets will be available for sale from 1st of October.
Magnus Svensson is a Media Solution Consultant and partner at Eyevinn Technology. Eyevinn Technology is the leading independent consultant firm specializing in video technology and media distribution.
Follow me on Twitter (@svensson00) and LinkedIn for regular updates and news.
