Part of the success in the OTT industry is creating high-quality content appealing to your viewers. However, another part of success lies in smooth content delivery. You probably want to ensure an uninterrupted viewing experience for your customers so that they stay longer on your video streaming service.
But the problem is that your viewers are likely to have different devices, network conditions, and locations from where they stream your content. It means that a quality stream requires meeting all these requirements.
Let’s explore measures you can take to mitigate these video streaming challenges.
1. Content delivery network (CDN)
It seems like video streaming is impossible without a content delivery network, especially if you want to reach viewers globally.
Firstly, CDN solutions help you deliver videos faster to end users. It is the result of storing content on edge servers instead of the origin one. Edge servers locate closer to a viewer who makes a request to play a video. For this reason, content delivery happens faster and without buffering.
Secondly, a CDN is quite helpful when your service experiences sudden spikes in viewership. In such situations, it distributes viewers’ requests across multiple servers, decreasing the load. As a result, all people can receive the best viewing experience.
Thirdly, CDNs can protect you from DDoS attacks that are also about multiple requests sent to your video streaming service but with malicious purposes. A cyber actor attacking your service wants it to fail to operate and service your viewers. A CDN will help your service resist.
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2. Adaptive bitrate streaming (ABR)
Depending on the network conditions, the bandwidth might change. When the bandwidth is insufficient, the file cannot download fast enough to keep pace with the video playback. As a result, the video pauses to buffer.
Adaptive bitrate streaming is about delivering a video file in the highest quality possible for the current bitrate and bandwidth. In case the network conditions change (for example, if a user watches a video on the go), ABR will adjust its quality to improve streaming and ensure an uninterrupted viewing experience.
As a result, you provide playback as smoothly as possible despite their devices, locations, and Internet connection.
3. Encoding
A RAW video file captured from a camera is uncompressed and, thus, too large for video delivery over Internet networks. An encoder takes a video from a source and compresses it into a more manageable size and quality.
4. Transcoding
Viewers certainly use different devices for watching your content. Different brands create these devices and, therefore, implement different technical requirements for video playback. It is hard to meet all of them with a video in one size and bitrate.
The solution here is transcoding. It is the process of creating copies of your video file in multiple bitrates. It ensures adaptive bitrate streaming by changing the quality of a video in case the connection drops.
Transcoding can also influence the revenue you receive as it enhances the quality of streams. As a result, viewers are satisfied with the experience they get and turn into regular customers.
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5. Security
Video streaming services manage large amounts of data, including content and user information. For this reason, ensuring security and privacy is vital. Otherwise, you risk losing your revenue and viewers.
Cyber actors can steal user data to take advantage of it. Furthermore, they steal your original content to spread it for free on torrent or other websites. As a result, you lose your revenue and customers, and your reputation is damaged.
A solution here can be DRM, which stands for digital rights management. To put it simply, you give control over your content to software. It ensures that only authorized users access your videos.
Final Thoughts
The success of your OTT video streaming service depends on the content, marketing, and technology you use to run it. Professional software has everything necessary to deliver content to viewers and ensure a seamless viewing experience. Check everything before obtaining one.
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