WATERLOO, Canada—The Kansas City Chiefs weren’t the only big winner Sunday with their Super Bowl Victory; the Fox Sports app was crowned a winner as well for the video quality it delivered when compared to other OTT streamers and broadcasters.
SSIMWAVE, which IMAX acquired in September 2022, used its SSIMPLUS technology that measures quality that replicates the human visual system to evaluate every second of video delivered via the app and more than a half dozen other streams and broadcasts, the company said.
On a scale ranging from 0 to 100, the Fox Sports app scored 83 in terms of video quality—the highest among streamers and broadcasters evaluated, and it delivered the lowest latency of any streaming service the company evaluated.
The evaluation was part of a larger SSIMWAVE effort to help sports leagues, broadcasters and streamers provide the best video experience for viewers. For the Super Bowl, the company measured cable broadcasts of Fox in the U.S. and CTV in Canada as well as five streaming services, including Fox Sports app, YouTube TV, Hulu+Live, DirecTV and DAZN.
Among the results of the evaluation:
- Two streaming providers scored above 80.
- No broadcast or streaming quality matched the 4K scores for the last World Cup semifinals or finals, which hit 88.
- Four streamers suffered latencies of between 20 and 40 seconds, compared to the fastest streamer.
- The U.S. cable operator evaluated the feed of the game with the lowest score (73) among all streamers and broadcasters.
- The quality of segments of Rihanna’s half-time show when complex flashing lights, camera pans and quick scene changes occurred dropped the perceived quality into the mid-60s in 4K streams.
The company’s SSIMPLUS has a correlation of greater than 90% with how viewers rate the quality of the video they see on screen, SSIMWAVE said.
“Capturing live sports and maintaining end-to-end quality is even harder than shutting down the Chiefs’ offense when the game is on the line,” said Abdul Rehman, CEO and co-founder of SSIMWAVE. “We have great respect for those who bring live sports from the playing field to the home and hope that our efforts can drive sports rights holders and the industry toward delivery of truly great video experiences for fans.”
The data presented corresponds to viewer experience on a 65-inch 4K TV. Streaming services feeds were lagging behind broadcast in the 20-to-60+ second range with Fox Sports App being the fastest, the company said.
Details are available on request from on the company’s website.
