WATERLOO, Canada—A new survey of OTT providers, broadcasters and multichannel video providers has found that poor video quality remains a major issue for numerous streaming providers and that the market is increasingly moving toward automating quality assurance as a way to improve the quality of streaming video delivered to consumers.
The survey was conducted on behalf of SSIMWAVE, a provider of video experience automation, by streaming industry expert Dan Rayburn.
The survey, which aggregated input from more than 200 respondents, showed that poor video quality is the top technical issue, with 20% of respondents citing it as their major concern.
Although only 36% of respondents currently automate quality assurance, the stated market potential is high, with nearly 40% of respondents who are currently not automating saying they are planning to implement quality automation in the future.
Major barriers to adoption included complexity and lack of in-house expertise (30%), the survey found.
More broadly, the survey showed that there is willingness to automate, but solutions, expertise, and resources are needed. Respondents noted such factors as scaling to more viewers (21%), the high cost of mistakes (17%) and the vast number of content versions (16%) as drivers for automation,
“The largest content providers have proven that automation at scale reduces cost, streamlines operations and ensures high video quality that increases viewer satisfaction,” said Carlos Hernandez, chief revenue officer of SSIMWAVE. “Although a significant gap may remain with the rest of the industry, these survey results show that video experience automation is removing the barriers to broader adoption.”
The full survey will be discussed on a webinar entitled “Video Quality Automation: The top streaming providers are doing it; learn how you can too” on March 10 at 1:00 PM EST/10 AM PST. Participants will include Hernandez and Rayburn. Rayburn is a Principal Analyst with Frost & Sullivan, and a noted blogger, author and consultant on streaming media tech and business models. Registration for the webinar is available here.
SSIMWAVE will demonstrate its products in booth W2818 at the NAB Show April 24-27 in Las Vegas.
