FROM THE INDUSTRY Content publishers are demanding a multi-CDN environment to provide more capacity and high-quality content delivery to their increasingly global customers. A multi-CDN strategy offers real-time load balancing and fail-over redundancy when delivery issues arise. However, the number of CDNs used in a multi-CDN strategy is falling due to several factors, including market exits by the likes of Lumen and Stackpath and a strong desire from content publishers to reduce the complexity and costs of delivering live streamed events. By deploying Open Caching into their networks, service providers are immediately brought into the end-to-end content value chain and join a global ecosystem of content publishers looking to deliver their content in its intended quality. All content providers, whether offering streaming video, gaming, website services or AR/VR, seek new ways to ensure an excellent digital experience for their users. Partnering with CSPs to directly tap into the network edge is the most efficient and effective method. Offering unmatched user experiences is what ultimately keeps customers coming back. Can you handle the capacity? With the demand for more content growing alongside the adoption of 4K and other immersive viewing experiences, addressing problematic internet connections is increasingly challenging for streaming platforms. The deluge of streaming media has exposed a capacity gap, which is particularly problematic during live sporting events and which in turn, can attract record-breaking audiences. The main issue arises from the end- to-end delivery of content over the Internet, historically managed through the fragmented efforts of various entities to ensure quality of service. This journey involves the broadcaster or content origin, CDNs, peering and exchange points and the ISP network core and last mile to finally reach viewers. The peering points and ISP core segments are often vulnerable to capacity limitations and congestion, as ISPs must anticipate sufficient network capacity to handle unpredictable spike demand.
With a rising preference for sports content consumption via over-the-top (OTT) services, traffic surges during major events often set new records for peak live streaming audiences and traffic. A new report from Qwilt, based on survey responses from 259 content publishers primarily in Europe and North America, highlights ongoing and emerging concerns and opportunities that content publishers must consider when planning and executing large-scale live-streamed events. In planning a mass live event, respondents to the Qwilt survey agreed that reserving commercial CDN capacity ahead of time is a best practice, with 68% reserving between 50% and 90% of the needed delivery capacity before the event. The future Qwilt’s 2024 Live Streaming Survey highlights the critical concerns, key metrics and success factors relating to live sports streaming, emphasising the importance of CDN performance and capacity. During the first ever ‘streaming- exclusive’ NFL playoff game in January 2024, according to NBC Sports, the event became the most streamed live event ever in the US. As streaming-only events become the new norm with leaders like Peacock paving the way, Open Caching and streaming at the edge address the complexities in delivering these events in the quality they were imagined, ensuring content rights holders and publishers have the CDN capacity and delivery performance needed to meet the expectations of sports streamers.
As the streaming landscape evolves, content publishers still face critical challenges in delivering seamless live experiences to millions of viewers. The 2024 Live Streaming Survey underscores the importance of capacity planning, load balancing and optimising the quality of experience for content publishers looking to win big in live streaming – with CDN performance and QoE metrics remaining the top concern for live video delivery.
As streaming content consumption continues to rise, the demand for
premium digital experiences is soaring. Consequently, delivering content efficiently and at the highest quality has become essential. During these mass live sporting events, when quality matters most, Open Caching truly delivers.
www.qwilt.com
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Volume 46 No.3 September 2024
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