OTT and IPTV Architecture:The Future of Content Delivery

Introduction

● OTT and IPTV Will Replace and Sweep Aside Regular Broadcast/Cable○ Establishing the Trend

○ Changes in the Technical Landscape are Driving the Trend and Will Accelerate it

○ First Sign of Coming Changes: Storage, the Cloud, Royalty-Free DRM, Cloud Encoders

○ When? Possibly in as Little as 5-10 Years

● The Technical Changes to Come That Should be Understood Now:○ 5G Will Kill Cable and Enhance Video Over Mobile Networks

○ Next Gen Codecs Facilitate Ultra High Definition

● How Do I Prepare for the Transition? ○ Is Your Current Platform Up to Today’s Standards?

○ Prepare for a Variety of Streaming Viewer Platforms

○ Secure Your Platform to Protect Your IP

○ Proliferation of Subscriptions or Micropayments?

Trend Lines

● “The global video streaming market size was valued at USD 36.64 billion in

2018 and is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 19.6% from 2019 to 2025.”

(128.25 billion). (GrandView Research: Video Streaming Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Streaming Scope, By Solution

Scope, By Platform Scope, By Revenue Model, By Service, By Deployment, By User, And Segment Forecasts, 2019 - 2025).

● “The global broadcasting & cable TV market had total revenues of $439.1bn

in 2016, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.8%

between 2012 and 2016.” (ReportsWeb.com: Broadcasting & Cable TV Market).

● IPTV will overtake broadcast and cable based on the

huge difference in CAGR. When? We’re not sure.

But there will be major changes in the next ten years.

● “The number of television subscribers in the United States and Canada will

fall by 10 million from a peak of 112 million in 2012 to 102 million in 2022.”

● “The number of homes in the United States and Canada without pay

television will climb from 20.69 million in 2012 to 41.56 million in 2022.”(Informitv)

Cable TV Losing Subscribers, Streamers Growing

● Emergence of the Cloud: it Will Rival The Broadcast/Cable Market in Size○ Lowered CAPEX, Move to OPEX Reduces Cost of Establishing

Cloud Based Services

○ Storage is Already in the Cloud: Think of CDNs

○ Encoder Services Now Part of Basic Offerings for the

Mega-Cloud Vendors Such as Microsoft Azure, Amazon EC2.

○ DRM Costs Decreasing: e.g., Google WideVine a Standard

due to it Being Royalty Free

○ In Figures: (source for all below: Forbes)

■ “Cloud computing is projected to increase from $67B in 2015 to $162B in 2020 attaining

a CAGR of 19%.”

■ “Gartner predicts the worldwide public cloud services market will grow 18% in 2017 to

$246.8B, up from $209.2B in 2016.”

Changes in the Technical Landscape Accelerating

The Technical Changes to Understand Now

● 5G Will be the Bridge Between IPTV Provider, the Cloud, and the Viewer.

● 5G Will Be More Than an Order of Magnitude Faster Than 4G, DOCIS

● 5G Will Serve Home Devices (PCs and IOT) As Well as Mobile.

● Adaptable Bit Rate Standards (CMAF) and Asymmetric Codecs (HEVC) Will

Support Bigger Screens, Optimize Storage, Cut Bandwidth Costs

● HEVC Codecs (h265, AV1) Already Widely Supported

● When (Not If) the Cable Giants Go Down, There

Will be Big Changes in the Payment Systems.

5G Beats Cable for Video Quality Even On Mobile

● The CMAF Standard Being Rolled Out ○ Improves Support for Mobile Players, Which Drop and Increase Bitrate More Frequently vs.

Fixed Networks.

○ Provides a Compatible Storage Format for Adaptable Bitrate Streams for Apple vs. Everyone

Else’s Players. This Reduces the Storage Necessary at the CDN Vendor.

● On the Faster 5G Network, but Also by Virtue of its Improved Storage, CMAF

Can Thus be Said to “Invite” Content Providers to Add the 4K and 8K HEVC

Compressed Streams to Their ABR Playlists.

● So Once 5G Propagates, There Will be Many More

Users Watching At Ultra High Resolutions/Bitrates.

● The Cable Industry is “the No. 1 Most Hated Industry in America” According

to the American Customer Satisfaction Index and Others

● 5G Is Expected to Provide Higher Quality Video and Faster Data than Cable

● Though There Needs to be Much More of it, 5G Equipment is Cheaper and

Requires Less Coddling than 4G: Telcos Will Deploy it Successfully

● IPTV/OTT and Streaming Video Standards Have Grown to

Meet the Requirements of a Growing Viewing Audience. The

Cord Cutters Are the Most Educated Part of the TV Audience.

Regular TV Viewers Will be Right Behind Them.

● Increased Mobile Video Viewership and Bandwidth Savings

from Next Gen Codecs Could Allow Smaller Companies to Profit

The Death of Cable

Changes to the Payments Landscape

● If Big Cable Dies… $110/Month That Families Pay for Cable Up for Grabs.

● Cord Cutters Already Juggle Subscriptions For NetFlix, Hulu, etc.

● Some Combination of Subscriptions, Ad-Supported, and Micro-Payments is

Likely to Evolve.

● Content Providers Should be

Ready to Jump In and Grab the

Money In Whatever Way Seems

Best for Them.

Preparing For the Video Platform

Ten Years from Now

Part 1: TODAY

First: Definitions. What is a Video Platform?

● Service: on demand content delivery model of VOD and/or Live Streams

● Curation: upload, convert, store, and play back video using a well-structured

system work flow

● Revenue Generation: generates

revenue via subscriptions and/or

advertising if open to the public,

or provides enhanced productivity

if private/corporate

Video Platform Building Blocks

● Content: (obviously!)

● Encoder: to Groom, transcode where necessary, and output HLS/DASH

● Stream: “Chunks” of video downloaded for viewing according

to a playlist provided upon proper authorization

● DRM and Monetization Tools: to protect your intellectual

property and produce revenue

● Distribution: Content Delivery Networks, Aggregators,

Managed Networks

● Player: PC and Mobile Applications, Smart TVs etc.

● Middleware: Analytics and Demographics

● Ad supported public cloud platforms provide worldwide distribution.

● Example: YouTube from Stored Video○ Assuming a video has been captured and stored in a file, the DVEO Encoder can send a

correctly formatted output (RTMP/Flash) to your YouTube channel with minimal configuration.

We even have a document that tells you where to look for your channel credentials!

● Example: Facebook from Stored Video○ Facebook Group publishing tools require a few more parameters than YouTube, but between

the DVEO Encoder and the document we provide, it’s pretty straightforward.

● Same Procedure for YouTube and Facebook Outputs for Live Streaming

● Or… rent your own piece of the cloud so that you keep the revenue

So How Do We Stream? Examples.

DVEO Cloud: Secure, Convenient, End-to-End

● Amazon based service or license-able images for your own Amazon or Azure

account.

● Encoder and other essential tools for all the essential functions of a video

platform and more: ○ Service, Curation, Revenue Generation

○ Content, Encoder, Stream, DRM, Distribution, Player, Middleware

○ Extras: Technical Analysis and Reporting Tools, DVEO’s Renowned Level of Support

Today’s Workflow Diagram

Today’s Cloud Workflow Diagram

DVEO GearBox: Content Capture

● Transcodes from one format to another○ Example: RF (TV Signal) to IP MPEG Transport Stream

(MPEG/TS); or Professional Video Camera (ASI or SDI)

to (MPEG/TS)

● More than just pictures, the streams contain

tables and data that can describe CC, subtitles,

additional audio tracks, instructions on playing

the stream

● Transcoding requires processing power

● This piece typically “lives” on the customer

premises, not the cloud

DVEO VOD Segmenter: File Encoding

● You may already have a recorded video; the

Segmenter repackages that to the chunks

needed for streaming.

● Prepares content for VOD

● Prepares multiple platform HLS/DASH

● Usually on premises

DVEO Brutus: Content Grooming

● By “Grooming” we mean transcoding a stream

to the desired end-user format(s) best suited for

the customer.

● Resulting streams can thus be viewed with

standard IP capable set-top boxes, streaming

video, smart phones, or software clients such as

VLC or MPlayer.

● Can be located on premises or in the cloud.

DVEO Atlas II: Packaging Content Server

● Serves streams to thousands of users

simultaneously

● Applies DRM or content protection keys to

secure the streams

● Cooperates With Ad Server

● "Go Back TV" functionality

● Designed to keep track and feed segments used

by clients.

● Can be located on premises or cloud

DVEO Stream Check/Management

● Technical Monitoring and Alerting

● Video Wall for Visual Verification of Multiple

Streams’ Health

● Alerting Upon Variety of Technical Errors or

Warnings May Catch Failures Before a Viewer

Can See Them

● Deep Analysis/Stream Probes

● Graphs and Dashboards

● Can be located on premises or cloud

● Remote Desktop Allows NOC Anywhere

Preparing For the Video Platform

Ten Years from Now

Part 2: TOMORROW

Today Should be the Foundation

● All TV May be OTT and/or IPTV in Ten Years

● If You Can Encode, Package, Stream and Monetize Today, You’ll Be Doing

the Same in 10 Years… Over a Faster Network, With Next Generation

Hardware and Software, Which Could be Cheaper and More Efficient

● All the Above Represent Improvements and

Greater Efficiency, Not Conceptual Changes.

Hence Your Task Will be Evolution, not

Revolution. Much Easier.

● Monetization Might be Different, but May be

Impossible to Predict.

Transition Preparation Specifics: DRM

● DRM○ Your Video Content is Your Intellectual Property

○ Google WideVine as a Royalty-Free DRM Has Become a Major, if Not THE Major Standard

○ With .fMP4, a Predecessor of CMAF (and the Current Champion While We Await the

Widespread Adoption of CMAF), DRM and ABR Are Easier to Implement Together To a Wider

Array of Client Players Than Ever Before.

○ DVEO is Proud to Say That our DVEO Media Server, Using .fMP4, Was the First of its Type to

Simultaneously Serve Both DASH and HLS Clients Using the Same DRM Enabled (Widevine)

fMP4 Segments.

○ Serving fMP4 Today Means That What You Serve Tomorrow Will Only be

a Change in Standard, Not in Concept.

Transition Preparation Specifics: Cloud Strategy

● Have One○ What is More Important to Your Company: Reducing CAPEX or OPEX? Many Companies Say

CAPEX Today. Hence the Move to the Cloud.

○ In a Recent Talk at VideoTrans 2019, DVEO Explained How Deploying Stream

Monitoring/Alerting in the Cloud Makes Sense.

■ Put it Next to the Encoder You Already Moved to the Cloud.

■ Move the Bits Around Inside the Cloud So That You Can Probe the Stream at Every

Stage of its Lifetime Without Paying for Bandwidth.

■ Enable Your Monitoring Personnel to Monitor From Anywhere and Cut NOC Costs.

■ Use Dozer for the First Mile When Live Streaming To Ensure Source Quality

● A Cloud Strategy Can Cut CAPEX, Increase Efficiency, and Add

Flexibility to Adjust for Changes in Coming Years

Cloud Strategy Application Brief

Transition Preparation Specifics: Payments

● Payments Landscape May Experience Revolution if the Cable Giants Die○ Content Providers Will Just Have to be Smart, Flexible, and Think Strategically as Soon as the

Landscape Settles.

○ DVEO, for Example, Makes Sure Our Products Work Well With Ad Servers

(we also have our own Ad Server)

○ If the Aggregators (YouTube, Facebook) Grab it All,

You Can Still Work with Them

So How Do I Prepare for the Transition?

● Be Up to Date Now. Stream Like an IPTV Pro.○ Make Sure You Can Build for the Future Using Your Current Building Blocks

■ Content Capture

■ File Encoding

■ Content Grooming

■ Packaging

■ Management

● Be Alert and Flexible○ Protect Your IP With Proper DRM

○ Strategize Your Use of the Cloud According to Your Business Needs

○ Serve Streams Dependably, Adapting to the Resolution the Viewer’s Device Can Handle

○ Choose the Right Monetization And Change it if it Becomes Necessary