Streaming is entering a new phase



The magazine for global video

TV Broadcast ? Streaming ? Satellite ? Cable ? Hybrid The leading media for video delivery technology

April 2019

8K TV

Interactive storytelling

ATSC 3.0

Apple SVOD analysis

Streaming is entering a new phase

June 2016

? OTT, VoD, Cloud TV, Cable, Satellite, IPTV, DTT, IoT ? The latest news, views and features

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Contents

The magazine for global video

TV Broadcast ? Streaming ? Satellite ? Cable ? Hybrid The leading media for video delivery technology

April 2019

20 Interactive TV

Will Bandersnatch popularise branching narratives and storytelling?

TV Broadcast ? Streaming ? Satellite ? Cable ? Hybrid The leading media for video delivery technology



8K TV

Apple SVOD analysis

ATSC 3.0

Interactive storytelling

Streaming is entering a new phase

June 2016 ? OTT, VoD, Cloud TV, Cable, Satellite, IPTV, DTT, IoT ? The latest news, views and features

1_Cover.indd 1

19/03/2019 10:59:19

05 News & analysis

06 Data corner: Apple SVOD

Assessing Apple's video streaming service

08 COVER STORY: DTC

Get ready for the next wave of (mega) direct-to-consumer services

12 Low latency streaming

A CDN mechanism for reducing latency

13 Machine Learning

From ingest and metadata to recommendations, discover how media companies are increasingly relying on ML

19 VPNs and geolocation

IP intelligence and geo-location is growing in importance

21 Live OTT sports

How to improve the Quality of Experience

27 Blockchain in DRM

The role it can play in future digital rights

28 ATSC 3.0

Is it in danger of missing the boat?

32 Building live OTT

Live content distribution over the internet

34 CSI Awards 2019

All the categories in full

35 Media in the cloud

Accelerating file transfer in the cloud

41 Industry column: 8K TV

The DTG zooms in on 8K television

43 Connected entertainment

Towards a more connected world

50 Technology corner: IMF

The DPP on the progress of the standard

Editor Goran Nastic

Commercial Camilla Capece Daniel Torelli

Design and production Matt Mills (Manager) Jessica Harrington

Regular contributors Adrian Pennington, Philip Hunter, David Adams, Stephen Cousins, Anna Tobin

Circulation Joel Whitefoot

Accounts Marilou Tait, Mohamad Saidani

Editorial tel +44(0)20 7562 2401 goran.nastic@

Advertising tel +44(0)20 7562 4382 Daniel.Torelli@ tel +44(0)20 7562 2438 camilla.capece@

Editor's report:

As OTT approaches maturity, the streaming market is entering the next phase in its evolution. On the one hand, this will involve increasing business model diversification, including experimentation with ad-supported tiers. DAZN is the most recent platform to go down this route, and even Netflix is thinking about it in some shape or form. At the same time, a new wave of direct-to-consumer services is coming, led by some of the world's largest media & entertainment brands that will further shake up the market. The two developments are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Interestingly, these trends are coinciding with the launch of Apple's long-rumoured and longawaited video streaming service, more thoughts on which can be seen on page 8 in the analysis by Ampere's Guy Bisson. Goran Nastic

2019

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ISSN 1467-5935



April 2019 03

News

news in brief

How do broadcasters approach AV1?

JP Morgan forecasts 160m Disney+ subs Disney's direct-toconsumer streaming service could accumulate as many as 160 million subscribers globally, thinks JP Morgan. Analyst Alexia Quadrani reckons Disney+ will ultimately be able to attract 45m subscribers domestically in the US and 115 internationally for a total of 160m subscribers, depending on when Disney gets some of its content rights back. "We view streaming services as a positive addition to Disney's ecosystem," Quadrani said. Previously, Moffett- Nathanson estimated Disney+ could attract about 2.4m members in the US by the end of its first year.

Much has been written about how the AOMedia grouping could ruffle feathers with its new AV1 codec whose spec was frozen around NAB 2018 time. While the FAANGs are committed to deploying it, and the four main browser vendors are on-board, the big question is how AV1 might be adopted by traditional noninternet/OTT players.

"There needs to be an effort to support the ecosystem, because if something gets broadly adopted you need to work on maintenance and addressing additional use cases. And someone needs to put forward the resources and make sure these things are executed all the way to the integration, support those who want to use the technology," argued Thomas

Stockhammer of Qualcomm at the DVB World 2019, a gathering of the global DVBbased broadcaster community "With MPEG it was very clear, there were go-to people. But here, who is doing the legwork, where do I go to, who supports me in all these detailed issues? If I have a user case or a problem how do I get into this, how can I be heard? Are things controlled or is it really open?"

In reply, Nathan Egge of Mozilla said that the process of becoming a member of the Alliance is very much open. "I think we have been as forthcoming as possible to bring people in who have real concerns and make the format cover as many use cases as possible, I think there is an openness to that.

"I've been talking to broadcasters to understand what their needs are and I think the companies we had come together work on AV1 included profiles that are important for broadcasters. So when I talk to broadcasters, those looking at upgrading to a next-gen codec, this becomes an attractive path for them, even if it's just in the back end.

"There are companies who have invested significant resources in building this and they have committed to deploy and those people will be there throughout the lifecycle of this format."

Egge noted that the large streaming players chose AV1 not because it is royalty-free but because it is technically superior to alternatives, though this is up for debate.

Bx-WiFi targets hotspot video congestion A new technology called Broadcast WiFi could offer a way of solving the problems of wireless reception and transmission in high-traffic venues like sports stadiums and music festivals. Global Invacom is partnering with Edgewater Wireless Systems for the further development of Bx-WiFi, a technology they claim enables live, high quality and large-scale event video streaming over an 802.11 network. "This partnership could set a new record number for video streaming to a device on each hotspot," they said. Tested by the BBC, it could compliment 5G.

SYFY and Sky to debut ambitious new VR

and AR experience

The SYFY is bringing a new science fiction experience, Eleven Eleven, in late May 2019, in a project influenced by immersive theatre, using storytelling techniques that enable users to view the action from multiple perspectives.

Launching on various virtual reality platforms and AR devices, the story is set to test the consumer appetite for long-form scripted content in VR and AR environments.

Eleven Eleven will launch with three custom experiences designed for tethered VR headsets, mobile VR headsets and AR

devices. It will blend elements of theatre, gaming and cinema with immersive technologies.

Tethered VR headsets will launch on Oculus Rift, HTC Vive/ Vive Pro and PlayStation VR, with a length over 90 minutes. Mobile VR devices (70 minute duration) will launch on Oculus Go and Samsung Gear VR. The AR version (also 70 minutes long) is developed for iOS devices using ARKit.

Users will have the ability to control their experience by following a group of

interconnected characters and their stories, with over 90 minutes of content to explore.

Sky VR will partner with SYFY in Sky territories in the UK and Europe (Germany, Spain and Italy) on the release of Eleven Eleven.

04 April 2019



News

Sky continues OTT-focused evolution and service integration with Comcast

UK-based satellite and broadband provider Sky has long been one of the world's most innovative technology companies and this track record is continuing in 2019 with the launch of the Sky X streaming service in Austria and deeper integration with Comcast under the ownership of the US cable network.

First to Sky X, an IP-delivered pay TV offering that is something of a blend of Sky Q and Now TV.

The app will be rolled out to mobile devices, Samsung and LG smart TVs, PCs, and PlayStation 4 consoles, as well as through dedicated hardware in the form of the Sky X streaming device (pictured).

The full Sky line up of live channels and sports content is included, as are on-demand series such as Game of Thrones and movies, and popular channels from the likes of Disney, Discovery and NBCUniversal. It also comes bundled with broadcast free-to-air (FTA) channels, including ORF 1 & 2 in HD, RTL and Arte HD among others.

All three options are on a monthly rolling contract with fixed rates. The packages start at EUR19.99 a month, with a EUR24.99 tier and a EUR34.99 all-in package.

Analysts expect Sky to rollout its service in other markets if it proves a success in Austria. Sky's footprint currently covers the UK, Ireland, Austria, Germany, Italy and Spain (that is expected to grow too).

"Sky X is not just a more expensive version of Now TV, nor is Sky X a poor man's Sky Q, it represents the fundamental cannibalisation of a company's core business, which significant market changes have forced it to do," noted analyst Thomas Flanagan of Rethink Faultline.

"Over two years ago, when Sky first announced its plans to take Sky Q broadbandonly, we shouted from the rooftops how the move was trendsetting and fearless ? a term we don't use lightly ? and still Sky remains the only obvious tier 1 pay TV operator embracing online video with such open arms. Sky, of course has the resources, reach and funding to make such dramatic changes to its business model ? even prior to Comcast ownership ? but increasingly those operators which don't follow suit soon do so at their own risk," Flanagan said.

In related news, Sky and NBCUniversal are combining their advanced advertising platforms as Comcast pursues integration opportunities now that it has acquired the UK-based company. This unification of capabilities marks the first joint advertising initiative following Comcast's acquisition of Sky.

The new joint set of

solutions within AdSmart brings together NBCUniversal's Audience Studio advanced targeting solutions alongside Sky's addressable advertising tools. Sky was one of the first movers in Europe with addressable advertising with its AdSmart solution, now over 5 years old, which breaks down customer demographics such as age, postal code and viewing packages to better segment the audience for advertising purposes.

Combined with Audience Studio, it can target audiences through the widespread reach of national TV, leveraging Comcast set-top box data in the US and Sky set-top box data in the UK for a total data set of more than 50 million households.

Other initiatives are already underway too. Sky will be bringing Comcast's own voice interface to its Sky Q box later this year, and its broadband customers in Italy will be able to use Comcast's xFi digital dashboard to manage their home WiFi. Sky CEO Jeremy Darroch said clear benefits are flowing in both directions less than six months after his company became a part of the Comcast empire.

news in brief

LTE-over-satellite Chipmaker Sequans Communications and aerospace giant Lockheed Martin are enabling LTE end-user devices to connect directly to GEO in what they describe as being the world's first LTE-over-satellite solution. For this purpose, Sequans engineers modified their existing LTE chips to enable a new LTE-tosatellite communication specification developed by Lockheed Martin to take advantage of the huge satellite opportunity now developing for M2M and IoT applications. Startup UbiquitiLink is also testing technology with MNOs that could connect most existing smartphones directly to a satellite.

Canal+ rethinks SVOD strategy with launch French broadcaster Canal Plus has announced a new SVoD service called Canal+Series as a replacement of its folded CanalPlay offer. Prices start at EUR6.99 per month, with tiers up to 11.99 covering four user. The subscription will offer 5,000 episodes across 150 current series, with several new productions in the pipeline. Around 90% of the content will be exclusive to Canal Plus, including deals with Showtime and FX. It comes eight months after CanalPlay shut down. Netflix, which starts at EUR9.99/month has around 5m subs in France.



April 2019 05

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