How to Encode Content for Delivery on Multiple Screens
Content providers know that simply streaming to desktops isn't enough anymore. Mobile devices, set-top boxes, and connected TVs are taking an increasingly large share of the viewing audience. But which platforms are the most important, and how can companies encode for them all?
To answer those questions and show how content providers can maximize revenues by distributing to multiple screens, Streaming Media contributor Jan Ozer presented a platform pyramid at the recent Streaming Forum conference in London.
"When I think about multiple screen delivery, this is kind of the paradigm that I use: Computers -- love them or hate them -- everybody's ignored them for years but they still are the largest installed base of viewing devices for video," Ozer said. "Next upon that is mobile, and then retail OTT -- I mean Roku, Apple TV, devices like that. Beyond that are the smart TVs, and beyond that are the OEM OTTs -- a lot of the customer channels that are going in."
It doesn't take effort to reach the top of this pyramid -- it takes money.
"What's interesting about this dynamic is when you go up the pyramid the numbers of viewers decrease and the cost to reach them increases," Ozer explained. "That means the cost per viewer gets much, much higher. Why is it that only Netflix and Hulu and other paid subscriptions are serving people in this class? Because it costs a lot of money to serve people in that class, and unless you're getting subscription revenue or huge advertising revenue it doesn't make sense to even try it."
For more on reaching all viewers, watch the video below and download Ozer's presentation.
How to Encode for Multiple Screen Delivery
This session details the playback capabilities and technology compatibilities of desktop, mobile, and TV screens, and explores the technical issues and feasibility of producing one set of streams for all platforms, including how technologies like transmuxing and live transcoding simplify the overall distribution workflow.
Presenter Jan Ozer, Principal, Doceo Publishing
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