Survey: What's Next for OTT?
After last night’s Tale of Two Halves—in which the Atlanta Falcons owned the first half, and the New England Patriots dominated the second half and went on to win Super Bowl LI in overtime—the streaming industry is left today with more than just football-induced whiplash.
As reports begin to trickle in of streaming issues at key points during the fourth quarter, where Comcast and Fox Sports GO experienced outages, it’s worth a bit of Monday morning quarterbacking to ponder the following Twitter message.
"We're aware of the streaming issue, and it's been resolved," @FoxSportsGOHelp tweeted around the time of several crucial plays. "Please close and reopen the stream to get back to the game."
With scenarios like this, and a keen understanding that over-the-air (OTA) broadcasts don't need to tweet to ask users to reboot their televisions, many in our industry are wondering what's needed to make sure that streams of live events delivered via over-the-top (OTT) can hold up to consumer expectations.
The great news is that today is also the launch of the Streaming Media and Unisphere Research 2017 OTT Video Services survey, which gives industry experts a chance to weigh in on just what needs to be done to avoid these types of widely reported OTT fumbles in future high-profile live events.
Following an annual tradition started in 2015, the survey asks respondents to give their perspectives on OTT. Previous reports show clear trends towards live linear (broadcast TV channels streamed over the internet) and even towards live event OTT streaming. While companies continue to offer video on-demand OTT streaming, live linear and live event streams continued to grow over the past two years.
This 2017 survey, titled "4K, HDR, and Live Linear OTT Video Services: What's Next?," has 34 questions, should take approximately 15 minutes to complete, and asks survey respondents to not just weigh in on the state of OTT today but also to look ahead to a time when OTT possibly has more viewership than traditional OTA broadcasts.
Survey respondents will be asked to delve into what's necessary to move forward with high-frame rate (HFR), high dynamic range (HDR), and even consistent 4K streams. In addition, a final question offers survey respondents a chance to win a great prize, if they sign up at the end of the survey.
The survey is open until February 28, 2017, and can be taken here.
Related Articles
OTT decision-makers are bullish on HDR, HFR, VR, and 4K, according to results of a survey by Streaming Media and Unisphere Research
03 Aug 2016
A new study by Unisphere Research reveals a mixed assessment of VR video by media and entertainment industry professionals, but a strong interest in live OTT video streaming.
15 Jun 2016
An infographic created from Level 3 and Unisphere Research data shows a change in OTT business practices, as well as the top 10 OTT challenges.
03 Aug 2015
A new survey from Unisphere Research, Streaming Media, and Transitions, Inc.—sponsored by Level 3 Communications—shows that live events and live linear channels are becoming as important as VOD, and outlines shifts in both acquisition and delivery.
12 May 2015