LIMELIGHT NETWORKS - Executive Predictions for 2018
One prediction that’s a safe bet: Online video viewing will increase in 2018, and so will consumer expectations.
Limelight’s 2017 State of Online Video report showed online viewing increased 34 percent last year to five hours 45 minutes per week. Among Millennials, that number already exceeds seven hours per week. This growth has been led by the increasing number of on-demand video options available to viewers. However, when it comes to sports and other marquee live events, many consumers prefer to stick with the familiar broadcast television.
Consumers may have once been willing to endure streaming glitches to have the freedom to access whatever they want, whenever they want, but those days are over. Viewers of sports and other high-profile live events don’t want to risk the chance of missing the game-winning goal while video rebuffers or learn about big plays on social media from friends who are watching a broadcast feed that’s 30 seconds ahead of an online feed.
To provide reliable low-latency live streaming experiences that rival traditional broadcast television, the industry needs an open and scalable technology that’s supported on standard web browsers without the use of special plug-ins. Enter WebRTC.
Although WebRTC was originally developed for browser-based real-time communication, its extensible capabilities and native support in all major browsers without the need for additional plug-ins make it uniquely suited to deliver scalable live online video experiences.
With the ability to provide consistent global video delivery with less than one second of latency on any network or device, WebRTC can provide the reliable live experiences viewers have come to expect from broadcast. And WebRTC supports a real-time two-way data channel, which means viewers will be able to get customized player statistics, select camera angles, interact with other fans, and more.
Whether it’s watching live sports, online gaming, or live auctions, Limelight will be focused on changing the live online viewing experience in 2018 and beyond.
Kurt Silverman
SVP - DEVELOPMENT & DELIVERY | LIMELIGHT NETWORKS
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