Online Video Industry Forecast 2012: RealNetworks

[This sponsored article appears in the December 2011/January 2012 issue of Streaming Media magazine]

As we enter 2012, we at RealNetworks foresee the continued importance of providing content when, where, and how customers want to view it, with a trend toward localization and customization. Today, Google activates over 400,000 Androids per day around the globe. By the end of 2011, over 100 million smartphones will have been sold in the US alone. And with over-the-top streaming, consumers have even more choices as to how to view their content. This underscores how crucial it is to support multiple platforms, formats, and screens. We've worked hard to do that extraordinarily well with the Helix Media Delivery Platform, which includes HTTP Live Streaming, and will continue to focus on universal delivery as a core tenet of our business.

Another interesting area of growth is the ability to provide a customized viewing experience. One of the biggest trends in the digital world is providing local, customized content based on consumer habits and choice. With streaming digital media, we're seeing more interest in providing multi-lingual and localized content, from sports broadcasters to the film industry, governments to enterprises. In the broadcast industry, and perhaps most exciting for the viewer, is the ability to select which live camera feed they'd like to watch during an event. For instance, during a World Cup soccer game, a viewer could select from four different predetermined camera angles while still listening to the main audio track, customizing how they watch the game. For governments and multi-national companies, being able to transmit multi-language audio tracks with the same video feed is quickly becoming a mandatory requirement for their streaming needs. With the new Helix Multi-Track solution, multi-lingual streaming is greatly simplified and provides a significant cost savings compared to older, less sophisticated solutions.

This is an exciting period of innovation within the streaming digital media industry, and RealNetworks is looking forward to continue supporting global companies and organizations in their endeavors in 2012 and beyond.

This article is Sponsored Content

Online Video Industry Forecast 2012: An Introduction

Innovation with a Chance of Standards

20 Dec 2011