Is the Party Over? Video Streaming Services Need to Focus on Cost for Survival According to Bitmovin’s 2020/2021 Video Developer Report Revealing Insights Into Streaming Industry

Is the party over for video streaming companies? While COVID-19 has impacted businesses of all types and sizes, the streaming/OTT industry has seen a major impact. With more consumers staying home and utilizing streaming services, video consumption has skyrocketed, but so have costs. Bitmovin, a leading provider of video infrastructure for digital media companies around the world, today revealed the results of its fourth annual “Video Developer Report” showcasing the current state of the video/streaming/OTT industry along with challenges being faced by video developers and the latest trends.

The entire study can be viewed here

Key findings include:

Top Challenge – Reducing Costs

Bitmovin recognizes this year has ushered in an unparalleled number of challenges and unique opportunities for all businesses within the industry. The results showed the top challenge among respondents was reducing costs, replacing last year’s top concern of complex technology such as ‘live low latency.” Despite the majority of participants holding technical roles, over 51% of respondents indicated that cost control for such things as bandwidth and storage is their biggest challenge. The results are clear that many in the industry believe that video streaming services need to focus on cost optimization in order to survive.

Greatest Opportunity for Innovation – Live Streaming at Scale & Viewer Engagement

Sometimes a crisis is the best instigator of innovation because people are searching for solutions. Many streaming media industry innovations were already in progress before COVID-19, but the crisis has certainly sped up the adoption of some specific ones.

Mastering live streaming at scale is not an easy job and while it is a top challenge in the report, respondents also see this as the greatest opportunity for innovation. Viewer engagement can be complex as well, considering the different kinds of viewers that use a service and need to be engaged in different ways. “Recommendations” and “personalizations” will play an even great role moving forward, as developers are tasked with new ways of retaining viewers. We can also expect innovative ways streaming services and providers find to put on compelling content, whether live sports, concerts, musicals, or shows.

“As the streaming/OTT industry continues to rapidly expand, new challenges and opportunities will develop. Bitmovin is proud to be on the front-lines of the industry each day and this year’s study shows that even with growth there is a need for deep reflection on how money is spent and where to put assets and talent,” said Stefan Lederer, CEO of Bitmovin. “In today’s COVID world, there is huge volatility that is accompanied by large demand. The industry players that best recognize the changing technological and financial landscape will be the ones that not only survive, but thrive.”

Survey Methodology

For the fourth consecutive year, Bitmovin has conducted its Annual Video Developer Survey between June 29 - August 9, 2020. The number of participants in the Survey and countries represented similarly reflect this global surge in demand for streaming. Bitmovin surveyed a sample set of 792 video developers and industry experts from 87 countries--participation was up dramatically by 46% from 2019. Consistent with years past, demographics such as industry, company size, and job titles were predominantly in three key industry categories: broadcasters, integrators, and OTT streaming services.

About Bitmovin:

Built for technical professionals in the OTT video market, Bitmovin’s software solutions help you optimize customer operations and reduce time-to-market, resulting in the best viewer experience imaginable. This is achieved through our device reach, flexible and scalable integration, and commitment to supporting our customers. Learn more at www.bitmovin.com.

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Contact information

Glenn Mendel
Escalate Communications
(e) glenn@escalatecommunications.com
(p) +1 760-798-1563