By: Ofir Hermesh

As the demand for live-streamed events continues to surge, most notably across the sports arena, many consumers have experienced significant quality issues. A 2024 Hub Entertainment Research US market report, What’s the Score: The Evolution of Sports Media, highlights 37 percent of viewers regularly have some kind of problem (e.g., lag, buffering, crashes) when streaming sports. 

Looking internationally, as recently as January 2023, sports streaming platform DAZN was called to a government meeting in Italy to explain its ongoing stream quality problems while delivering its Serie A football coverage. This resulted in DAZN offering refunds to some subscribers. Although this is an example of live streaming at a national level, these quality of experience (QoE) issues are further exacerbated when expanded to a global audience. These cause significant frustration for many viewers, providing a variable QoE that many find unacceptable, not least because of the prices they are paying.

This isn’t only about primary screen viewing; far from it, in fact. Digital marketing agency Adtaxi released the results of its Super Bowl viewing survey in January 2025. It reveals “almost half of all Americans choose streaming and connected TV over cable and broadcast options and almost 70 percent of the total audience will utilize secondary media to engage with Super Bowl-related content.” It adds, “The findings were clear: the Super Bowl has become a multi-platform experience, with almost 70 percent of Americans utilizing an average of 2+ additional media platforms to engage in related content.”

These content delivery issues aren't only a problem for streaming platforms; they directly impact internet service providers (ISPs) whose networks become overwhelmed, unable to cope with the volatility created by huge demand spikes and therefore degrading the experience for users. With sports streaming rights increasingly moving to online platforms, the urgency to fix these bottlenecks has never been greater.

But this is the tip of the iceberg. Future demands, from the growth in AI and the required real-time compute power, to 5G content delivery and the demands of the smart cities of the future, cannot be satisfied by the internet of today. 

The Evolution of Internet Infrastructure

The internet was originally designed for simple data exchange, far removed from today’s high-bandwidth, real-time streaming. In its infancy, information was transmitted via centralized servers, requiring significant distances for data to travel. As the web evolved, traditional content delivery networks (CDNs) emerged to cache and distribute data closer to users. These CDNs improved efficiency but were still structured around centralised data centers, which presented scaling limitations as internet traffic grew exponentially.

CDNs have played a crucial role in enabling digital services. They reduced latency for static content such as web pages and software downloads. However, the landscape changed with the rise of streaming. Unlike cached, on-demand content, live streaming demands real-time responsiveness, making traditional CDN architecture increasingly inadequate. Taking mobile video traffic as an example, according to Ericsson’s November 2024 Mobility Report, at the end of last year, video traffic was anticipated to account for 74 percent of all mobile data traffic. It is part illustration of how the existing internet structure  —  built around centralized nodes  —  has become a severe bottleneck.

Why a Centralized Model Cannot Meet Today’s Streaming Needs

This structure means most content still flows through a small number of peering points before reaching end-users. This approach is ill-equipped to handle live events that require simultaneous distribution to millions  —  sometimes tens of millions  —  of viewers worldwide. Current CDNs, while effective in some use cases, are still dependent on a handful of regional hubs, leading to congestion during peak events. From a business perspective, the traditional CDN is unsustainable. Centralized infrastructure cannot scale efficiently, leading to congestion, rising operational costs and inconsistent service delivery. The time has come for ISPs and content providers to collaborate on optimizing network resources to create a long-term viable model.  

This shift is already underway, which we can see through the cascade of CDN market consolidation in recent years. Major players like StackPath and Lumen exited the CDN market, Edgio has been shut down altogether, others have been acquired, and even Akamai has pivoted towards higher-margin security services to counter declining CDN profitability. These moves highlight that the legacy CDN model is unable to keep pace with modern internet demands. 

The Rise of Open Caching and Industry Standardization

Developed by the Streaming Video Technology Alliance (SVTA), an organization composed of media companies, ISPs, and CDN providers, the Open Caching industry standard has been built in recognition of these challenges and designed to bring