Video Quality of Experience
By: Becky Bracken
Online video consumers are an impatient lot and their numbers are growing every day. It only takes a couple of seconds. Buffering, janky video is something completely intolerable to a frightening majority of entitled digital media consumers. That elevates Video Quality of Experience (QoE) far above a simple data point to be collected and reviewed at the next managers' meeting. How fickle are digital media consumers? Probably even more than you think.
British Telecom research released at the end of January 2014 shows that only a fifth, or 22 percent, of people sit down to the TV without interruption, reinforcing the ‘media meshing’ trend on the rise in households today.
Verizon Digital Media also conducted research on the online viewing habits of the tech-saavy Millennial generation, defined as consumers between 16 and 34 years old.
A key finding, according to Verizon, is how absolutely critical high-quality, high-performance online video is to any broadcasters’ distribution model. Companies that fall behind on this front will be at a significant competitive disadvantage among millennials, who expect instant-on, high-quality video regardless of their device or location, the survey finds.
“Understanding the needs, wants and habits of millennials is critical for success in the digital media industry,” said James Segil, chief marketing officer for Verizon Digital Media Services. “The research reflects some interesting findings, and we were pleased to see that millennials share our passion for quality, speed and a superior experience. Media companies that use research such as ours to understand how millennials adapt technology for their viewing habits will have an edge in serving this important generational audience.”
And there's no doubt viewers are flocking online for their video content. According to a February 2014 report from Infonetics, Pay-TV operators, which have really lost the most to the rise of online video, are scrambling to buy and build their own mobile video offering.
Infonetics found that, for most pay-TV providers, the tablet has become the de facto second screen with 47 percent of respondent operators saying their support tablets as part of their multi-screen service now, growing to 89 percent by 2015. This presents an Video QoE and analytics vendors look to prove their metal.
"In a growing number of markets, pay-TV providers find themselves at a crossroads," notes Jeff Heynen, principal analyst for broadband access and pay TV at Infonetics Research. "Their traditional business models are under attack as telco IPTV providers, over-the-top (OTT) providers, and consumer electronics companies - Netflix, LOVEFiLM, Amazon, Hulu, Apple, Samsung, and others - continue to divert revenue away from them."
