Creating a video distribution service/app is hard - managing and maintaining it is even harder. The official launch is just the beginning, ensuring that the app continues to run and your viewers stay happy & engaged is the true challenge. Bitmovin and Applicaster teamed up to explain the best practices to managing your video app once it's already launched, including but not limited to which metrics, services, and adjustments you need to be making to succeed in the long-term. Watch the full VOD Webinar here: https://bit.ly/2TIGwTB

1. The presentation will start in a few minutes...
1

2. Own Your App Destiny

3. Launching an OTT app is hard.
Managing an OTT app
post-launch is even harder.

4. Moderator & Panelists
Kieran Farr Andrea FassinaJim Bennette

5. ● Introduction
● Who are Bitmovin and Applicaster?
● Overall architecture of an OTT app
● How Bitmovin and Applicaster work together
● We launched! Now what?
○ Post-launch is when the real work starts
○ Quality of Experience
○ Monetization
○ How post-launch data informs changes
● Case Study
● Conclusion
● Q&A
Agenda

6. Bitmovin’s Backstory

7. Bitmovin’s Backstory
Chris Müller Stefan Lederer
Summary
● Company founded in 2013
● Co-created the MPEG DASH standard
● YCombinator 2015
● 11+ US Patents
● Athena Research Project
Some of our customers include:

9. What is Applicaster?

10. A SaaS company delivering and managing app lifecycles for over 10 years

11. Application Lifecycle Management (Zapp Platform)

12. 2020 Online Video Market Drivers
Better Viewer
Experience
Increase viewer
satisfaction by
exceeding expectations
on video quality
Operational
Optimization
Control cost, mitigate
risk, better manage
complexity, and
maintain relevance
Faster Time
to Market
Get assets, products
and services to
market faster and
more efficiently

13. How is an OTT app
architected?

14. OTT App Architecture (Simplified)

15. OTT App Architecture (Complicated)

16. Continuum of Complexity vs. Flexibility
Simple
Inflexible
Complex
Infinitely Configurable
Monolithic
Platform
Fully
Custom

17. OTT App Architecture (Simplified)
Bitmovin
Encoder
Bitmovin
Player
Bitmovin
Analytics

18. We’ve launched! Now what?

19. The Launch is Just the Start

20. Continuum of Complexity vs. Flexibility
Simple
Inflexible
Complex
Infinitely Configurable
Monolithic
Platform
Fully
Custom

21. A Quick Break: What have we learned?
● App infrastructure is complicated
● Launching is just the beginning
● Your app architecture will determine how agile you can be in
making these changes
● How do we know what changes to make?
○ Technical: Quality of Experience
○ Business Goals: User Flow

22. Quality of Experience
What is it?
Why does it matter?
POST LAUNCH

23. Collect data using Bitmovin Analytics:
● Data (in JSON) is sent every second
from player to REST API
Analytics endpoint
● Collect playback stats, network
conditions, ads interaction, user
info (custom data)
● Custom data insertion points to
integrate with other analytics
services and/or CMS
Quality of Experience:
What and How?
POST LAUNCH

24. 5 Metrics that Matter:
Quality of Experience: Metrics that Matter
POST LAUNCH
Total startup
time
Video bitrate
heatmap
Impressions &
total hours
watched
Rebuffering %Errors type
and %

25. These metrics matter because they
present a holistic health check of the
application and the content in it - insights
for iterative improvements on:
● Operational efficiency (how to reduce
costs with the same - or better - SLA?)
● Viewer experience (are your users
enjoying the service?)
● Play everywhere (is your content
watchable on every device?)
Quality of Experience:
Metrics that Matter
POST LAUNCH

26. Data
● App downloads
● Revenue: subscription, ad revenue, programmatic vs. direct
● User engagement: e.g. sessions per user, # videos launched,
video views, watch time
Insights
● Different monetization models impact app use
● Super fans are more willing to pay
● Casual fans more likely to try if free
Monetization: What data to collect?
POST LAUNCH

27. Monetization: Example
POST LAUNCH
1. Let’s assume you start with Freemium SVOD
2. High level of traffic watching free content
3. The data supports a full AVOD experience
4. So you decide to go full AVOD
5. Now what?
You don’t REALLY know your business model when you start
● You don’t know what having kids is like until you have them
● Variability between content type and audience is extreme

28. Monetization: Downstream Impact
POST LAUNCH
● So we have these awesome insights, but now we need to act.
○ For this example you need to change the following:
■ Removing paywall and user management from app
■ Implementing ads (eg. Google Ad Manager Display)
■ Adding IMA for video
■ Changing app user flow

29. CASE STUDY - Pro Sieben Sat 1
● Started as general channel apps in
Germany
● Quickly expanded to exclusive sports apps
in Germany and channels apps in Austria
- Majority of apps ad-funded
● Then developed SVOD sports apps
● Latest project in dev. is celebrity news app,
with varying backends and players.
● Utilizing data and the power to change,
they successfully launched multiple apps
with multiple business models

30. Summary
● OTT video app infrastructure is complicated
● Launching is HARD, but it’s just the beginning: post-launch is HARDER
● App architecture determines agility to make changes
● You will make changes. You don’t know the perfect business model at launch.
● How do we know what changes to make?
○ Technical: Quality of Experience
○ Business Goals: User Flow
● CASE STUDY:
○ Different audience often expect different app experiences (bundling all
content together in single app will not maximize revenue potential)
○ Different content warrants different monetization strategies (example of
launching separate SVOD sports app)

31. #1 Introduction (This Webinar)
#2 Get smart by diving deep
#3 Create a plan of action
#4 TAKE ACTION
What’s next?

32. Thanks!
Kieran Farr Andrea FassinaJim Bennette

33. Q&A

34. Thank you for joining us.
34