The new-age viewers desire the same level of quality for online streaming as they get with the conventional cable or satellite services. To overcome challenges in the OTT (Over-the-top content) environment, offering an outstanding quality of experience (QoE) has become crucial for the operators. They need to define and monitor a few metrics that revolve around the quality of experience for online video streaming.

1. OVERCOMING ONLINE VIDEO
STREAMING CHALLENGES
WITH BETTER QoE

2. The rise of OTT services
Availability of high-speed internet & IP-delivered
content is reshaping distribution models, consumer
viewing habits & advertising
Content is delivered to devices over internet via OTT
services without involvement of any operator,
traditional cable provider or satellite pay-tv service
Content viewership has undergone a radical revolution
in the past decade: Today, people can view content
Anytime, Anywhere, & On Any Device
2

3. Source:
https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/over-the-top-ott.asp
https://xstream.net/news/ott-market-worth-42-34bn-2020/
https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/the-ott-play/703996/
A look at OTT Market
3
Online TV & Video Revenue
$ billions
Online TV & Video
Subscription Revenues
Percent
Online TV & Video
Advertising
$ billions
$4.0
$42.3
$0
$10
$20
$30
$40
$50
2010 2020
0.27
0.4
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
2010 2020
$2.4
$18.1
$0
$5
$10
$15
$20
2010 2020

4. Global subscription OTT market to
grow by ~24.0% in 2018
Source: Four trends and prédictions for the media industry, AT Kearney
4
OTT video service subscribers worldwide
2012 to 2021
46
69
102
181
290
401
473
536
595
650
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Number of subscribers in millions
OTT subscribers to reach a mark of
650Mn by 2021; nearly double from
2016.
Growth of OTT subscribers, worldwide

5. Key Players in the OTT Market
Source: Global Video Over-the-Top (OTT) Services Market, Aranca
5

6. 6
A. Bandwidth limitations
• Quick exhaustion of bandwidth
• Insufficient network bandwidth
in remote corporate offices or
branches
• Network congestion
B. Latency issues
• Poor quality video streaming
• Incessant video buffering
C. Device incompatibility
• Lack of video support or
reliable video delivery on
various user devices, including
smartphones and tablets
Key Challenges of online video streaming

7. The need for QoE for OTT
7
Demand for high quality
Viewers today expect the same
level of quality for online video as
satellite or cable.
Content is not enough
Just providing a large array of
content is not enough to be
successful in an OTT environment
Customer Engagement
Exceptional QoE is important to
keep the customers engaged &
develop platform stickiness.
Need for QoE
Since, QoE is paramount to
reducing subscriber churn,
OTT platforms need to
provide the best possible
experience by monitoring
essential KPIs
The need for QoE for OTT

8. 8
Elements that impact QoE of an OTT network
CDN
Performance of video cache
Application and Device
Client application and its compatibility with the device
Network Operator
Congestion, capacity, & performance from CDN to user’s device
Content
Quality, resolution of video and encoding
User Behaviour
Client app and consumer interaction with the device

9. For improved QoE there is a need for few simple metrics that are
quantifiable and can be monitored easily

10. 10
Start Buffering Time
Time between the click of
‘play’ button and the start of
video playback
Rebuffering Time
Time for buffering during the
playback
Media player Error
The number of errors during
video playback
Average Bitrate
Average bits per second of
video streaming
QoE metrics for online video streaming: Audience perspective

11. 11
Average Bit Rate (ABR)
• One of the most accurate indicators of video quality
• Adaptive bitrate streaming enables end users to
experience faster video start-up times and reduced
rebuffering delays with highest-quality video viewing
experience.
• Each viewer’s video stream bitrate adapts in real time
to performance conditions such as
‒ Network latency,
‒ Available bandwidth
‒ local device processing capability
Engagement Analysis
Used to know the customers better and drive
monetization by strategic ad placement, and tailor
future videos to maximize engagement for audience
Can be measured by calculating following key metrics:
• View Hour
• Average view hour per audience
• No of Views
• Average View Per Audience
• The Number of Audience
QoE metrics for online video streaming: OTT providers perspective

12. 12
QoE metrics for online video streaming (contd..): OTT providers perspective
With ABR streaming services, it is important to monitor
both, QoE and QoS of the service delivery platform
(original server) to ensure that the system delivers what
the client-side player is expecting to receive.
Some of the important metrics are
• Transmission-related parameters: packets delay, jitter,
reordering, corruption
• Machine related paramètres: CPU usage, RAM usage,
etc.
OTT providers can analyse viewing patterns with respect
to specific genres to target a particular customer segment
to provide customized viewing experience.
Some of the metrics that can be monitored are:
• Genre viewership statistics
• Bitrate availability analysis
• Dynamic Ad-insertions for effective monetization
• Network bandwidth management for genres
Asset Genre Analysis Quality-of-service Analysis

13. Viewing experience
analytics
Hierarchical view of
the metrics observed
in the network
Advanced search and
aggregation
Multi-dimensional
views for correlating
metrics
Subscriber
behaviour
analytics
Network
Quality
analytics
Complete view
of a session
Fault
prediction
based on time
slicing window
Location-based
views for
displaying
current
activities
13
Key questions an OTT QoE solution can help answer

14. 14
About our solution:
HSC’s OTT QoE Measurement Solution provides real-time, multi-dimensional,
integrated & customizable actionable insights into the complete delivery network
chain of the video viewing sessions.
The solution can be used to gain deep insight into the network conditions, subscriber
behaviour and viewing experience metrics.
Features of our solution:
Real-time capture of data related to user behaviour and viewing experience
Comprehensive dashboard for real time visualization
Complete delivery network statistics view
Dynamic Search and aggregation capabilities
Asset trend analysis
Proactive performance monitoring of CDNs and ISPs
HSC’s OTT Service Insight Quality of Experience (QoE) and Analytics solution

15. https://hsc.com/Blog/QoE-The-dire-need-for-an-OTT-Service
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2018/01/23/how-ott-will-innovate-in-
2018/#1a18d0f7526b
https://blog.harmonicinc.com/the-ott-dilemma-how-to-ensure-superior-qoe/
https://blog.streamlyzer.com/2016/03/11/chooing-right-key-performance-index-for-video-
streaming-service/
https://qwilt.com/making-sense-of-streaming-video-quality-of-experience/
https://www.limelight.com/ps/ott1/
https://www.atkearney.com/communications-media-technology/ott-streaming-in-
the-limelight-four-trends-and-predictions-for-the-media-industry
Quality of Service Monitoring - Tektronix
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References

16. Contact us
info@hsc.com
https://hsc.com/
Rockville MD, USA