As exclusive streaming-only sporting events are on the rise, a survey from Qwilt sheds light on the challenges and considerations of content publishers looking to plan and execute mass live streamed events.

Qwilt’s 2024 Live Streaming Survey – which surveyed 259 content publishers primarily across North America and Europe – identifies ongoing and new themes in mass live event delivery in 2024, from CDN capacity and performance to QoE metrics, overall event success, capacity requirements, and cost optimization.

Streaming-only live events are quickly becoming the new normal, with streaming services like Peacock leading the way. Peacock recently reported 16.3 million concurrent devices during an exclusively-streamed NFL playoff game in January, marking Comcast’s biggest night on the Internet.

To ensure successful large-scale live streamed events, Qwilt’s 2024 Live Streaming Survey identified the following takeaways:

• CDN performance and capacity continue to dominate concerns, with 29 per cent identifying CDN performance as their greatest technical concern regarding video delivery
• Most North American viewers (up to 70 per cent) are from fixed broadband networks, while 52 per cent of respondents expected between 30 per cent and 50 per cent of viewers to be using a mobile device
• 46 per cent say the average bit rate would be in the 4 to 6Mbps range. This compares to only 30 per cent of respondents expecting the average bit rate to be in the 4 to 6Mbps range in the 2022 survey. Using an average bit rate of 5Mbps, 16.3 million viewers would mean over 80 Tbps of CDN capacity would be needed at peak for the event.
• In planning a mass live event, respondents agreed that reserving commercial CDN capacity ahead of time is a best practice. 68 per cent of respondents would reserve between 50 per cent and 90 per cent of the needed delivery capacity before the event
• Respondents would plan to secure between 20 per cent and 40 per cent of additional delivery capacity beyond the expected peak capacity needed for the event
• Respondents reported a significant decrease in expectations of using 5 or more CDNs – just 35 per cent in 2024 – compared with 57 per cent of respondents when asked the same question in 2022

Other key findings and takeaways from the report include:

• GEO and reserved capacity are the top factors driving load balancing, followed by QoE.
• Expected max encoding dropped for mobile networks to 1-2 Mbps in 2024 from 2-3 Mbps in 2022, driven potentially by economics.
• AMA and ABR have consistently been chosen as the two metrics that define overall event success

Alon Maor, CEO at Qwilt, noted: “As the streaming landscape evolves, our 2024 Live Streaming Survey shows that content publishers still face critical challenges in delivering seamless live experiences to millions of viewers. Our survey underscores the importance of capacity planning, load balancing, and optimising the quality of experience for content publishers looking to win big in live streaming – with CDN performance and QoE metrics remaining the top concern for live video delivery. We’re committed to empowering our customers and partners with innovative solutions that address these complexities head-on, delivering connected experiences at the quality they were imagined. By leveraging Qwilt’s open caching architecture and collaborative service provider partnerships, content publishers can shape the future of streaming, ensuring robust delivery and enhancing viewer satisfaction.”

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Categories: Articles, CDNs, OTT, Research

Tags: CDN, live streaming, NFL, Peacock, Qwilt