Bringing streaming to the mainstream
Television is in the midst of its latest game-changing technology shift – from the traditional linear, direct-to-home (DTH) content distribution model to the over-the-top or OTT approach.OTT – or streaming – offers flexibility and means users are no longer tied to a specific device or location to consume content.
The power of access is now in the hands of the consumer who can choose what to watch, when, and how much of it. This is an advantage for large content providers. At MultiChoice Africa, for instance, streaming on-demand is ideal to give customers access to a self-produced local content library of 84 000 hours.
The shift to streaming and OTT comes with new challenges, however. Faced with thousands of hours of content, viewers may be overwhelmed. Artificial Intelligence and machine learning solves this, surfacing and recommending customised selections of content based on viewing behaviour.
To do this effectively, UX design must build upon AI data insights, to shape the content experience in ways that are both personalised and attuned to industry trends.
Audience preferences
Because audience preferences can be observed and understood in real-time, in-house UX teams must be integrated with product and tech teams. This has been the approach with ongoing MultiChoice UI design refinements.
Another AI application in the broader content space is in building efficiencies that allow millions of viewers to watch content in their local languages.
At MultiChoice, training has been carried out for AI for subtitling in several regional languages, enabling the automation of translations for entire series of content. This capability has already been deployed for Swahili in Kenya on the Showmax platform, as well as in two vernaculars in Nigeria.
The next step is to use AI to automate the audio dubbing of content into regional languages to further bolster the content that the company already delivers in those languages.
Data compression
As an Africa-wide content provider, MultiChoice understands that customers face real data challenges. In light of this, they have been forced to innovate to alleviate this pain point and to find value and efficiencies for customers through technology.
Data compression is one solution. To address the distance factor, MultiChoice has found partners that allows the caching of content closer to various user communities.
Adapted bit rate is another practical solution to data challenges. With this in place, picture quality adapts dynamically along with internet fluctuations, while ensuring that the stream remains uninterrupted. Users can also select bit rates and stream qualities according to their needs, to optimise data use.
MultiChoice has also formed partnerships with telcos across Africa to package content with their data offers.
Buffering and latency solutions
Another challenge is latency. The streaming lags and buffering effects that often result can be a real inconvenience. To address this, MultiChoice has implemented a low-latency solution with a partner. Again, the goal is for streaming to have the same latency quality as DTH or linear satellite TV.
To solve this issue, MultiChoice set itself the goal of getting the buffering rate to below the industry standard in developed countries, which is 0.72%. The buffering rate represents the percentage of time that a device is buffering, instead of playing content. The company already has achieved an average of 0.31% and they are confident of achieving further gains.
The company is also working to optimise configuration to ensure that OTT platforms receive the stream before the satellite receives the stream, to gain additional seconds, and compensate for the discrepancy.
Content delivery times
Another technological discrepancy is lags in the content delivery times between DTH and streaming. MultiChoice conducted a study of major international players in “first world” markets and found that streaming delivery was often between 20 and 25 seconds behind satellite.
In their quest to align these two platforms, the company has managed to get lags down to five seconds, and they are on course to drop it even further so that steaming speed is on par with decoder broadcasts.
Yet, for that transition to be real, the company must use all the technology and expertise at their disposal to ensure streaming is as good, as fast, and as seamless as the technology that came before it. And even more entertaining!
Then, it becomes time for the next transition. And that process is already underway. It’s an exciting time for television. – Distributed by APO Group on behalf of MultiChoice Group.