Conviva Case Studies
HBO GO
HBO came to Conviva for a video optimization solution when the premium cable channel became an early mover in the TV Everywhere initiative, providing its subscribers with HBO programs and movies on digital platforms, on the go—at the highest quality possible. .
HBO GO utilizes Conviva’s Subscriber Xtension offering, including Precision Video and Insights technology to protect their viewers from experiencing interruptions that result in lost audience and decreased viewer engagement for the content owner.
With Conviva, HBO GO is able to monitor each viewer’s experience with Insights and optimize their stream with Precision Video, switching bitrate and streamsource before the audience ever saw any disruptions.
HBO GO has been a tremendous success, with its high quality video helping to drive more viewers to the cable network and effectively retain cable subscribers looking to access the content they pay for on multiple devices, on the go. In the first week of its launch, the HBO GO app reached 1 million downloads, and is now offered on every major mobile device.
“HBO is at the forefront of the industry, leading the way with a new generation of entertainment, while protecting our legacy by delivering the type of viewing experience consumers have come to expect from our brand,” said Greg Fittinghoff, SVP Corporate Systems and Infrastructure for HBO. “Partnering with Conviva, who has the audience-centric technology and expertise we need, makes perfect sense for us when it comes to HBO GO.”
HBO
FIFA World Cup
During the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, Conviva helped power the live and on-demand online video experience for several content providers around the globe including Astro (Malaysia), CBC (Canada), CNTV (China), TV 2 (Norway) and Univision Interactive Media (U.S.). In the past, the online video experience for an event of this magnitude was met with rebuffering and choppy video, causing fans to click away prematurely. To make sure the same fate didn’t befall the viewers of this year’s World Cup, Conviva’s patented technology was used to watch every viewer in real time, predict when an interruption was about to occur and take proactive steps to prevent an unacceptable user experience from happening.
The 2010 World Cup marked the first time an online event secured a broadcast TV-level audience. Over the course of all 64 soccer matches, Conviva managed more than 200 million streams and reached more than 30 million unique viewers worldwide. In addition, Conviva handled over three billion viewer minutes and, on the thirteenth day of the event, maintained nearly 1.5 million peak concurrent viewers simultaneously.
In addition, Conviva helped AEG Digital Media stream the 2010 FIFA World Cup Kick-Off Celebration Concert. Conviva worked with AEG Digital Media to build an audience-instrumented online video player that ensured the best possible fan viewing experience through the use of pre-emptive quality management technology.
“We have a reputation to maintain with our consumers, so we couldn’t risk the occurrence of poor online video while streaming the 2010 FIFA World Cup. With Conviva, our entire online audience was able to enjoy the best possible viewing experience during the matches without fail.”
-Paul Dale, CTO Astro
“It was important to understand the experience our online audience had during the World Cup at any given point in time. By using Conviva, we were able to gain real-time, granular visibility into the entire video delivery ecosystem from encoders to streaming sources and could quickly identify and remediate issues as they happened.”
-Rob Fullerton, product manager, Audio, Visual and CMS CBC.ca
Univision Interactive Media (U.S.), Astro (Malaysia), CBC (Canada), CNTV (China), TV 2 (Norway)
NBC Vancouver
Through close work with the Microsoft Silverlight and Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) Live Smooth Streaming, Conviva’s media control platform allowed NBC to obtain real-time insights on viewer experience, audience trends and network distribution performance to ensure quality viewing during the Vancouver Winter Games. Furthermore, Conviva’s technology is unique in its ability to scale cleanly to meet the needs and HD requirements of broadcast-sized audiences during peak times.
Conviva’s media control platform manages the distribution of media over heterogeneous resources with customized policies and control that enable broadcasters to deliver the highest possible video quality to viewers at any given point in time. By addressing a critical gap in delivery and audience insight left by today’s streaming technology, Conviva’s reliable video platform helped to provide a stable, high-quality online coverage over the 17 days of the Vancouver Winter Games.
Click here to read a case study, “NBC Streams 4.4 Million Hours of Olympics Video, Delivers Midstream Ads” that further describes Conviva’s involvement with the Vancouver Winter Games.
NBC Vancouver
Silverlight
Conviva worked with Microsoft Silverlight and Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) Live Smooth Streaming to provide real-time insight on the experience of online viewers to NBC during the network’s coverage of the Vancouver Winter Games from Vancouver, February 12-28, 2010.
“Today’s online viewers expect high-quality, reliable and buffer-free video,” said Steve Sklepowich, director for Silverlight at Microsoft. “Conviva’s media control platform enables the management and distribution of high-quality online video to help deliver a stutter-free, HD experience with Silverlight and Smooth Streaming to online fans of the Vancouver Winter Games.”
Silverlight is a cross-browser, cross-platform and cross-device browser plug-in that helps companies design, develop and deliver applications and experiences on the Web. A free download that installs in seconds, Silverlight enables a new class of rich, secure and scalable cross-platform experiences.
Smooth Streaming, an IIS Media Services extension, enables adaptive streaming of media to Silverlight clients over HTTP. Smooth Streaming provides a high-quality viewing experience that scales massively on content distribution networks, making true HD 1080p media experiences a reality.
Silverlight
AEG Digital Media
AEG Digital Media (DM) is the leading provider of complete webcast management and production services in the digital media industry. AEG DM combines deep experience with technical know-how to deliver world class digital distribution and technology solutions to its clients.
This top provider of digital media technology is working with Conviva to deliver an online fan experience that has the same clear, crisp and reliable high-definition (HD) video as traditional television, but offers the flexibility to be viewed from any device. Media companies benefit by leveraging AEG’s production expertise in concert with Conviva’s continuous, real-time insights that “watch” each viewer, every second, and use inference algorithms to predict when a quality incident is about to occur. The result is a better fan experience and longer viewing times.
AEG DM and Conviva have successfully collaborated on a number of high-profile events including the Dec. 1, 2009 Alicia Keys Concert on YouTube, the 2010 People’s Choice Awards and the NCAA Coke Zero™ Countdown Free Concert. In addition, the two companies work together on 19 Entertainment’s “If I Can Dream”, an Internet-only show equipped with 56 cameras that follows six housemates looking to launch their creative arts, sport or fashion careers.
Quality takes center stage for online fans, especially during live events, and video that is choppy, grainy or buffers will not be tolerated. Conviva’s ability to tap into what each and every viewer is watching as it happens, coupled with quick decisioning tools to pre-empt and correct issues has been invaluable in delivering the best experience to the vast number of people that have watched AEG Digital Media events online.”
-John Petrocelli, SVP business development and sales, AEG Digital Media
Click here for more information on how AEG Digital Media is working with Conviva.
AEG Digital Media
TV2
Since 2000, TV 2, the largest commercial television station in Norway, has witnessed year-over-year growth in the popularity of online video due to its web TV subscription service, TV 2 Sumo , and its live TV service online, which allows Norwegian viewers to watch live simulcasted channels, premium live sports coverage and thousands of hours of on demand television programs. In addition to accommodating an increased volume of online viewers, TV 2 needed to ensure that every member of its online audience was met with a high-definition, high-quality experience.
To address all of TV 2’s requirements, Conviva’s Telemetry & Insights service provides continuous, real-time insights across the entire audience and online video delivery ecosystem, enabling the Norwegian broadcaster to make quick decisions that result in longer viewing sessions. And through its powerful diagnostics and inference engine, Conviva specifically isolates problems in video players, delivery networks and individual browsers. Furthermore, by watching each viewer, every second, TV 2 is able to see first-hand as the audience gravitates towards particular content—providing a comprehensive look into trends and content consumption.
Now, as more and more Norwegians turn to TV 2 for their online content, they are met with clear, crisp reliable video that is free of buffering, stuttering or interruptions.
“We have seen a steady increase in the amount of viewers that are coming online to watch our content. As a leader in our industry, it is critical that the experience of our online audience is equal to that of our traditional television viewers. Because Conviva enables us to monitor in real time the experience of each individual customer, we are confident that our reputation as the broadcaster Norwegians turn to for high quality remains strong.”
-Helge Høibraaten, manager, TV 2 Sumo
TV2
