Conviva℠The Pulse of Online Video

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.

Indy Racing League selected Conviva as the launch partner for Race Control, an immersive, multi-camera online simulcast of the Indycar series. Race Control allows end users to direct the action by selecting the camera angles and associated metadata for multiple drivers. Conviva’s Pulse solution gives the Indy Racing League insight into audience engagement and delivery quality.

Indy Racing League has used Pulse to optimize the entire video technology chain from the encoders to the content delivery network to the Race Control application itself. During live events, Pulse monitoring provides the real-time insight necessary to immediately diagnose and correct issues before they impact the audience.

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.

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.”

Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium is comprised of media conglomerates CTV Inc. and Rogers Media Inc., which together provided unprecedented coverage and consumer choice in English, French and multi-languages on multiple platforms for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. As CTV and Rogers Media are leading broadcasters in the host country for the 2010 Winter Games, it was important for the Consortium to provide its online audience on both CTVOlympics.ca and RDSolympiques.ca with the best possible viewing experience.

To ensure the online properties were flexible enough to handle audience spikes while, at the same time, be ready to eliminate issues that cause poor video quality, the Consortium secured a relationship with Conviva for real-time insights on viewer experience, audience trends and video delivery performance.  During Vancouver 2010, Conviva provided the Consortium with the ability to literally see exactly what each and every viewer was watching—whether it be a live event or on-demand content.  With continuous, real-time audience insight, the Consortium was able to immediately address any concerns that compromised video quality. The result was a reliable, online experience for fans throughout the 17 days of the Games.

In fact, the Consortium set a record in online viewership for a Canadian broadcaster during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games with 28.5 million videos viewed, totaling 7.2 million hours of video consumption. Canadians responded to the online offering in unprecedented numbers as 215 million pages were viewed by 12.3 million unique visitors (Source: Conviva). By the end of the Closing Ceremony, CTVOlympics.ca and RDSolympiques.ca had served up nearly five times more page views for Vancouver 2010 than Beijing 2008.

“These are staggering numbers. As proven by the average length of online viewers, the Consortium set a benchmark for what can be achieved through a quality video experience online,” said Alon Marcovici, vice president of Digital Media and Research, Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium. “Canadians were given choice as to how, when and where they wanted to experience the Games, and we’re ecstatic they responded with such enthusiasm.”

Click here for more information on Conviva’s work with CTV and the Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium.

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.