Streaming Media, IPTV, and Broadband

Streaming Media, IPTV, and Broadband Transport: Telecommunications Carriers and Entertainment Services 

2009-2014                 (a market research report)

 

Carriers are signing up customers for video and other value-added services geared to spur spending in the consumer and business segments. In this market research report, INSIGHT will examine streaming, IPTV, mobile TV, and other information and entertainment services.

Streaming media—the IP transmission of on-demand rich media that gives the user the ability to listen to audio and view video and graphics animation files from the network without downloading the content—is but one of several technologies being used to deliver information and entertainment services. IPTV, in the context of current broadband transmission technology, will make it possible to move beyond the multicast “time-shift” capabilities of cable’s video-on-demand models to deliver true interactivity to unicast, multicast, and broadcast audiences and give carriers a slice of the more than $250 billion forecasted to be spent each year on mass advertising. 

In this research report, INSIGHT studies the role and many applications of IPTV and streaming in both the business and consumer markets. In addition, INSIGHT evaluates the broadband infrastructure, hardware, and software necessary to deliver this service to the market, as well as the end user devices at work in homes and businesses. This research study provides a detailed forecast of the video, IPTV, and streaming media markets—including the applications, markets, and equipment.

Consumers Love Streaming Media 

Streaming media is in the process of transforming the media and entertainment industry.  As a disruptive technology, streaming across the Internet is going have an impact on the organization and profitability of the TV and movie business at least as profound as gut-wrenching changes that have already transformed the music industry.  The unanswered question is weather the media and entertainment industry learned from the music industry’s mistakes and can manage the change to the advantage of the industry stakeholders. 

Consumers have always had a love affair with their video content, and streaming allows unrestricted access to movies, TV and other forms of video 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  Consumers can enjoy audio and video content of any type, anytime and any where they like.  High definition video, enabled by variable bit rate streaming, is the latest technical advancement to attract consumers—and ultimately it is the consumer that is creating the demand for streaming media. 

The revenues for streaming media industry will be generated from pay per view, subscriptions and advertising.  Even as the US entertainment industry continues to generate significant revenue from traditional outlets such as box office, DVDs, broadcast television—its future growth will all take place in the streaming media segment. 

In streaming, rich digital media is transferred across a network for immediate enjoyment by the consumer and without the requirement for any permanent local data storage.  The content download process is very similar to streaming except that the digital media is stored on the consumer’s local device. In both scenarios, digital rights management (DRM) is being used to control or limit the listening, viewing, and distribution of content.  A content delivery network (CDN) is often used to transfer the media for both streaming and content downloads.