Live video streaming is an excellent tool for content distributors and other organizations seeking to excite their audience and engage actively with them through live events or linear TV. [Live video streaming allows you to connect with audiences in real-time, ensuring that your brand stays visible, while real-time analytics can provide you with an opportunity to learn how to stream video in the manner most suitable for your customers].
Why Live Video Streaming Is Complicated
Because audience composition and behavior is difficult to predict, implementing live video streaming is never simple. Delivery of live video streams can be complicated because of the diversity of platforms, access networks and streaming formats competing in today's online media ecosystem. Consumers expect consistent high quality performance and availability wherever, whenever and on whatever device they choose. And it is now more challenging than ever to ensure an enjoyable, glitch-free viewing experience online—especially when streaming live.
If audience turnout exceeds server capacity, users can be shut out of a live video streaming event, incapable of accessing your content and left with a negative impression of your company. Even if your servers are able to handle the demand, video performance can suffer as a result of network congestion, latency and packet loss, forcing your audience to disengage and pursue better video quality elsewhere.
Simplifying Live Video Streaming with an Intelligent Stream Packaging and Delivery
Akamai, a leader in the content delivery industry with over a decade of experience in streaming media, knows how complex live video streaming can be. Let us provide you with the scalability, reliability and technology you need to ensure that your viewers are never disappointed.
- Our innovative stream packaging and video transcoding solution, streamlines live video streaming workflows by processing a single live stream to reach multiple devices and platforms, dynamically packaging your content in real time using the appropriate protocol—whether it's HTTP live streaming (HLS) for iOS and Android platforms, HTTP dynamic streaming (HDS) for adaptive bitrate delivery on Flash-based platforms. We also support the latest streaming formats such MPEG-DASH for live delivery.
- Our cloud-based storage and delivery solution, supports your streaming offering with multi-stream redundancy and capabilities such as DVR-enabled live streaming.
- Our globally distributed CDN. for content optimization and distribution—the Akamai Intelligent Platform—can scale with your audience to handle the largest of live video streaming events, reliably supporting thousands of simultaneous streams.
- Our comprehensive Media Analytics toolset can monitor video playback quality to ensure that your users enjoy each and every live broadcast—from start to finish.