Last year, Brightcove rolled out a new media delivery system called Dynamic Delivery . This has fundamentally improved the media delivery performance of Video Cloud for hundreds of our customers. Leveraging just-in-time packaging, Dynamic Delivery allows content owners to achieve greater device reach, reduced storage costs, and CDN flexibility and security. Those are just the inherent benefits. Dynamic Delivery further reduces costs and improves user experience when used in conjunction with Brightcove’s Context Aware Encoding (CAE) technology and Server-Side Ad Insertion (SSAI) monetization capability. That’s why we’re encouraging all our customers to transition 100 percent of their content over to our Dynamic Delivery system. How does this process work and what considerations are there? In this article, we’ll break down how all this is possible.

The Old Way

To fully appreciate the benefits of Dynamic Delivery, it’s important to understand the challenges of static delivery (“the old way.”) In the world of static delivery, you send one source file to Brightcove and indicate the various media types needed at the time of ingest. This includes rendition encoding settings (bit rate, resolution, etc.) as well as package types (package format, DRM/encryption settings, etc.) All these settings are layered on and applied at the time of ingest to create a comprehensive set of renditions. Even a moderately complex use case can end up with dozens of renditions which are stored on an origin server for delivery. Then, at the time of playback, the appropriate rendition is selected and played. As you have to support more devices and formats, the more complex and expensive it becomes to prepare the content for delivery.

Another pitfall of static delivery is the rigidity of the update process. Since all of the packaging happens at the time of ingest, adding any new formats requires you to go back and completely re-transcode your library. This means every time a new format emerges or an existing format has released updates you have to go back and re-package your entire back catalog of content to get the latest and greatest technology.

The New Way

Now, when you send Brightcove the source file we create all of your desired renditions (different resolutions, different bitrates) and store them in a format-agnostic state. This means these renditions aren’t stored in a particular package (HLS, DASH, etc.) but rather as fragmented MP4s (fMP4s). Then, when a user requests content from any given device our just-in-time packaging generates the appropriate packages, automatically. Just-in-time packaging generates packages based on the device requesting the content, automatically selecting the appropriate stream packaging and DRM formats. This greatly reduces the cost and effort to accommodate future devices and formats. We’re only storing the “heavy part” once and our packaging is light-weight . Your cost of ownership can decrease drastically, especially if you have complex setting requirements like several DRM packages.  Even in the simple use case of delivering clear content, you’d be cutting your storage costs in half by reducing duplication of having HLS and DASH renditions.

Benefits of Just-In-Time Packaging

Future Proof Your Library

Applying packaging at the time of request allows customers to easily adopt new package types and DRM formats, as well as updates to the existing formats. Previously, if a customer wanted to take advantage of features available in new versions of packages or DRM formats, they had to re-transcode their entire library to update to the new format (or more likely to add the new format in addition to maintaining the old format.) Now as formats evolve we update our just-in-time packager once to support them and they are instantly available for all the content in your library.

Expand Reach

Just-in-time packaging provides a much more flexible framework to control what shows up in the manifest at the time of playback. One example is the ability to apply multiple audio tracks to a single piece of content which is a growing requirement among companies trying to reach international audiences that speak multiple languages. Adding multiple audio tracks also fosters a more accessible user experience for blind users by adding more descriptive audio tracks, expanding reach further. Previously, having multiple audio tracks for a single piece of content required an immense amount of post-production work: adding an additional audio track, marrying that audio to the video, uploading the video as a separate video asset, then managing the complexity of presenting the right video for the right user. Now, this can all happen at the time of packaging. Upload the video once with as many audio tracks as you need. Then these audio tracks can be presented in the player, similar to how caption tracks are. The user can choose which audio track they want or you can programmatically trigger it based on geography or other relevant metadata.

Increase Flexibility

Every business has slightly different requirements around CDNs and that’s why we made sure Dynamic Delivery was CDN agnostic. Our old system was much more rigid about which features were supported on which CDNs. Now, Dynamic Delivery is much easier to set up and implement based on your CDN requirements.

Features Made Possible by Dynamic Delivery

In addition to the explicit benefits provided by Dynamic Delivery, the flexible architecture of the system allows us to add additional features quickly and easily. We’ve written about many of these in the past — follow the links to learn more!

Context Aware Encoding – Utilize machine learning and deep video analysis to achieve optimum quality for each video with the fewest bits necessary.

Server-side Ad Insertion (SSAI) – Dynamically stitch targeted ads into your content to deliver a stunning, TV-like experience and defeat ad-blockers.

Delivery Rules – Harness the power of Dynamic Delivery to customize delivery behavior to meet your unique business objectives.

Getting Started

Dynamic Delivery is fully integrated into Video Cloud and is API compatible for both ingest and delivery. Additionally, Dynamic Delivery content can live alongside non-Dynamic Delivery content in the same Video Cloud account so you don’t have to worry about a mass conversion.

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Sports is widely accepted as one of the last bastions of appointment-to-view programming as the media landscape continues to experience profound disruption and audience fragmentation. Eighty-five of the top 100 most-watched telecasts in the United States were sporting events last year – up from 48 in 2011 according to analysis conducted by Nielsen and MoffettNathanson. Meanwhile, research from Parks Associates indicates that for 27 percent of US pay-TV households, sports programming is the primary reason they own a cable subscription.

However, as linear TV ratings trend downward as consumers shift their viewing to mobile and a plethora of other connected devices, there is a heightened urgency for sports rights holders to reach and engage fans beyond linear broadcast. Moreover, fans have indicated they are willing to pay for direct digital access to their favorite teams, league or sport.  According to the Center for the Digital Future at USC Annenberg and ThePostGame, 63 percent of all sports fans are interested in paying for an OTT service.

Making Sense of the Crowded Sports Video Landscape

With OTT having rapidly become the norm, the global D2C streaming market has been flooded with a dizzying array of new video platforms. Just this year, Disney, Turner, and CBS all bolstered their digital operations with the launch of multi-sports OTT services, rolling out ESPN+, Bleacher Report Live (B/R Live), and CBS Sports HQ, respectively. Meanwhile, other US broadcasters have built tailored video offerings around specific sports or content verticals. NBC Sports Group, for example, now offers a range of single-sport “passes” as part of its NBC Sports Gold digital platform.

In addition, sports channels now form part of every major vMVPD’s basic offering, and some have put sports front and center. One example is FuboTV, a sports-first service that provides coverage of more than 30,000 sporting events per year, with programming split across two base packages and an array of add-on channels offered at various price points.

Harnessing the Power of Sports Video: Our Playbook

There’s no denying the growth potential of sports video, and the opportunity for rights holders of all sizes to leverage the power of video to amplify engagement, reach and revenue. At Brightcove, we’ve seen firsthand the success our customers around the world have experienced and the real results its driven for their organizations.

To that end, we’re excited to share a new playbook: Harness the Power of Sports Video. We partnered with SportsPro , the leading international media company for the sports industry, to provide a comprehensive guide to the sports video landscape with best practices and learnings from our customers as well as the leading players and disruptors in the market. Get insight on expanding audience reach with shoulder programming, live clipping, social and more – and how to convert that reach into revenue. We hope this content is useful toward helping build or enhance your sports video experience and delight fans across all devices and platforms.

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As video advertising spend continues to grow (predicted to grow by 22% in 2018), more and more publishers have been pivoting to video content in order to delight their audience as well as drive new revenue streams. However, the world of video advertising is not always an easy one to navigate. Outside of the Brightcove video player and its IMA3 advertising plugin, there are five basic necessities that publishers should have before embarking on this journey.

• Engaging video content 
• Audience
• Ad operations team
• Video Ad server
• In-house sales team (optional)

Create Engaging Video Content

The first item, engaging video content, may seem patently obvious. After all, how can you show “pre-roll” ads when there is no “roll,” but the reality is that not all video content makes a great fit for advertising. In 2018, advertisers and agencies have been growing ever more selective about which content they put their brand behind . Videos that focus on violence, mature content, drugs or other controversial subjects simply may not have a lot of success drawing advertiser interest. There are, of course, exceptions to this, but those will largely rely on publishers striking up direct deals with relevant advertisers. An important factor to keep in mind is that the video content should be truly compelling to your audience. Remember – a typical preroll takes anywhere from 15-30 seconds. If you expect your audience to sit through an ad to get to the content, that content must be worth the wait!

Know Your Audience

This audience will also be crucial in getting your video ad business up and running. The size of the audience is clearly important (the more eyes see your ad, the more money you make), but it is not the only thing that interests brands. Factors such as the geo location of your viewership, the devices they are using, how they engage with your content, among many others make a huge difference to your CPM and fill rate. For example, an advertiser may be trying to reach a demographic such as “female users, located in New York City, using iOS as a platform.” If your audience is primarily male Android users based in the Midwest, it is unlikely your ad space will receive many bids from this particular advertiser on the programmatic exchanges. Audience is closely related to your content which will partially dictate the types of traffic your properties will be seeing.

Ad Operations Team

Perhaps the most important step a publisher should take when starting its ad business is hiring a resourceful ad operations team (AdOps) to oversee its monetization efforts. A critical mistake some publishers make is to assume one person can both oversee the advertising strategy AND actually implement the technology while keeping track of metrics and resolving technical issues. Do not make this mistake! Troubleshooting discrepancies, implementing plugins, and monitoring campaign pacing add up to a full time job. And this is not even factoring in high level strategic planning and tracking performance against company revenue goals. An effective AdOps specialist needs an analytical mind, a deep understanding of ad performance metrics; (Can they distinguish CTR from CPV? Do they understand the relationship between CPM and fill rate?), and a respectable amount of technical aptitude. AdOps will frequently need to parse JavaScript, put together complex Excel tables, and trace ad calls via Charles Proxy or web console. Do your due diligence in finding an ad operations team you are comfortable with, as they can make or break your monetization efforts.

Selecting the Right Ad Server

Now that you have video content ready to be monetized, a large and engaged audience, and an experienced AdOps team, you will need the last piece of the puzzle – a tech stack that can actually serve the video ads to the player and its IMA3 plugin. This component is called an ad server – selecting the right one for your business is one of the most critical decisions a publisher needs to make. An ad server allows you to segment your inventory, create campaigns, target line items, review analytics, and connect your site to advertising exchanges and networks. The industry standard ad server is Google Ad Manager (formerly known as Doubleclick for Publishers or DFP) and is used by the vast majority of Brightcove customers. Ad Manager is the leading ad server mainly due to its robust integrations, relative ease of use, and close ties to Google Ad Exchange. Ad Manager has both a free and a paid “Premium” version that has more features specific to video ad serving. Publishers do have other options beyond Google Ad Manager, including Brightcove partners SpotX and FreeWheel . Each has advantages and disadvantages and finding the right ad server will involve a modicum of trial and error. However, it is very important to find the tech and company you feel most comfortable trusting with your ad revenue.

Advertising Sales Team

Last but not least, larger publishers should consider having an in-house sales team. Video advertising is generally split between two main business models – direct sales and programmatic. Programmatic is simply a digital ad exchange where a computer crunches the numbers and determines which ad is served where based on bids, targeting, and CPM floors. While this option does not require any interaction with agencies or advertisers, it does mean that you are at the mercy of the open exchange as well as supply and demand. This will fluctuate and may not always be reliable in terms of ad quality and consistency.

Alternatively, direct ad sales operates via agreed upon prices, signed insertion orders, and the human element for campaign management. You will also need an ad salesperson (or a team of them) to actively engage agencies and advertisers that would make a good fit with your inventory. Many publishers use both programmatic and direct sales to bolster their revenue while using their ad server to determine which type gets priority.

The landscape of video advertising can often feel fragmented and complex, but with these basic requirements you will have a great launching point. At Brightcove, we’ve helped publishers of all sizes succeed with video advertising, and we are ready and willing to be your trusted advisor through this process and set you on the path to monetizing all of that amazing video content your team works so hard to create.

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Wi-Fi is all around us but when up in the sky, it’s still a luxury for most passengers. In Australia, Qantas has led the charge by being the first in market to launch inflight Wi-Fi domestically last April. A year later, it’s now available on half of its 737 fleet and two domestic A330s, providing a major benefit for Australians travelling domestically who are looking to stay connected while above the clouds.

This month, Brightcove is working with Qantas to offer highlight videos from the 2018 FIFA World Cup to passengers on select domestic flights with Wi-Fi. The content is available through Qantas’ Wi-Fi Portal and includes 25 minutes of daily highlights showcasing the best bits from the World Cup tournament in Russia.

Serving ads alongside its 2018 FIFA World Cup content plays an important role. And to ensure a seamless, tv-like viewing experience Qantas implemented Brightcove’s Server Side Ad Insertion (SSAI) technology. With SSAI ads are stitched into the video content to eliminate buffering typically associated with video ads, which means the viewing experience isn’t compromised.

Brightcove’s video platform is providing the airline with data insights, content management and the market-leading HTML5 video player. All of these elements come together and allow Qantas to share clear video at incredible speeds and manage its highlight videos.

This is Qantas’ first use of Brightcove’s SSAI for inflight content, and a region first for Brightcove in powering this kind of service. It’s an exciting opportunity to discover more ways SSAI can help improve viewing experiences and open up monetisation opportunities.

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As consumer viewing habits continue to move online, broadcasters and publishers like TVNZ are offering new on demand content services to feed hungry consumers of all ages. New Zealand’s leading free-to-air broadcaster recently launched their new Kiwi kids platform, HEIHEI to provide a digital home for New Zealand children to stream quality local content in a safe, ad-free space.

But launching and managing an on demand service can come with challenges. With growing content libraries, the challenge to shrink storage and delivery costs without sacrificing the viewing experience is one that content owners and publishers continue to face.

TVNZ has long leveraged Brightcove’s technology to provide a high quality viewing experience for its OnDemand content platform. And when launching its new kids platform the broadcaster looked to Brightcove again, this time implementing Brightcove’s new video compression technology, Context Aware Encoding (CAE). CAE was implemented to help alleviate the pressures of managing the content library available at launch as well as lay the groundwork for future cost savings and plans for HEIHEI, a platform that is not ad or subscription supported and therefore making this especially relevant.

Context Aware Encoding uses machine learning and deep video analysis to optimise encoding settings on a per-video basis. This results in an enhanced end user video experience, regardless of device type, network quality or geographic location, while simultaneously lowering overall bandwidth and storage costs for the content owner. Put simple, for TVNZ leveraging Context Aware Encoding means it can deliver a high-quality end-user video experiences while saving substantially on storage and delivery costs.

Customers around the world, including Young Hollywood , have already been enabled to save on operational costs associated with running a video-based business. During the company’s first few weeks of use, Young Hollywood, saw a 20 percent savings in storage and a 17 percent savings in bandwidth, while its OTT channel, Young Hollywood TV , realized a 23 percent savings in storage and a 35 percent saving in bandwidth. And as the first free-to-air broadcaster utilising the video compression technology in the ANZ region, TVNZ are looking to achieve similar benefits.

With its ambition to continue to grow HEIHEI in the years to come, Context Aware Encoding ensures TVNZ can expand its content library while keeping storage and delivery costs as low as possible — a big win. It’s also looking at rolling out Context Aware Encoding to its other on demand services in the months to come, pending results from HEIHEI.

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