The unprecedented growth of mobile, Internet and IPTV content is taxing legacy video delivery models:
• Commercial Internet video traffic will increase 5X by 2012
• User-generated video content will increase 3X by 2012
• 2/3 of all mobile traffic will be video by 2013
• 14.3 billion online videos were viewed by U.S. Internet users during December, 2008 alone
The fascination with being able to view both professional and user-generated entertainment content on Internet and mobile devices will not taper any time soon, but there is equal if not higher demand for instant access to a staggering volume of educational video, instructional video, enterprise sales and marketing video and surveillance video – by public, private and government constituents.
In the video below, we take a look at the different levels of video content - premium, amateur and reference - and how they impact distribution and monetization strategies.
As fast as the online and mobile video markets are evolving, we felt it was time to help educate members of the video delivery value chain on changes taking place in the underlying transcoding technology which is enabling the rapid evolution of video distribution, consumption and monetization.
Transactional Transcoding, a new whitepaper from IDC, examines how transcoding is becoming the linchpin in the delivery of evolving video services for a multitude of video-enabled viewing platforms. As an enabler of increasingly complex content distribution, transcoding is moving beyond legacy file-to-file approaches to become real-time, transactional and network-aware. In addressing the emergence of next generation transcoding, the IDC whitepaper explains how the technology is evolving to support burgeoning demand for online and mobile video - especially in light of content explosion, device expansion, network strain and the need for effective monetization.
IDC believes that transcoding must evolve to include transaction-based platforms that can tailor video content and video advertising for a particular device, delivery channel and business model as well as an individual viewer — all on-the-fly — to accelerate, simplify, scale and reduce the costs of delivering ‘any content, anytime, to anyplace’.
As video becomes more pervasive, it’s increasingly important to capitalize on video assets. However monetizing video has always been a challenge – particularly for the mobile market. Today’s legacy transcoding solutions limit the ability to effectively monetize video content. Advertisements are attached in a ‘static manner’ at an off-line location where content is first transcoded, then manually stitched to an ad, and then finally delivered to a customer for viewing. This static ad insertion model restricts the ability to pair contextually relevant advertising with video assets.
However, as part of our commitment to providing our customers a holistic approach to video transcoding, today at CTIA Wireless in Las Vegas, I’m pleased to introduce the availability of the RipCode TransAct Monetizer. The TransAct Monetizer is specifically designed to enable the monetization of video content. As an integrated component of RipCode’s TransAct Platform, video assets can be seamlessly and dynamically inserted across the ‘three-screen’ domain as part of a real-time transcoding transaction.
TransAct Monetizer is able to dynamically stitch device-optimized pre- or post-roll video with any requested video asset. By transcoding video ads on-demand, advertisers have the flexibility to provide unique ads based on the video content that a viewer requests, as well as the viewer profile, viewer location, time of view, and experience quality – all of which require a transcoded, dynamic ad insertion capability to maximize relevancy and increase CPM.
For more information about TransAct Monetizer, check out the video below, stop by our booth at CTIA - #7062, or email us.
In my last post, I talked a bit about the growing challenges in the video delivery market and I introduced a new transcoding terminology called ‘transactional transcoding’. Essentially, this is transcoding as a real-time transactional model and is what I consider to be the evolutionary next step to providing a scalable transcoding solution for managing all video delivery components in a seamless, transparent manner.
Here at RipCode, we continue to evolve and improve our technology and solutions to stay ahead of our customer’s video delivery needs. So it shouldn’t come as a big surprise then when I tell you that this transactional transcoding model I’ve talked about is now available from RipCode. Tomorrow at CTIA Wireless in Las Vegas, we’ll be introducing the RipCode TransAct Platform.
The TransAct Platform enables key video delivery elements to occur as a transparent, real-time transaction including:
- Video device and capability discovery
- Selection of optimal transcode workflows
- Dynamic, relevant ad insertion
- Network-aware resource availability
- Open interoperability with billing, content management systems and ad networks
In the video below I go into more detail about the benefits of the RipCode TransAct Platform. Or for an industry perspective on the transactional transcoding model, a new whitepaper from IDC is available from the RipCode website, I hope you’ll check it out.
We understand that considering transcoding as a real-time transaction will require a shift in the way you normally think about transcoding, so if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reply to this post or send us an email.
Since introducing the on-demand transcoding methodology 2 years ago, I’ve seen transcoding evolve in a relatively short time to become a fundamental component of both on-demand and real-time video delivery.
And in this time, video delivery obstacles that our customers are contending with have become more magnified. Content owners, video delivery platforms, ad networks, mobile operators – everyone in the video delivery value chain are facing increasing video distribution challenges including:
- How to distribute an overwhelming amount of video content…
- Over an increasing number of video viewing devices…
- While monetizing video assets…
- Preserving high quality user experience…
- And account for constrained and fluctuating network bandwidth.
Here at RipCode, we realize that our customers require more than just a box to move files from one format to another. They need a big picture solution to help them deal with all of the components of video delivery. We understand that in order for video delivery to scale, transcoding can no longer be an independent process performed in an offline environment. Transcoding must evolve to a real-time transaction.
In the video below, I talk in more detail about today’s video delivery challenges and why at RipCode, we believe that transactional-based video transcoding will play a vital role in the market evolution of video delivery.
I’m Neal Hartsell, vice president of Marketing for RipCode, and a new voice on the RipCode blog. I’m a fairly recent addition to the RipCode team and my first chance to tell the RipCode story in front of a large group came last month when RipCode had the prestigious opportunity to present to cable industry executives as part of the Innovation Showcase at the 2009 CableLabs Conference in Colorado Springs. For those that may not know, the focus of CableLabs is to showcase the latest in content and services that operators may employ to serve cable customers. As I talked with industry executives at the show, it became clear to me that broadband service providers are paying close attention to the growing number of consumers watching TV shows online. As consumer’s desire for ‘time shifted’ video content increases, cable and broadband operators are looking for ways to retain control of their customer base by extending their brand to Web and mobile domains, while increasing revenue opportunities in the new Internet and mobile media markets. The RipCode transcoding story seemed to resonate with the cable operators that I talked to as a viable solution for:
extending broadcast content to desktop and mobile devices
extending the cable brand to alternative viewing models
capitalizing on Internet and mobile advertising revenue
To learn more, check out the video from RipCode’s Innovation Showcase presentation.
Many people that regularly follow the RipCode blog know that we’ve been working with MySpace – though on what, we’ve had to be a bit vague. However, I’m excited today to finally be able to tell you about the project and I hope that you’ll quickly catch on and be as excited as we are at RipCode.
In choosing RipCode, MySpace made a clear choice about the future direction of their transcoding environment. Rather than adopting legacy pre-transcoding methods, their decision to utilize RipCode’s On-Demand Transcoding technology helps them achieve a more efficient, effective and eco-friendly method for extending video to the MySpace mobile community.
We’ve talked about this in the past, but it’s worth mentioning again. As the volume of video grows and the number of mobile devices supporting video continues to expand, companies have to find alternative solutions to deliver content to their customers across multiple screens. MySpace’s decision is proof that market leaders are embracing change in traditional transcoding methodologies and looking for smarter, more scalable solutions to manage mobile video growth.
If you have a MySpace account and have a mobile device that supports streaming video, check out the new MySpace Mobile video service and let us know what you think:
1. From your mobile device, go to m.myspace.com
2. Login to your MySpace profile
3. If you have videos loaded to your online profile, you will see a My Videos link on the user homepage. Click on the My Videos link
4. On the Videos page, select Uploaded or Favorite videos
5. Select video by clicking on View
6. On Video Details page, click Play Video
Or, for a quick tour of the new MySpace mobile video service, check out this short video.
As most people know, today the much anticipated RIM BlackBerry Storm makes its debut in stores. And with next week marking the start of the traditional holiday shopping season, this year’s must-have devices like the iPhone, G1, Bold and Storm will be topping many holdiay wish lists.
Many of RipCode’s blog readers are familiar with our On-Demand Transcoding solution. But what you may not know is that in addition to supporting RTSP streaming of on-demand content for the most popular video-enabled devices — like the Storm, Bold and Android – we also support progressive download of on-demand video content for the Apple iPhone. All without the need for special client-side players or applications, and without pre-transcoding content.
For aggregators and operators looking to extend their video libraries to these popular devices, our sales team will be conducting onsite, on-demand transcoding demos for this season’s must-have mobile devices. If you’re interested in learning about demos in your area, let us know.
Friday night was a very big night for our company. RipCode was honored to receive the Emerging Company Horizon Award at the annual Tech Titans/Fast 50 Awards Gala, hosted by the Dallas Metroplex Technology Business Council.
This award recognizes outstanding innovation and unique accomplishments through potential breakthrough technology, processes or services within the technology and communications industry, for companies with less than 100 employees. RipCode was one of four finalists for the award.
This award is really a reflection of the tremendous accomplishments that all our employees have made towards building RipCode to the company it is today. My thanks to everyone for their continued hard work and dedication.
Last week I attended the CTIA Wireless IT & Entertainment show in San Francisco. I had the opportunity to speak briefly with Dave Graveline, host of Into Tomorrow, a radio network program covering the latest in consumer electronics and technology. We talked about transcoding’s role in giving consumers access to a wider variety of video across multiple screens, particularly mobile.
You can listen to Dave’s CTIA ShowStoppers broadcast which includes my interview as well as interviews with other technology companies. The entire broadcast is about 39 minutes. Skip ahead to minute 27 for my conversation with Dave.
Web and mobile video delivery is a dynamic and rapidly growing, global market. RipCode has thought a lot about the hardware, software and processes in this space, and we are here to listen, share, initiate and join the conversation.
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