Video Developer Report 2017 Welcome to Bitmovin’s Video Developer Report!
First and foremost, I’d like to thank everyone for making the 2017 Video Developer Survey possible! Without the great support and participation of the video developer community, we would not be able to create this report and share the insights into how developers around the globe work with video. With 380 survey submissions from over 50 countries, this report aims to give an overview of the status of video technology in 2017, as well as a vision into what will be important to video developers in the next 12 months.
We hope this report provides helpful information. We have already learned a lot, and are looking forward to the 2018 Video Developer Survey a year from now!
Best Regards,
Stefan Lederer Stefan Lederer CEO, Bitmovin
Page 2 Key findings
Apple HLS is the dominant format in video streaming in 2017, but the format people are looking to in the next 12 months is MPEG-DASH.
HEVC is the video codec most people are planning to use in the next 12 months, but VP9 and AV1 are also growing in popularity.
Software encoders are the most popular encoders, used either on-premise or in the cloud.
Cloud encoding is more popular in North America than in Europe.
More than a third monetize their online video with subscription models.
45% use some form of encryption or DRM protection.
Half of the developers with ad requirements are using a Server-Side Ad Insertion solution.
HTML5 is now by far the dominant platform for video playback.
OTT devices like Roku, Chromecast, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV have significant regional differences in adoption. Q1. Streaming Formats
100%
78% 80%
56% 60%
37% 40% 26% 25%
20% 12% 6% 2% 0%
HLS RTMP Other Smooth
Streaming ProgressiveStreaming Adobe HDS MPEG-DASH MPEG-CMAF
Which streaming formats are you currently using?
In 2017 Apple’s HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) is the most by a quarter of the participants as a fallback for older popular streaming format. This makes sense, as one browsers. Legacy formats, like HDS, Smooth Streaming can reach all devices with HLS as long as you don’t need and RTMP are getting phased out, although RTMP is still DRM protection. In the popularity rank, it is followed popular in contribution feeds as well as in low-latency by MPEG-DASH, which is required once you need to use cases, like betting. use DRM across different browsers and platforms. Progressive Streaming (simple MP4 files) are still used
Note: The questions in the survey are multiple choice, multiple answer, and therefore will not add up to 100%. Page 4 Q1. Streaming Formats
100%
80%
60%
40% 31% 24% 19% 20% 8% 7% 6% 4%
0%
HLS RTMP Smooth
Streaming ProgressiveStreaming Adobe HDS MPEG-DASH MPEG-CMAF
Which streaming formats are you planning to use in the next 12 months?
Most video developers in the survey are looking to MPEG-CMAF, the new streaming format that aims to use MPEG-DASH, followed by HLS. HLS is especially harmonize HLS and DASH. Stay tuned to see the results interesting for many people as it now supports HEVC in the next year’s survey. on MacOS and iOS devices, as well as fMP4 segments, which are supported directly by HTML5 without re- multiplexing in JavaScript. A rising star on the list is
Page 5 Regional variations in streaming formats
100%
75% North America 80%
46% 60% 42% 40% 26% 20% 20% 8% 3% 2% 0%
HLS RTMP Other Smooth
Streaming ProgressiveStreaming Adobe HDS MPEG-DASH MPEG-CMAF
100% 85% EMEA 80%
58% 60%
38% 40% 32% 27%
20% 12% 6% 1% 0%
HLS RTMP Other Smooth
Streaming ProgressiveStreaming Adobe HDS MPEG-DASH MPEG-CMAF Interestingly, we don’t see any real difference in the 85%, and APAC leads in MPEG-DASH adoption with streaming formats between regions. While EMEA has almost 70% of participants reporting using the format; the highest concentration of HLS streams, at whopping the distribution of formats looks surprisingly similar.
100% APAC 72% 80% 69%
60%
38% 31% 40% 28% 19% 20% 6% 6%
0%
HLS RTMP Other Smooth
Streaming ProgressiveStreaming Adobe HDS MPEG-DASH MPEG-CMAF
100%
74% LATAM 80%
53% 60% 42% 40% 32%
20% 11% 5% 5% 0% 0%
HLS RTMP Other Smooth
Streaming ProgressiveStreaming Adobe HDS MPEG-DASH MPEG-CMAF Q2. Video Codecs
100% 95%
80%
60%
40% 28%
20% 10% 6% 1% 0%
VP9 AV1 AVC Other H.264 / H.265 HEVC/
Which video codecs are you using currently?
The dominant video codec among survey participants is VP9 arrives in production as well in 2017, especially to definitely H.264/AVC, at 95% adoption. It is supported reach browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, by nearly every platform that is used by consumers and Android devices. With a more efficient compression today; the 5% not using H.264 maybe for playback on than H.264, it can deliver better quality videos for the older set-top boxes or other niche use cases. same amount of data, or use less data while maintaining the same visual quality. Netflix is using VP9 codec for Interesting to see that 28% already use HEVC! Whatever their downloadable content, keeping bandwidth usage the use case, these organizations are definitely ready for low and saving on CDN costs. the upcoming HEVC support on iOS and Mac. Android has had support for HEVC playback in native apps for Interestingly, 6% of the responders already use AV1. some time, as well as with set-top boxes in closed loop This is surprising, as the codec is still in the creation. We systems where people control the encoder and the assume that video developers are checking out this new playback device, and Android TVs. codec now, to be ready for its released at the end of 2017.
Page 8 Q2. Video Codecs
100%
80%
60% 40% 40%
18% 20% 14%
0%
VP9 AV1
H.265 HEVC/
Which video codecs are you planning to use in the next 12 months?
Not surprising, in the next 12 months, most video In terms of Web browsers, currently only Microsoft Edge developers are looking into HEVC. Probably because and Safari has support for HEVC, while Firefox, Chrome Apple has announced their support for HEVC with HLS and Edge support VP9. This explains the importance of on the new iOS 11 and MacOS High Sierra. Similarly, VP9 for a lot of developers in the next 12 Months. When Android already supports HEVC, so we are looking it comes to AV1, the next 12 months will be extremely forward to a future with higher encoding efficiency and interesting, as the AV1 bitstream gets frozen and the better quality on mobile video applications. codec will be officially released at the end of 2017.
Page 9 Q3. Where You Encode
100%
80%
60% 54% 46%
40% 34% 24%
20% 7%
0%
Hardware
Software - Cloud
Software On-Premise Managed On-Premise Cloud Encoding Service
Page 10 Q3. Where You Encode
Where do you encode video?
In terms of video encoding - “software eats the world” Software is followed by the cloud, as an infrastructure (to quote Marc Andreessen, the famous venture layer for video encoding, either self hosted, using a capitalist and developer of the Mosaic Web browser). software encoder, or on a SaaS model. The majority of the video developers in our survey report using software encoders, either on local on- Hardware encoders are still very popular, especially premise hardware, or in the cloud. Software encoders for live streaming use cases. However, we expect this include commercial encoders as well as open source number to go down further in the next year, as software tools such as ffmpeg, x264, and others, for Live as well encoders continue gaining in popularity with benefits of as On-Demand use cases. scalability, flexibility and rapid deployment.
Page 11 Regional variations in encoding deployments
100% North America 80%
60% 51% 42% 34% 40% 30%
20% 8%
0%
Service Software Managed Hardware
On-Premise On-Premise Cloud Encoding Software - Cloud
100% EMEA 80% 61%
60% 48%
40% 27% 17% 20% 4%
0%
Service Software Managed Hardware
On-Premise On-Premise Cloud Encoding Software - Cloud We see an interesting difference here between the North popularity. There is also a significant difference between America + EMEA regions, where software encoder on- the usage of Cloud Encoding Services in North America, premise is the most popular deployment, vs. LATAM and where 30% of the respondents use them, vs. Europe, APAC regions where hardware encoders have higher where only 17 % encode with cloud-based services.
100% APAC 80%
56% 60% 50% 41% 40% 25%
20% 6%
0%
Service Software Managed Hardware
On-Premise On-Premise Cloud Encoding Software - Cloud
100% LATAM 80% 63%
60% 47%
40% 32% 26%
20% 5%
0%
Service Software Managed Hardware
On-Premise On-Premise Cloud Encoding Software - Cloud Q4. Platforms and Players
100% 89%
80% 62% 60%
36% 34% 40% 32% 31% 22% 19% 20% 4%
0%
Roku Native Flash / Other HTML5 HTML5 Apple TV Silverlight Chromecast Native SDKs / Android / iOS Amazon Fire TV
Which platforms and video players do you currently use for your content?
It’s great to see that HTML5 is by far the most popular native mobile players on Android and iOS. Mobile video platform for video playback, and that only 36% of the delivery has become a key focus for developers, as video developers still leverage Flash or Silverlight plugins. The publishers are eager to support the growing numbers of second most popular platforms, after HTML5, are the viewers on mobile devices.
Page 14 100% 100% Chromecast Apple TV 80% 80%
60% 47% 60% 41% 37% 34% 38% 31% 40% 40% 27% 21%
20% 20%
0% 0%
APAC EMEA APAC EMEA LATAM NorAm LATAM NorAm
100% 100% Amazon FireTV Roku 80% 80%
60% 60% 35% 32% 40% 24% 40% 19% 15% 19% 20% 5% 20% 8%
0% 0%
APAC EMEA APAC EMEA LATAM NorAm LATAM NorAm
Regional variations in OTT adoption
When it comes to OTT devices like Amazon Fire TV, in North America, Chromecast is the most popular OTT Chromecast, Roku and AppleTV, we see notable regional platform in Latin America. At the same time, Amazon differences. While Amazon Fire, Roku, Apple TV and Fire TV is not used much in LATAM and Roku has a low Chromecast are all popular OTT streaming platforms distribution in EMEA. Q5. DRM Systems
100%
80% 65%
60% 44% 44% 43% 38% 40%
20% 8% 8% 10%
0%
HLS
None Other Ready Modular DASH Play- DASH PrimeTimeAdobe HLS AES-128 HLS Fairplay Sample-AES DASH Widevine
Which DRM systems do you use?
We see that 35% of the video developers apply some MPEG-DASH has significantly simplified the form of content protection on the streams they deliver. complexities of implementing a multi-DRM workflow, Whether using basic encryption, like AES-128, or applying the right DRM schema to fit the end-user Hollywood-grade DRM (Digital Rights Management) device and browser. protection, like Widevine Modular and Microsoft Fairplay, content security is a necessary part of today’s video streaming business.
Page 16 Q6. Monetization Models
100%
80%
60%
36% 40% 26% 20% 17% 20% 12%
0%
PPV Other SVOD Hybrid
Ads / AVOD
Subscriptions / Transactional /
Which monetization model do you follow?
More than a third of survey participants monetize publishers and social media companies that want to their online video deployments using subscription get their content in front of a wide audience. Finally, based models. Subscription model generates the transactional/PPV model is a popular choice for most predictable recurring revenue stream and is supplementing ad-supported and subscription models, more popular choice for OTT streaming services. Ad- in fact, 17% of participants report using a hybrid supported models are very common for online video approach to video monetization. distribution, especially among broadcasters, digital
Page 17 Q7. Audio Codecs
100% 90%
80%
60% 42% 40% 21% 13% 20% 8% 5% 3% 0%
AAC MP3 Opus Vorbis Other
Dolby Digital
Dolby Digital Plus
Which audio codecs do you use?
In terms of audio formats, we see one clearly dominating Plus are primarily used in premium use cases on set-top format with AAC. It surprised us to see MP3 beeing boxes and TVs, where the user has the necessary audio used by 43% of the developers. This might be a result hardware to appreciate the premium sound quality. The of MP3 being used for legacy HLS streams, older open source codecs Vorbis and Opus are not widely used Smooth Streaming or RTMP streams or audio-only by the survey participants. progressive streams. Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital
Page 18 Q8. Advertising Technology
100%
80%
60% 53%
40% 33% 27% 16% 15% 20% 11% 3%
0%
IMA VAST None VPAID VMAP Other
Ad Replacement Insertion / Dynamic
What type of ad standard technology are you using today?
Nearly half of the video developers are using video players. It is very noteworthy that half of the standardized advertising technologies for their developers with ad requirements have a Server-Side Ad deployments. Among the advertising standards, VAST Insertion / Dynamic Ad Replacement solution in place, is the most common way of serving ads in video, due which generally requires more complex workflows and to its simplicity and support by most ad-providers and systems.
Page 19 Q9. The Biggest Pain Points
100%
80%
60% 49% 45%
40% 27% 27% 21% 17% 15% 20%
0%
DRM
CDN issues Ad-Blockers Player issues Ads in general
Playback on all devices Server-Side Ad Insertion
Page 20 Q9. The Biggest Pain Points
What are the biggest problems that you are experiencing with video technology today?
When we asked the survey participants about the biggest After player and playback issues, we see the other problems they are experiencing with online video, the classical pains and problems video developers face on answer was very clear - Video Playback and Player. a daily basis: CDNs, Ads, and DRM, which are all fairly equally distributed. We would expect that video playback This might be a result of the trend towards HTML5- and player are a big challenge, but it is surprising to see based playback; while in most cases HTML5 significantly that this is a bigger problem than DRM, Ads or CDN. simplifies online video, using the MSE/EME is definitely However, it makes sense, once you consider that all more challenging than other ecosystems, like Flash or those other problems involve playback, making it the Silverlight. On top of this, video is consumed on more focus for many people. and more different platforms, which all come with their own special problems.
Page 21 Survey participants
A survey is an aggregate of opinions expressed by its Interestingly, there is an almost equal distribution participants. The Bitmovin Developer Survey has voices between participants operating live and on-demand from a wide swath of the online video industry players, content, and many, obviously, work with both. from broadcasters and publishers, to OTT streaming services and online video platforms (OVPs).
75% of the participants come from technical roles, like developers & product managers, 23% are in business roles and 2% are in research.
100%
80% 58% 60%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Live
OnDemand
Page 22 Other 31% Social Media 2%
Integrator 13%
Survey participants by industry
Broadcaster 13% OVP 16%
Publisher 9%
OTT Service 13% Telco/Cable 3%
Research 2%
Developer 35% Business 23%
Survey participants by job title
CTO 7%
System Architect 9%
Product 11% Engr Manager 13%
Page 23 About Bitmovin
Bitmovin is a leading provider of video infrastructure for forward-thinking media companies around the world. The company has been at the forefront of every significant development in online video - from building the world’s first commercial adaptive streaming Player for DASH/HLS/fMP4, to implementing next generation AV1 codec and deploying the first software-defined encoding service that runs anywhere: cloud, on-premise or hybrid through Kubernetes and Docker. We work with companies in over 100 countries to build innovative video products. Bitmovin solutions are completely in-house developed, highly customizable to fit with existing workflows and easy to integrate. To find out more about Bitmovin’s video infrastructure solutions visit our website bitmovin.com.