According to reports, OTT content will generate revenue worth of $1.75 billion by 2022, four times the number recorded in 2018. This number is not surprising as OTT content has been gaining popularity across the globe, thanks to the cheaper subscription price and a growing demand for the high-resolution content.
While there is a rise in software-based media processing and delivery deployments, hardware-based industries are struggling to keep pace with the rapidly changing OTT environment.
Media processing via cloud remains the favorite area of the operators. Operators now have the capability to manage almost every part of the workflow, starting from playout to live transcoding, time-shift TV, VOD, and cloud DVR applications, etc.
Apart from this, improving quality of experience(QoE) remains another area of concern in the MENA region. According to a report, 63% of sports viewers are unwilling to sign up or re-subscribe to sports live streaming platforms in 2018 citing issues such as latency, buffering, and substandard picture quality. To counter this, operators require video compression solutions that provide better QoE for OTT service subscribers, without increasing bandwidth.
UHD is another hot trend in MENA with sales worth 24.4 million projected in 2018. The operators feel to deliver high-resolution video, along with UHD HDR, it is essential to have an end-to-end solution for contribution, playout, and delivery.
