Media Vision 2020 from Ericsson predicts on-demand will overtake live TV
Media and networking powerhouse Ericsson is launching a new cloud-based digital video recording platform to replace legacy television services.
The move into the on-demand media content space is predicated on Ericsson’s Media Vision 2020 research, which predicts that by 2020, time spent watching on-demand or otherwise time-shifted video content will be equal to time spent watching television live or as the programming airs.
The cloud DVR solution, which works with all QAM and IP-based TV platforms, runs off the company’s Video Storage and Processing software-based infrastructure.
Ove Anebygd, VP and head of Solution Area Media for Ericsson, said that viewers “want simplicity in discovery and immediacy of access to TV anywhere services, and content delivered in the highest possible quality.”
“They require the flexibility and speed to connect to huge libraries of content, and the ability to record and watch live and linear content whenever they choose,” Anebygd said.
The new cloud DVR features streaming for licensed content; a long tail server, which enables operators to deliver content from a master library; a content delivery network assist, which allows for streaming of over-the-top content; and an enhanced, scalable video-on-demand functionality.
“Providing these features can be expensive and many legacy infrastructures simply do not have the functionality to do it,” Anebygd said. “Our customers need the most advanced cloud-centric solutions to drive functions from the home into the cloud, and to enable service differentiation and new efficiencies. Our new cloud DVR solution places us at the forefront of technology capability and performance, with proven deployments at the most demanding customer sites, totaling over 150 petabytes of storage capacity.”
To put that in perspective, recent research suggests that the entirety of YouTube is about 357 petabytes. Photos and videos stored by Facebook are estimated at 282 petabytes.
Ericsson has been aggressively pushing its media solutions, which includes the cloud DVR, Media Delivery Network and LTE-Broadcast solutions.
Simon Frost, Ericsson’s head of marketing and communications discussed media strategy and tech during Mobile World Congress 2015 in Barcelona, Spain.
