Introduction
Live streaming is expected to grow by $247 billion by 2027, which makes live streaming technology one of the sought-after content delivery systems today.
Twitch is the biggest live video live streaming platform with a total of 9.3 billion hours watched. Interestingly, by 2026, there are expected to be 1.495 billion SVOD subscriptions worldwide.
Half the Americans love to watch live-stream content, isn’t that cool?
In this article, we will dig deeper into some of the important metrics for streaming your video performance that you should pay attention to.
Let’s dig deeper into that.
Bit rate
It’s a common measure for transmission carriers.
Your online video streaming is measured in bits. A bit rate indicates how many bits of information are transmitted via the specific device. As its name suggests, it is the rate at which data bits are transferred from one place to another.
The measure for bits are:
- per second (bps);
- kilobits per second (Kbps);
- megabits per second (Mbps).
The higher the bit rate, the higher would be quality of your video. High-resolution TVs often have a bit rate between 8-15 Mbps. However, for Netflix, it’s 6 Mbps.
Buffer Fill
Buffer Fill refers to the time spent filling in the buffer when the video is first started.
These key statistics are important for online streaming platforms because it will help them understand how long the users have to wait until the video streaming actually starts. The greater the Buffer Fill, the more likely that your users will leave the platform.
Lag length
Once the lag is initially filled, the viewer will be able to watch the video smoothly. But sometimes the playback halts because of the drained buffer. The time spent together including the initial buffer fill is called lag length. It creates a poor user experience and most of them avoid using your platform, again.
Play length
Play length is a crucial parameter that defines the capacity of your data center. It can also play an important role in its infrastructure planning, estimating its capacity to bear data peaks and the overall demand for the streamed data.
Play length is the data that is actually streamed out of your data center, and it can help you make major business decisions.
Lag ratio
It is the ratio of waiting time over watching time. Since waiting time refers to the initial buffer period, therefore you will never get this ratio to zero.
Let’s understand it this way,
When was the last time you played a video game for 2 hours? If the waiting time including buffering was 2 minutes, the lag ratio would be,
Lag ratio = waiting time/watching time
Lag ratio = 2/120
Thus,
Lag ratio = 1.6%
Device viewership
Identify which devices most of your users use to watch the videos. Today, most people use ROKU and Apple TV, and the trend of using a desktop computer is diminishing. Understanding which devices are used for the viewership will help you improve the quality of your broadcast.
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With CDNVideos we can help to identify the device viewership so that you can define what your target is looking for. Get in touch with us to make the most of your live-streaming platform.
Live viewership vs. on-demand viewership
Live viewership has been common practice since the introduction of Facebook Live, and Instagram Live options. Live viewership allows content creators to stream real-time videos that resemble a bit of live TV.
CDNVideos is your go-to platform for your business where your audience can have on-demand access to the video content seamlessly. Check it out for CDNVideos for providing your audience with a live TV experience.
People leverage this money-driving content in a live-view audience. The content creator can leverage this by putting out curated content with the least lag time in due course of filming to experience it.
With live streaming, your users can consume content on your time, the live stream is not overcrowded, it reaches a highly targeted audience, it is cost-friendly, and it can cause better interaction. Such kind of live stream could be used for:
- Concerts;
- Sports;
- Breaking news;
- Conferences;
- Exclusive content;
- Festivals ;
- Q&A sessions.
VOD (Video on Demand)
Video streaming platforms like Netflix allow customers to consume video on demand. select online libraries. Netflix is an OTT which means it is a direct-to-consumer video content platform. Users stream video content through various devices including PCs, TVs, and Tablets. Above all, it gives the freedom of choice to the users so that they can watch in their leisure time. It helps them to choose a compatible device that works for them.
- Connectivity
- Variety
- Suitability
- More Convenient For Audiences
- Better Connectivity
- More Targeting Options
Duration of views
It measures the average churn of your streaming platform.
For example, if you are streaming for 2 hours, and the duration of views is just 30 seconds, it means that you will have to work on your content and the quality of your streaming.
With CDNVideos we can help to identify the duration of views. Get in touch with us to make the most of your live-streaming platform.
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The parameter ‘Duration of views’ is important for monetization purposes. Advertisers are interested in platforms that have a higher duration of views so that their ad placement would reach a good number of people for an extended period of time.
Repeat Traffic
It is a measure of customer loyalty.
If you have a pay-per-view or registration-based platform, you will be able to easily identify your returning uses to your live stream for multiple events. It also showcases whether or not your content is compelling or attractive. If it is, it will surely bring your users back to the platform.
Unique visitors to your site
Your total views differ from unique views or unique visitors. If a user with the same IP address visits your live stream 10 times, it doesn’t refer to unique visits. Unique views are the ones that come from different IP addresses.
Geographical breakdown of your viewership
Find a geographic hotspot for your live streaming and break it down to make great business decisions.
If you have a powerful tool for your live streaming platform it will give you data about the geographical breakdown of your viewership. You can easily narrow down the location and city of your viewers based on the IP addresses. Based on the geographic data you can make the decisions like:
- Focusing targeted advertising;
- Languages you should consider to reach different geographies;
- Any in-person events that might help you;
- Implement any geo-restrictions that you might need for security purposes;
- Direct your all advertising efforts to your target audience.
With CDNVideos we can help to identify the Geographical breakdown of your viewership. Get in touch with us to make the most of your live-streaming platform.
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Viewer engagement
Solid video analytics will allow you to measure the number of unique visitors to your site. For example, if you turn your live streams into VOD, the statistics will allow you to understand how many unique visitors viewed the content before the stream wrapped up.
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You can keep a track of when your content gets higher engagement, the time when its viewership dropped, and identify the duration when it steadily got up. Use the viewership metrics to identify viewer engagements.
The better the audience interacts with your content of the live stream, the better the quality. You can take notice of how people comment, chat, tweet, or like your content and measure
Streaming Protocols that you should Leverage
Given the importance of live streaming, it’s crucial to choose a streaming protocol to improve your video performance that includes:
- HLS;
- RTMP: Real-Time Messaging Protocol;
- RTSP: Real-Time Streaming Protocol;
- MPEG-DASH.
Improve Your Video Performance By Improving Your Platform
In order to improve the live streaming of your video content, make sure you use the appropriate equipment and streaming protocols that are mentioned above. You can also use CDNs for a better and smoother user experience.
Conclusion
Video content is on the rise today, and it is a must-use tool for businesses, content creators, and marketers. Most of the tech giants are investing in video content, and online streaming platforms because it’s real, exciting, and engaging.
If you are using a video content strategy, make sure you improve the above-mentioned video performance metrics for better business results.
