Research points to 74% savings via distributed streaming infrastructure

Video companies can reduce the cost of Interactive Live Streaming (ILS) by 74% through distributed streaming infrastructure, according to a new report by Caretta Research, delivered in partnership with Livepeer Studio.

Describing ILS as the natural evolution of streaming video, the report however highlighted how traditional approaches and legacy technologies make it cost-prohibitive to all but the largest streaming providers. 

Advanced in-stream engagement features like co-viewing, audience chat, polling, gifting, betting, transactions, live pricing, and auctions are critical across use cases, including retail, wagering, sports, gaming, and education — driving revenue-generation and viewer engagement. 

Enabling real-time delivery, ILS — and integrating real-time engagement tools — is expensive, complex, and often requires custom development. Regular cloud video solutions and centralised streaming infrastructure fail to deliver the cost efficiency and flexibility emerging and established streamers need to deploy ILS as part of their strategies and grow new revenue, said Caretta Research.

Ed Barton, Research Director, Caretta Research, said, “Real-time interactivity is fundamental for various streaming use cases that need to accelerate profitability and engagement.

“However, legacy technology and traditional video workflows constrain experimentation with and deployment of interactive live streaming. Distributed streaming delivers game-changing cost savings that make interactivity-driven revenue models possible for a new breed of streaming business.”

Caretta Research’s report demonstrates how cost-effective, real-time streaming opens up profitable ILS-driven business models to a wide range of streaming companies, enabling them to augment subscription or ad-based strategies that struggle to deliver sustainable revenue growth.

Eric Tang, Founder of Livepeer Studio, said, “The media industry is rapidly pushing for real-time interactivity, but costs and impractical solutions make it hard for growing streaming companies and content creators to engage with their audiences on a deeper level.

“Livepeer Studio makes high-quality interactive live-streaming achievable to any content owner or entertainment brand, sidestepping the eye-watering costs of traditional cloud providers while making it easier than ever to build, engage, and monetise rapidly growing streaming communities.”

According to the report, Livepeer Studio’s distributed network architecture enables cost savings of up to 74% to deliver ILS compared with several established streaming solution vendors reliant on major commercial cloud providers.Supporting both WebRTC and HLS protocols, Livepeer Studio delivers low-latency live streaming with real-time interactivity, advanced viewer engagement, and performance analytics while ensuring high reliability and video quality.