3 Essential Things to Think About When Running a Video Streaming Business

Some video streaming platforms thrive, while others struggle to gain traction. This is probably because they overlook some essential things that a video streaming platform requires for successful operation.

In the rapidly developing world of video streaming, a rich content library is no longer enough. It is also about concentrating on quality of experience (QoE) and quality of service (QoS). Enhancing the user experience can lead to a decrease in user churn and an increase in customer retention. 

As the viewers’ attention is essential for a video streaming platform, understanding how to provide an amazing user experience, entering a competitive landscape of IPTV business. In this article, we focus on potential pitfalls that need to be taken care of. 

Top Things to Think About When Running a Video Streaming Business

1. Video quality

Video quality is one of the primary things that viewers want. They want to enjoy their favorite movies and TV shows in the highest quality possible, especially when watching videos on a TV screen. This is what can keep viewer’s attention and retain them on the platform.

To ensure high-quality content, the following things might be necessary: a professional IPTV encoder, adaptive bitrate streaming, and a reliable content delivery network (CDN). 

During the encoding process video files are compressed, reducing the size for smooth delivery. However, you will need a professional encoder to do that correctly. Otherwise, there can be a lot of quality loss.

Adaptive bitrate streaming ensures video is playing no matter what, regardless of the internet speed and available bandwidth. Adaptive streaming dynamically adjusts the video quality based on the bandwidth and device capabilities on the user side. 

CDN speeds up the delivery of content by caching videos on edge servers instead of an origin one. These edge servers are usually located closer to viewers, which influences the delivery speed. 

2. User experience

Neglecting user experience can become a crucial mistake for a video streaming service. You can lose your viewers, who will simply find a new platform with similar content. 

You need to think about navigation so that people can easily find what they want to watch. When a menu is unclear, pages are loading slowly, and the navigation is complex, viewers might feel frustrated. They won’t explore your content library. 

Another issue that might happen is playback interruptions. Viewers want consistent and smooth playback without buffering and quality problems. Interruptions can lead to viewers leaving your service.

You might solve these problems by optimizing the user interface, introducing personalization, and taking care of seamless playback.  

3. Security

Overlooking security may cause consequences both for a content provider and a viewer. 

Firstly, viewers demand reliable security measures to secure their personal information in the era of data leaks and hacks. For this reason, it is critical to prioritize protection measures. 

Secondly, content piracy is quite widespread nowadays. Ignoring content security can make your videos vulnerable to piracy. This might lead to revenue loss and reputation damage. 

Thirdly, privacy issues and data breaches can lead to legal and financial consequences. This can result in lawsuits, fines, and remediation. 

Final Thoughts

Besides security, video quality, and user experience, it is also vital to consider improving content and bandwidth. Furthermore, you need to think about optimizing experience across multiple devices and tracking analytics. These things are paramount for taking your video streaming service to a whole new level, reducing user churn, and increasing retention rate.