Streaming Video Technology Alliance Introduces Streaming Audio Study Group
Announces Alicia Pritchett as New SVTA President of the Board
Welcomes Glenn Goldstein as Latest Honoree to the SVTA Fellow Program
FREMONT, Calif. — November 7, 2023 — The Streaming Video Technology Alliance (SVTA), a global technical association developing solutions to address critical technical challenges in delivering a high-quality video experience at scale, announced several key updates following last week’s Q3/Q4 Member Meeting and Board of Directors meeting: the formation of the new Streaming Audio Study Group; a new SVTA President of the Board, Alicia Pritchett; the latest honoree to the SVTA Fellow Program, Glenn Goldstein; and the publication of a new technical paper by the Measurement/QoE Working Group.
“It was a big week for the SVTA with a productive and well-attended member meeting in Prague. We’re excited to announce Alicia Pritchett as our new Board President, and we also celebrate the outstanding contributions to the SVTA by Glenn Goldstein, who is being honored as an SVTA Technical Fellow,” said Jason Thibeault, Executive Director of the Streaming Video Technology Alliance. “Additionally, we are proud to announce the establishment of a brand new SVTA study group dedicated to addressing the unique challenges of streaming audio. These developments mark an exciting chapter in the SVTA’s journey, and we look forward to continuing to drive innovation and excellence in the world of streaming video technology.”
New SVTA Streaming Audio Study Group to Tackle Technical Challenges
The newly formed group, co-chaired by SVTA member Joe Inzerillo of SiriusXM, will explore the current state of challenges in delivering high-quality streaming audio at scale. Streaming audio, standalone or within video streams, faces unique scalability challenges to achieving a high-quality experience at scale. Although other industry associations exist that are dedicated to audio, much of the innovation has stagnated. This study group will focus on the current set of technical challenges facing streaming audio as more content adopts high-end audio profiles and, when necessary, will collaborate with other industry consortia or organizations to design solutions to address those challenges.
To learn more about the Streaming Audio Study Group: https://www.svta.org//working-group/streaming-audio/
Alicia Pritchett Takes the Helm as SVTA President of the Board
Long-time SVTA member Alicia Pritchett of Fastly has accepted the role of SVTA President of the Board with Glenn Goldstein stepping down. She previously served as the SVTA Vice President of the Board and Chair of the Live Streaming Working Group. In addition, Pritchett is the President and Founding Board Member of Women in Streaming Media.
The SVTA board determines the direction of the organization and sets the overall strategy. This leadership group is also involved in the document ratification process. For more information on the Board of Directors, visit https://www.svta.org//svta-leadership/svta-board/.
Glenn Goldstein Recognized as a 2023 SVTA Technical Fellow
The SVTA announced this week that Glenn Goldstein is the newest honoree of the Fellow Program, which is a lifetime recognition of streaming video leaders who have made significant contributions to the streaming industry and SVTA efforts. Fellow nominees are considered by the SVTA’s Fellow Nominations Committee, and those recommended by the committee are then passed to the board for further review.
Technical Fellows are current or former active members of the Streaming Video Technology Alliance who have made continued and significant contributions to working group projects and to furthering the SVTA’s primary mission and objectives. Goldstein joins other SVTA technical fellows Sanjay Mishra of Verizon; Brian Stevenson, Founder of OpenVU and Streaming Video Technology Alliance Subject Matter Expert; and Christopher Kulbakas of CBC/Radio-Canada.
To learn more about the SVTA Fellow Program, visit https://fellows.svta.org//.
SVTA Publishes New Technical Document: Request Tracing For Streaming Media Delivery
Produced by the Measurement/QoE Working Group, this document builds on the 2020 publication, “SVTA5017: Best Practices For End-to-End Workflow Monitoring.” In the subsequent years, interest in end-to-end monitoring and the deep understanding that it entails, has grown substantially. Distributed tracing, a long-time network tool, can be applied to streaming video as a method for rapid isolation and resolution of service degradations and, in some cases, the ability to anticipate degradations before they impact the end-user experience. This document describes a working proof of concept (PoC) developed by the SVTA to prove that distributed tracing could be applied to the streaming workflow and move the industry towards more robust, reliable experiences that delight, rather than frustrate, viewers.
“At the SVTA we built a proof of concept prototype which proves the value of distributed tracing, specifically for streaming media,” said Josh Evans, former Measurement/QoE co-chair. “This publication documents our PoC in detail and the results of our experiments. The short story is that we were able to systematically introduce latency and failures and use tracing to rapidly isolate root causes. Our hope is that this work inspires broad industry awareness about the need for tracing support in streaming media. We are proud that our efforts have become the foundation for the CTA-WAVE standardization project, Streaming Media Tracing.”
To learn more and download the document:
https://www.svta.org//product/svta1055-request-tracing-for-streaming-media-delivery/.
Members of the SVTA include companies from across the streaming video ecosystem such as network operators, technology providers, service providers, and content owners. Current members are: Adobe, AERQ, Agile Content, Agora, allt, Amazon, America’s Boating Channel, ATEME, Bitmovin, Blockcast, Brightcove, Broadpeak, Cadami, CBC, CDN77, Charter Communications, Cisco Systems, Comcast, CommScope, Compira Labs, Conviva, Datazoom, Deutsche Telekom, DidjaTV, Disney Streaming, Dolby, Edgio, Eluvio, Ericsson, Fastly, Friend MTS, Globo, Google, Harmonic, Hughes Satellite Systems, IdeaNova Technologies, Infuse Video, INKA Entworks,Intelsat, InterDigital, Interra Systems, Irdeto, ITV, Liberty Global, Lumen Technologies, Mainstreaming, MarkAny, Mediastream, Microsoft, Mux, Nagra, NCTA, Netskrt, Nice People at Work, NTT East, Optus, Orange, Panasonic Avionics, Paramount, picoNETS, Qualabs, Qwilt, Siden, SiriusXM Radio, Sky, SSIMWAVE, ST Engineering iDirect, Stackpath, Streaming Global, Synamedia, System73, swXtch.io, Telefonica, Telestream, Thales, The Football Association Premier League, THEO, Touchstream, Unified Streaming, Varnish Software, Vecima Networks, Velocix, Verizon, Viasat Inc., Vionlabs, Western Digital Corp., and Wowza.
The SVTA also sees participation from other brands owned by, or associated with, member companies which include Globecast, Hulu, NBCSports, Peacock, PlutoTV, Prime Video, Twitch, Verizon Media, Viaccess-Orca, and Virgin Media.
For more information on SVTA, the Working Groups, or to inquire about becoming a member, visit www.svta.org/.
About the Streaming Video Technology Alliance
The Streaming Video Technology Alliance is a global technical association addressing critical challenges in streaming video. By educating the industry on the technical nature of the issues, providing a neutral forum for collaboration across the video ecosystem, and publishing documentation that defines technical solutions, the SVTA is helping to improve the streaming video experience at scale. Over 100 companies including network operators, content rights holders, OTT platforms, service providers, and technology vendors – representing some of the biggest names in global streaming – participate in bi-weekly working group activities and quarterly face-to-face meetings. For more information, please visit svta.org/.
Amber WinansBhava Communications510-575-0492SVTA@Bhavacom.com