We see three main challenges facing the streaming video industry today: interoperability, customer expectations, and rapid change. As for the former, there are very few streaming providers and services that do not rely on at least a handful of partners to fulfill some part of their service delivery. As such, it’s essential that their offerings be interoperable if they want to maintain reliability, scalability, and efficiency.

Then there’s the question of customer expectations, which are growing in significance as more and more viewers make the move from traditional broadcast television to IP based streaming. These viewers are expecting an experience that is as good as if not better than what they had before, and as they grow, they increase the need on the part of the streaming provider for improved scalability, latency, and quality. This growth in viewership also presents new challenges where personalization and advertising come into play.

Finally, there’s the rapid change the streaming video industry continues to experience. Realistically, streaming video only dates back to the 1990s, and yet it has become a fundamental part of how people consume media at home and on the move. It’s not slowing down as areas such as OTT, FAST, UGC, and AI are generating a great deal of interest and presenting as many new challenges as they are opportunities to improve the customer experience.

It’s worth noting that these challenges do not exist in a vacuum. Rapid growth in the industry will help us devise better ways to serve growing viewership, and the interoperable nature of streaming services will make it easier to take advantage of new technology. The SVTA and its members can work together to formulate best practices and open standards for developing innovate solutions to all of these challenges independently and in concert with one another.