The Future of Television Streaming
IPTV is known as broadcasting of encrypted, unencrypted TV channels and stored video content converted to IP packets to end users via broadband access technologies. In the early days of the emergence of this technology, it was not likely to be a platform that frequently chosen. In 1994, ABC’s “World News Now” was the first IPTV broadcast on the internet using the CU-SeeMe videoconferencing software, and this was the first step in the breakthrough, although it was not clear at the time.
IPTV service
An IPTV service combines broadband internet with television and allows the user to fully control what they want to watch. With the emergence of smart phones and Smart TVs, the ever-evolving IPTV technology has transformed the entertainment services provided to the audience. Today, all Smart TVs have their own IPTV support. Smart TVs can easily communicate with networks, and can be configured to use IPTV without any additional equipment.
IPTV, which has long been the only equivalent of traditional television broadcasting on the internet, is facing a serious competitor in recent years. Although with their wide range of options the OTT platforms had a bit of an impact on IPTV’s image, IPTV has not yet lost the war. In countries where OTT is most widely used, service providers such as Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime carry their TV and video content to the devices via the internet infrastructure and network of access. This situation may affect the telecom operators providing IPTV services and cause loss of subscribers.
IPTV, which had various transformations against its serious rival, is resorting to new ways to offer the best options to its users. The biggest advantage of IPTV against OTT is its easy and convenient use. OTT platforms are still a bit complicated for the general audience. Sometimes you need to do extensive and comprehensive searches to find what you want on OTT platforms and this can cause a frustration on the user. Even though the idea of having separate applications for everything seems to make sense to content providers, there is still a majority of viewers among the customer profile who want to watch something random from the available options. IPTV is trying to make the viewers more comfortable by improving its “easy to use” card.
IPTV
2015 was a turning point for IPTV , the number of IPTV subscribers had finally exceeded the number of cable TV and satellite TV users and grew 23% between 2015 and 2018, it is predicted that by 2021, IPTV audiences will cover 32.5 million homes and IPTV revenues will reach $ 5.77 billion. However, this is still no match with its big rival OTT.
In a recent announcement, the internet provider CenturyLink, announced that it has turned its offer for IPTV in favor of OTT. In addition, Comcast has been making OTT-oriented investments with its Xfinity platform. Placing more and more apples in the OTT basket, providers are trying to meet the demand of the viewers to watch what they want, from any device they want and when they want. There is no doubt that CenturyLink’s decision has sent a clear message to the industry. OTT is certainly the future of broadcasting, but there is still room for IPTV in the future.
The transformation that the online content consumption experience is going through does not guarantee any type of broadcasting. What is trending today can fall from grace with a new technology. This is of course a process that will spread over a long period of time, but we certainly need more time to realize a real transition. For OTT, for example, there is still a need for a more consistent broadcast quality.
This will require something other than the distribution systems we have today ,the networks we have today are not being created for streaming video, but the networks of tomorrow will definitely be created with consideration of such content,when 5G is also included in the game, this development will have some revolutionary consequences in the broadcasting industry.
Nevertheless, the reign of traditional television will continue for a while. The TV market tends to grow mostly through new IPTV platforms. The quality of this broadcast model will continue to create new customers and business opportunities in the future , the internet is already an important part of everyone’s life, when it comes to domestic entertainment, it seems like the IPTV services will continue to maintain their place in homes for a longer period of time.
