Streaming Video Alliance Convenes in Cyberspace for First Quarterly Member Meeting of 2021
Alliance Kicks Off 2021 with New Technical Specification and Proof-of-Concept Review Document
FREMONT, Calif. — February 2, 2021 — The Streaming Video Alliance (the Alliance), a global technical association developing solutions to address critical technical challenges in delivering a high-quality video experience at scale, returns to cyberspace for the Q1 Member Meeting. This virtual event takes place across four days, Monday, February 1 through Thursday, February 4. The agenda includes Working Group sessions, industry presentations, and a happy hour on the final day. All events will start at 8:00AM Pacific Time to accommodate members from around the world. The Alliance also announced a new technical specification from the Open Caching Working Group and a proof-of-concept review document from the Advertising Working Group.
“We’ll be holding our member meetings entirely virtual this year due to the ongoing global pandemic and for the safety of our members. Working together online for the majority of last year proved to be very productive – resulting in the publication of four new technical documents, as one example. Our membership also grew substantially in 2020, and we expanded the scope of topic areas, such as the addition of the Players and Playback study group, where the Alliance can positively impact the streaming industry,” said Jason Thibeault, Executive Director at the Alliance. “I look forward to the Alliance launching a number of projects in 2021 starting at the Q1 meeting and am excited for our new Alliance members, including this year’s Grant recipients, to participate in this week’s event.”
The Alliance is pleased to welcome ServiceNow and Panasonic Avionics as Principal members and Buurst and TNO as Supporting Members.
Open Caching Request Routing Specification, Version 2.0
This document was produced by the Open Caching Working Group. It describes the high-level functional specification of open caching request routing and the required interfaces to enable request routing to be performed from an upstream CDN to an open cache system. This version has been updated to address the manifest rewrite routing scheme.
“As we produce technical specifications, it’s equally important to revisit published documents and update these as necessary. In this case, ‘manifest rewrites’ was not included in the original publication,” said Yoav Gressel, Qwilt and Open Caching Working Group Chair. “Manifest rewrites is an efficient technique for routing, which is commonly used by CDNs for streaming video.”
With manifest rewrite, a video platform can change the URLs for individual segments by rewriting the manifest. This works best with HLS, which has complete URLs for each segment in the media playlists, so any segment can be pointed to any source.
To learn more and download the document:
Open Caching Request Routing Functional Specification (Version 2.0)
“All Coming Together: A Collaborative Effort to Achieve Comprehensive End-to-End Monitoring”
This proof-of-concept review document was produced by the Advertising Working Group and was originally published by SCTE ISBE. The PoC was carried out with the intention of helping ad operations teams enable a reliable Quality of Service (QoS) across streaming devices while validating advertisers’ investments. The document outlines a collaborative integration of manifest delivery, analytics, quality metrics, visual dashboard, and reporting methods while highlighting several demonstration use-cases.
“A big challenge facing operational teams is their limited visibility into the ad insertion process. For instance, which ads were played, were there problems filling certain ads, and where the fault occurred in the ad serving chain? This information is normally difficult to access, and if available, usually across multiple, disparate systems,” said Chris Hock, Adobe and Advertising Working Group Chair. “The Alliance is helping to solve this issue by creating a blueprint and test setup, starting with the most complex situation, which is monitoring the end-to-end process for server-side ad insertion for live streaming video.”
To learn more and download the document:
https://www.svta.org//document/all-coming-together-a-collaborative-effort-to-achieve-comprehensive-end-to-end-monitoring/
Alliance Announces 2021 Grant Member Recipients
The Alliance recently welcomed four new grant recipients for 2021: AfrolandTV, allt.tv, StriveCast, and WebKontrol. 2020 Grant Recipient Members ContentArmor, Datazoom, Didja, and Touchstream will continue into 2021 as Grant members. The program enables Grant members to contribute to and benefit from the Alliance’s mission of deeper industry collaboration across the video streaming ecosystem. It also benefits existing members and the industry at large by accelerating advancements and bringing in new ideas from startups on the cutting edge of streaming video innovation. To learn more: https://www.svta.org//grant-program/
Members of the Alliance include companies from across the streaming video ecosystem such as network operators, technology providers, service providers, and content owners. Current members are: Adobe, AfrolandTV, allt, ATEME, Broadpeak, Buurst, CBC, Charter Communications, Cisco Systems, Citrix, Comcast, CommScope, Compira Labs, ContentArmor, Conviva, Datazoom, DidjaTV, Digital Element, Disney Streaming Services, Dolby, Eluvio, Equus Compute Solutions, Ericsson, EXFO, Fastly, Friend MTS, Globo, Harmonic, Hughes Satellite Systems, INKA Entworks, Intel, Interra Systems, Irdeto, KIOXIA, Liberty Global, Limelight Networks, Lumen Technologies, Mainstreaming, Nagra, NCTA, NetInsight, Neustar, Nice People at Work, NS1, NTT, Optus, Orange, Panasonic Avionics, Penthera, Plex, Qwilt, ServiceNow, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Sky, SSIMWAVE, Stackpath, Starz, Streaming Global, StriveCast, Synamedia, Telefonica, Telekom Malaysia, Telestream, THEO, TNO, Touchstream, Varnish Software, Vecima Networks, Verimatrix, Verizon, ViacomCBS, Viasat Inc., WebKontrol, and Western Digital Corp.
The Alliance also sees participation from other brands owned by, or associated with, member companies which include Hulu, NBCSports, Paramount, Peacock, PlutoTV, Verizon Media, Viaccess-Orca, and Virgin Media.
For more information on the Alliance, the Working Groups, or to inquire about becoming a member, visit www.svta.org/.
About the Streaming Video Alliance
The Streaming Video 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 Alliance is helping to improve the streaming video experience at scale. Over 80 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 www.svta.org/.
Amber WinansBhava Communications510-575-0492SVTA@Bhavacom.com