Advanced Television

Multiformat transcoding revenue $600m by 2016

October 31, 2012

With more and more video content produced every day, and more of that content being made available over the Internet either live and/or on demand, the market for the multiformat transcoders that process the content has risen right alongside the content, according to a report from Multimedia Research Group (MRG).

The transcoder market can be divided into transcoders that process live streams in real-time and those that process files, and both segments are expected to grow well through 2016. Senior Analyst Michelle Abraham adds “While the file segment will see stable growth, we expect the live market to continue its faster growth due to the number of pay-TV providers and other content owners and producers who are delivering live streams to PCs, tablets, and smartphones.”

Additionally, there are many customers for live transcoders beside tier-one pay-TV providers. All levels of pay-TV providers, broadcasters, and programmers use live transcoders. Sports leagues use live transcoding for internal content production. Outside of the media and entertainment markets, corporations, educational institutions, houses of worship, and governments use live transcoders.

Key findings from the study includes:
–  Growth in the transcoding market, particularly in the live segment, has attracted new vendors in 2012. However, MRG expects some vendors to disappear in the future through consolidation because the market is unlikely to be able to support all of these vendors.
– More vendors are now offering cloud transcoding options. Rather than installing on-premise transcoders, content and service providers have more options to use private or public cloud transcoding services.
– The number of profiles output per input is currently stable among service providers as TV Everywhere content is mostly accessible only in the home. MRG expects to see profiles go up as content becomes more accessible outside the home and needs to be delivered over networks other than the service provider’s own. HEVC-encoded streams will also add to the number of profiles processed.
– Live transcoded streams are expected to grow to more than 2.5 million in 2016 due to the growth in providers offering live streaming and the growth in profiles required.

Categories: Articles, Markets, Research, Video