The Future of Online Streaming Services: Development Trends and the Application of New Technologies

The usage of streaming services has increased significantly due to the rapid growth in the number of internet users. According to the 2022 Global Digital Overview Report by We Are Social and Hootsuite, global internet users reached 4.95 billion at the beginning of 2022, with an internet penetration rate of 62.5% of the world's population. This has created a tremendous opportunity for streaming services to reach a global audience.

In Vietnam, according to data from the Ministry of Information and Communications, the video streaming market is experiencing robust growth. In 2023, revenue from streaming services is expected to reach $120 million, an increase of 20% compared to the previous year. Platforms like YouTube, Netflix, and local services such as FPT Play, Zing TV, and VieON are attracting a large number of users. Notably, VieON has recorded a 150% growth in users compared to 2022. Therefore, understanding and leveraging these trends will help businesses in the streaming sector optimize strategies, effectively exploit opportunities, and address challenges to achieve remarkable growth.

Streaming services have become an indispensable part of the digital lifestyle. There are several types of streaming services, each serving different audience segments. Below are the most popular forms of streaming services.

Video-On-Demand (VOD) Platforms

Video-On-Demand (VOD) is one of the most popular forms of streaming, allowing users to access movies and entertainment programs whenever they want. With this service, viewers do not have to adhere to fixed broadcast schedules and can watch any content that suits their preferences and schedules. Some of the most well-known VOD services include Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video. These platforms not only offer a diverse library of content ranging from movies and TV series to reality shows but also invest in original content production, providing a rich and unique experience for users.

Live Streaming Platforms

Live streaming platforms provide users with access to content that is being broadcast in real-time. These platforms often function as aggregators, allowing viewers to easily access various live streaming services through a single interface. Some of the most popular live streaming platforms include Roku, Apple TV, and Google Chromecast. These platforms not only simplify the process of finding and watching content but also integrate advanced features such as voice search, personalized content recommendations, and the ability to connect with other smart devices in the home.

Music Streaming Platforms

Similar to video, music is also consumed through streaming services, allowing users to listen to music on demand and access a vast library of songs. The leading music streaming services today include Spotify, Apple Music, and Pandora. These services not only offer music from renowned artists worldwide but also support features for discovering new music, creating personalized playlists, and listening offline. Users can easily search for and listen to their favorite songs anytime, anywhere, as long as they have an internet connection.

Social Media Platforms

Social media platforms are not only places for connecting and sharing information but also a rich source of streaming content. Platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have become important tools for live streaming, from live events to short videos. Particularly, live streaming services on social media like TikTok and Instagram Live have opened opportunities for users to share short videos and live streams with their followers. TikTok, in particular, has become a cultural phenomenon with millions of users creating and sharing short videos on various topics. This not only attracts the interest of young audiences but also creates a powerful media channel for publishers, broadcast networks, and individual content creators to reach a broader audience.

Despite its increasing popularity, the market is constantly evolving due to the ever-changing technology and user behavior. To gain a business advantage, companies need to pay attention to some emerging trends shaping the future of streaming.

Real-Time Live Streaming Trend

Live streaming has become increasingly popular in recent years, with platforms like Twitch and YouTube Live leading the way. The immediacy and real-time nature of content delivery through live streaming have attracted both consumers and broadcasters. As more people turn to live streaming, businesses must pay closer attention to this aspect, equipping themselves with effective solutions to keep up with current trends.

Development of Exclusive, Proprietary Content on Platforms

As the number of streaming services and platforms continues to grow, some platforms have developed exclusive content available only on their channels to attract customers. For example, some content may be exclusive to Netflix and unavailable on Hulu or Disney+ due to licensing and copyright issues. This creates a challenge for viewers who need to subscribe to multiple services to access all the content they want. However, it also creates opportunities for content creators and distributors to reach new audiences.

Focus on Differentiation Among Platforms

As with any market, when it becomes saturated, new providers must think about differentiation, while leading providers will face pressure to innovate. Streaming services need to offer unique content and features to stand out in a crowded market. The potential outcome of this could be the rise of platforms and services specializing in specific areas or niches, such as sports or specialized content genres.

Rapid Growth of Short-Form Video Usage

The rise of newer social media platforms like TikTok, Snapchat, and new features like Instagram Reels can be seen as trends reflecting the preference for short-form content. These videos typically last a few minutes or even less. This indicates that videos will be easier to create and share, providing excellent opportunities for content creators and businesses to engage with their audiences.

Demand for Storage Capacity

The demand for expanding storage capacity is one of the inevitable trends. The explosion of streaming platforms and content creators has led to a massive amount of content being published daily. This overloads storage systems, making storage capacity crucial for businesses. An effective solution to this issue could be the continuous development of cloud-based storage solutions, allowing streaming services to store large amounts of content without investing in expensive hardware.

In the rapidly evolving streaming technology landscape, businesses need robust solutions to meet and overcome current challenges. CDN (Content Delivery Network) is one of the crucial technologies that helps businesses not only improve user experience but also lead current streaming trends.

One of the most important requirements for streaming is load speed and low latency. CDN uses globally distributed servers to store and distribute content. When a user requests content, the CDN delivers it from the nearest server, reducing latency and increasing load speed. This is especially important for live streaming, where low latency is a key factor in the success of a broadcast.

Using CDN optimizes the user experience by ensuring that content is always delivered smoothly and stably. This not only helps retain viewers longer but also increases the likelihood that they will return to use the service in the future. A good user experience is a key factor in building loyalty and generating potential customers for businesses.

Live streaming is becoming increasingly popular, and CDN plays a crucial role in supporting this service. CDN helps businesses deliver high-quality live streams that meet audience demand in real-time. This helps businesses attract and interact with audiences more effectively.

Security is an important factor when providing streaming services. CDN offers security features such as user authentication and protection against DDoS layer 3,4 attacks. This ensures that the streaming service always operates safely and stably. New protocols like HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) and Quick UDP Internet Connection (QUIC) are becoming popular and are supported by modern CDNs. Using these protocols helps improve stream quality, reduce latency, and optimize content delivery over the network.

In the current digital era, online content delivery has become an indispensable part of many businesses' strategies. VNCDN, one of the leading solutions developed by VNETWORK JSC, offers businesses a powerful CDN system to optimize online content delivery. Here’s how VNCDN can help your business overcome challenges and seize opportunities in this field.

Strong Infrastructure Covering Domestic and International Regions

VNCDN boasts an advanced and comprehensive technological infrastructure, with over 280 PoPs spread across 33 countries. Built on modern technology and adhering to international standards of reliability, security, and performance, with international uplink bandwidth of up to 57 Tbps, VNCDN ensures fast and efficient data transmission, meeting the needs of large enterprises and global organizations. This helps maintain stable page load speeds and minimizes latency, providing an optimal user experience.

In Vietnam, VNCDN deploys infrastructure at Tier III standard data centers of Viettel, Mobifone, VNPT, and FPT. VNCDN's domestic uplink bandwidth reaches 10+ Tbps, enabling fast and smooth data transmission nationwide. With the ability to serve over 5 million concurrent users and successfully handle over 8 billion requests daily, VNCDN ensures that businesses' websites and applications always operate stably, even under high load conditions and peak traffic.

Optimizing Streaming Content

VNCDN uses a globally distributed server system to store and distribute content. When users access it, content is loaded from the nearest server, minimizing latency and increasing page load speed. This is particularly important for live streaming services, where a smooth and uninterrupted experience is crucial.

Additionally, live streaming is becoming increasingly popular, and VNCDN is the ideal solution to support this service. With the LMS (Live Media Streaming) feature, VNCDN meets the live viewing needs of millions of viewers and has no limit on the number of live streams, combining advanced technology to enhance transmission capabilities to viewers. With RTMP technology, VNCDN supports input from all sources such as mobile apps, streaming software, and hardware encoders. At the same time, VNCDN's HLS technology supports output to various output formats such as HLS, DASH, HTTP-FLV, RTMP, and MSS. Thanks to the flexibility and robustness of these technologies, VNCDN ensures smooth and stable content delivery to audiences worldwide.

VNCDN helps businesses manage and distribute content from various sources efficiently. With the Video on Demand (VOD) feature, VNCDN continuously enhances video performance based on collected data, ensuring viewers always have an optimized experience. The monitoring and timely adjustment system uses comprehensive data sets, including errors, rebuffering status, startup times, and video quality.

Notably, the encoding process is performed only once, and the output can be reused multiple times without re-encoding. This limits errors and minimizes risks during transcoding, providing superior efficiency and stability for streaming content.

With transcoding technology, VNCDN converts video files into multiple formats, ensuring content is always compatible and of high quality on all devices and bandwidths. This technology allows video files to be converted from one format to another, ensuring the best compatibility and quality on various devices and different bandwidths. The transcoding process automatically converts video files into popular formats like MP4, HLS, and DASH, enabling video playback on all devices, from desktops, mobile phones to smart TVs.

Moreover, VNCDN's transcoding technology helps compress and optimize video file sizes without significantly reducing quality. This reduces server load, ensuring smooth and efficient online video streaming. Thanks to these outstanding features, VNCDN helps businesses improve service quality and enhance user experience comprehensively.

24/7 Support Team

The 24/7 support team is always ready to ensure that businesses receive timely and effective support. With a team of experienced experts, VNCDN commits to continuous system monitoring and proactive detection and quick resolution of technical issues.

The support team is always on hand to answer all questions and resolve arising issues, helping businesses maintain smooth and continuous operations. The dedication and professionalism of the support team not only help businesses avoid unwanted disruptions but also optimize system performance, ensuring the highest quality user experience. With VNCDN, businesses can be assured of system stability and safety, focusing on business development and improving customer experience.

VNCDN offers an excellent CDN solution, optimizing streaming with strong infrastructure and advanced technology. VNCDN's Video on Demand (VOD) feature and modern transcoding technology help businesses deliver high-quality video experiences on all devices. The 24/7 support team is always ready to resolve any technical issues, ensuring continuous system operation. VNCDN is the top choice for enhancing user experience and optimizing streaming. For consultation and service experience, please contact VNCDN via hotline: (028) 7306 8789 or contact@vnetwork.vn.