Broadband TV News sits down with MainStreaming’s CEO, Antonio G. Corrado to talk, streaming, latency, and ANGA COM.
What’s MainStreaming’s proposition for broadcasters and streamers?
MainStreaming is a leading provider of Video Edge Delivery Network services, specialising in delivering high-quality live video streaming at scale. Our proprietary Video Edge Networks enable media customers to stream live and on-demand video to large audiences worldwide. With a focus on ultra-low latency, high performance, and superior viewer experience, we cater to broadcasters, streamers, content owners, and telecoms. Our reliable and scalable platform offers high-quality video delivery, real-time analytics, customisable solutions, and seamless integration with existing workflows. We also provide Content Hosting and Management services to help clients engage with global audiences and grow their businesses. As consumers transition from traditional broadcasting to internet-based streaming (OTT), MainStreaming supports broadcasters in making a successful transition and achieving optimal viewer experience, business ROI, and environmental sustainability.
How do your solutions differ from others on the market?
MainStreaming aims to deliver superior live video streaming quality. Our cutting-edge technology focuses on solving the specific challenge of broadcast-grade live streaming at scale for millions of concurrent users across various devices, setting us apart from traditional CDNs. Our forte lies in delivering streaming services at a large scale. We aspire to serve the entire audience of major events like the NFL Super Bowl, which attracted 113 million viewers with only 7 million using streaming services. Our goal is to cater to all 113 million viewers through streaming platforms within the next 6-10 years. We address the challenges faced by streaming platforms, as demonstrated by Netflix’s recent suspension of the Love is Blind reunion due to streaming issues. We have developed a technology tailored to handle the strain live events impose on internet networks, recognising that managing live events differs from caching content or videos.
How was the MainStreaming technology developed?
At MainStreaming, our Video Edge Delivery Network is designed with a video-centric approach. We optimize hardware components and software algorithms specifically for video use cases. By positioning edge servers closer to end users within ISP networks, we achieve higher-quality streaming. ISPs strategically deploy Video Edge Network cache capacity based on network congestion patterns.
Our product is built upon three key pillars:
- Smart Architecture: Streamlined to optimise resource utilisation, ensure high-quality service, and reduce power consumption.
- Intelligent Software: Utilises smart algorithms, advanced analytics, and continuous monitoring of Quality of Experience (QoE) and network conditions to ensure quality delivery.
- Edge Distribution Network: Our interconnected network of Edge Services, located within ISP premises, brings us closer to end users.
These foundations are essential for delivering excellent QoE and Quality of Service (QoS). We meticulously optimise our infrastructure to assist streaming industry leaders in evolving their offerings and providing simultaneous access to notable events. Our technology operates within high-speed networks, enabling clients to create dedicated infrastructures for their services, ensuring performance, availability, and bandwidth on-demand. This collaborative approach is valued by ISPs and other industry players, as it reduces network load, improves results for end users, and minimises packet travel distance.
What are the different technical challenges between streaming a movie on demand and a live sports event?
Streaming on-demand movies involves delivering pre-recorded content through a content delivery network (CDN). In contrast, live sports events require low-latency delivery and specialised content delivery networks, along with robust encoding and transcoding solutions due to the high number of concurrent viewers. MainStreaming stands out in the market for its high-performance video streaming capabilities. As the industry shifts from traditional broadcasting to streaming, two parallel worlds are emerging: video-on-demand and real-time live events. This poses challenges in distributing content to millions of simultaneous users. MainStreaming prioritises optimising performance in these scenarios, where the load can spike within minutes. We focus on low latency, high-quality video, and eliminating re-buffering issues.
As more viewers turn to streaming, can earlier systems still cope?
MainStreaming enables seamless transition from traditional broadcasting to streaming by providing high-quality, scalable solutions. We prioritise technical viability, economic efficiency, and sustainability. Our aim is to help broadcasters achieve TV-like quality during their shift from satellite to online. By overcoming video distribution challenges, we deliver a smooth streaming experience. As demand rises, older streaming services may need to upgrade capacity and hardware to handle increased traffic. CDNs must optimise architectures for efficient, energy-conscious delivery of bandwidth-intensive video content, considering the rising popularity of OTT services.
We talk about latency in the industry, but do viewers actually notice?
MainStreaming understands the impact of latency on viewer experience during simultaneous live events across different platforms. For instance, in a live sports event, viewers may see the result of a play or a goal on social media or hear about it before they see it on their screen due to latency. Latency has the potential to significantly affect the viewing experience for audiences, leading to missed critical moments and a sense of disengagement from live events. Latency can cause delays and disrupt synchronisation between audio and video, leading to missed moments and disengagement. As a live streaming company, we prioritise reducing latency to enhance the immersive and real-time viewing experience for our audience.
What is your business model? Who are your existing customers?
MainStreaming operates on a customer-focused Platform as a Service (PaaS) model, providing private or public EDGE delivery networks tailored to our customers’ requirements. We prioritise market demand and plan to expand our infrastructure accordingly. With established software and architecture, we are dedicated to growing our Edge Network, leveraging US talent to enhance our product roadmap. Our existing customer base includes industry leaders like DAZN Group, SKY, RAI, Arqiva, and Fastweb. As sustainability becomes increasingly important, we recognise the need for environmentally conscious practices in the streaming industry.
What are your next steps broadly and international growth plans?
Our goal is to establish a presence in the European market and expand into other European countries this year. Additionally, we aim to enter the US market between 2024 and 2025, recognising its significance for media companies and the opportunities it presents for growth. Building upon our success in Europe, we will establish Sales & Marketing and R&D teams in the United States to serve initial customers and invest in network development.
How do people get in touch with you at ANGA COM?
Join us at ANGA COM in Cologne from 23rd to 25th May. Don’t miss the opportunity to meet us at Hall 7 HUB5, located near the Innovation stage. Visit our booth to discuss our advanced live and on-demand video streaming experiences, supported by our state-of-the-art and eco-friendly technology. Our Business Development Representative will be available for face-to-face conversations. Elevate your video content with our Video Edge Delivery Network solutions and stay ahead of the evolving streaming market. Arrange a meeting via this link: Visit us! We look forward to talking to you there!