The online video ecosystem can be incredibly complex and labyrinthine. So we've created an infographic that pieces together the most significant technologies and companies that are fueling the growth of online video.

1. WhoisPoweringtheRiseofOnlineVideo?
Aconfluenceoftechnologies,evolvingbusinessmodelsandchangingconsumerlifestylesareconvergingtopropeltheriseofonlinevideoand
fundamentallytransformTV,advertisingandcontentdeliverymethods.Herearetheonlinevideoecosystemsegmentsandcompaniesthatare
givingrisetothistransformation.
NetworkEquipmentProviders
Networkequipmentcompaniesprovidecommunications
serviceproviderswiththeinfrastructuretoefficiently
deliverthesurgingvolumesofcontentcoursingoverthe
Internet—especiallybandwidth-intensivecontentlike
onlinevideo.
WWithoutadvancesinrouters,switches,streamingserversand
othergear,theInternetexperiencewouldbefrustratingly
slowandunreliable.
Seealargerlistofnetworkingequipmentvendors
ContentDeliveryNetworks(CDNs)
CDNsreducetheloadonaserviceprovider'snetworkby
duplicatingcontentfromparticipatingmediacompanies,
cachingitongeographicallydistributededgeserverssituated
closetoendusers,thenredirectingclientrequeststothe
closetedgeservers.
WWithoutCDNs,userswouldexperiencesignificantstartup
delays,bufferingandlowerpicturequality.
TraditionalCommercialCDNs:
TelcoCDNs:
ManyManycommunicationsserviceprovidersarebuildingand
operatingtheirownCDNs.Becausetheyownthelastmile,
operatorCDNscancachecontentdeepintheirnetworks
anddeliveritmuchclosertotheenduser,avoidingnetwork
congestionupstream.Thisresultsinfastercontentdelivery
andbettervideoqualitythatcloselyapproximatesthe
experiencethatconsumershavecometoexpectfromcable
andandsatelliteTV.
SeealargerlistofoperatorCDNs
Readthe4KeystoTelcoCDNSuccess
TransparentCachingProviders
MucMuchlikeCDNs,TransparentCachingsystemsreducean
operator'snetworkloadbutdosowithouttheknowledge
orconsentofcontentownersandpublishers.Transparent
Cachinghelpsnetworkoperatorsdefercapitalexpenditures
andsavemoney,whilestillenablinglowlatencydeliveryof
highqualityonlinevideo.
SeehownetworkoperatorscancombineCDNand
TransparentCachingintoadynamicduo
VideoAdNetworks
VideoAdNetworksaggregateonlinevideocontent—often
fromthousandsofwebsites—andprovidethescaleand
targetingcapabilitiesthatadvertisersdemand.Theyhelp
manyvideocontentcreatorsanddistributorstomore
efficientlyandpredictablymonetizetheirassets.
ThesThesebenefitshaveresultedinamigrationofaddollarsto
onlinevideowhich,inturn,enablestheproductionofmore
onlinevideocontent.
OnlineVideoPlatforms(OVPs)
OnlinOnlinevideoplatformsprovideend-to-endtoolstomanage,
publishandmeasureonlinevideocontent.Theyusually
includeabreadthoffeaturesandfunctionalityincluding
encodingandtranscoding,contentmanagement,digital
rightsmanagement,contentdistributionandmonetization,
andanalytics.
WWithoutOVPs,theworkflowfordigitalmediacompaniesand
enterpriseswouldbesignificantlymorecumbersomeand
unwieldily;onlinevideocouldnotbequicklyandefficiently
publishedtobecompatiblewithlotsofdevicetypes.
Seealargerlistofonlinevideoplatforms
Over-the-Top(OTT)Content
Services
OTOTTservicesbypasstraditionaldistributionchannelslike
cableandsatellitebyprovidingtheircontent"overthetop"
ofbroadbandnetworks.OTTservicesarethecatalystfor
muchofthegrowthinonlinevideoconsumption,leading
someconsumerstocanceltheircableandsatelliteTV
subscriptions(cordcutters)orparebacktomorebasic
subscriptionpackages(cordshavers).
AAnewwaveofsocialvideoserviceslikeVineand
InstagramVideoarealsoemergingthatfeatureveryshort
user-generatedclipstailoredforviewingonsmartphones
andtablets.
SeealargerlistofOTTproviders
WebTVProducers
AAnewwaveofhighquality,targetedprogramming
specificallyproducedforonlinevideoiscreatingviable
competitionforattentionthatmightotherwisegotocable
andsatelliteTV—especiallysinceitcanbeeasilystreamed
toTVsets.Thispremiumcontentalsohelpsstoketherise
ofadnetworksandexchanges.
FlashandHTML5VideoPlayers
OpeOpensourceFlashandHTML5videoplayersprovideagreat
alternativeforbusinessesthatmaynotwanttouseonline
videohostingserviceslikeYouTubeoruseanOVPmedia
player.Thenocost/lowcost,flexibility,extensibilityand
customizationoptionshaveallowedmillionsofwebsites—
especiallyinthelongtail—toquicklyandeasilypublish
onlinevideo.
BroadbandStreamingDevices
Broadband-enabledstreamingdevicesenableconsumers
totetherconnecteddevicestotheirbroadbandnetworks
andplaybackmediafiles.Theymakeitparticularlyeasy
tostreamvideocontentfromPCsandtabletsdirectlytoTV
sets,furtherfuelingtheriseinOTTcontentconsumption.
Seeamoredetailedlistofbroadband-enabledstreaming
devices
VideoContentDiscovery
Theabundanceofonlinevideohasmadeitdifficultfor
viewerstoeasilyfindcontenttailoredtotheirtastes,which
hasgivenrisetocontentdiscoveryservicesthataggregate
andcuratecontent.Theseservicesmakeiteasierfor
viewerstofindrelevant,engagingonlinevideocontent.
SmartPhonesandTablets
Connecteddeviceslikesmartphonesandtabletshave
introducedtheconceptofanytime,anywhereaccessto
videocontent.Thisisnotonlyconvenientforusers,but
attractivetoadvertiserswhocanmoreefficientlytarget
messages.
CablCableandsatellitecompanieshavehadtorespondtothis
threatwithTVEverywhere,theabilityforauthenticated
subscriberstoaccessprogrammingviatheirconnected
devices.
Demand-SidePlatforms(DSPs)and
Supply-SidePlatforms(SSPs)
DSPsenableadbuyerstomanagemultipleadexchanges
fromasingleuserinterfaceandtoprogrammaticallybidon
adinventoryinrealtime.SSPsenablepublishersasecure
andmoreautomatedwaytomakeportionsoftheirad
inventoryavailabletoadexchanges.
ThesThesetwoforcesarecreatingamoretargeted,efficientway
forvideoadbuyersandsellerstoconductbusiness,further
spurringthemigrationofaddollarstoonlinevideo.
Skytideisdoingitsparttotransformonlinevideo
too.Ouranalyticsandreportingsolutionsallow
networkoperatorsanddigitalmediacompaniesto
manageandoptimizeonlinevideoperformance.