Beyond sports: Delivering high QoE that matches the feeling of being present at the Olympic Games

The Olympic Games is beyond sports. It is about bridging nations and enhancing viewer experience. ?

What can be better than sharing the same emotion with everyone watching the Olympic Games, which have become symbols of unity, tradition, and the promotion of a healthy lifestyle through sports?? ?

Recently, I wondered why everyone is so obsessed with the Olympic Games, to the point where they dominate our attention, setting the record for six of the 10 most-watched broadcasts in world history. I came across an article in Popular Science that breaks down the psychology behind this phenomenon. It turns out the appeal of the Olympics is less about the individual sports and more about how the event as a whole caters to different aspects of the human psyche.???

The article states that the competition has three key ingredients that spark fervent fandom: curated marketing, compelling personal stories, and an outlet for national pride. I agree with the latter, as it embodies my hypothesis on the Olympics as a symbol of unity. Lisa Delpy Neirotti, a professor of sports management at George Washington University, supports this view, saying that it isn’t the sports themselves; it’s about the narratives we build around them. It’s about the meaning we give to them. Our brains gravitate toward relatable stories, even if we never aspired to be Olympians.???

Just as the Olympic Games represent the pinnacle of athletic prowess, showcasing the excellence of athletes from around the globe, they also serve as a platform for streaming service providers and video delivery technology experts to demonstrate their readiness for the world's biggest spectacle.???

These games, which have presented themselves as sports competitions, have evolved into representations of each nation’s culture, mentality, tradition, customs, and traditional clothes. To many, they were an introduction to the stories of the countries that each athlete represented.???

The common denominator during important live events like the Olympic Games is the high-quality viewing experience for a global audience consisting of millions of concurrent sports fans. Simultaneous streaming is challenging, requiring high-quality streaming, world-class QoE for end users, real-time monitoring, meta-analytics, secure protection, and customizable solutions to deliver a seamless experience to millions of viewers.???

The video streaming ecosystem unites OTT streaming providers, ISPs, and CDN providers to achieve our main goal: high performance and QoE KPIs to satisfy sports fans, who are at the heart of our business strategy.???

Seeing the vibes, intense emotions, and pride that we are witnessing now thanks to the Olympic Games were the drivers that motivated me to eventually launch MainStreaming. The idea of MainStreaming originated from my personal experience with streaming issues during a live sports event in the United States. These issues prevented me from fully experiencing the emotions associated with remarkable events like football matches, Formula 1 races, the UEFA European Championship, and the Olympic Games. From that moment, I realized that the end user is at the heart of the entire streaming ecosystem. Therefore, rights holders should guarantee QoE to them.???

The goal is clear: to deliver a viewing experience that matches the intensity and emotion of being present at the Games themselves, ensuring that the unique spirit of the Olympics reaches every corner of the globe. In video quality, we don’t just show the events; we transport viewers to the heart of the action, allowing them to feel as if they’re right there in the stadium. High-definition imagery allows fans to see every bead of sweat, every expression of determination, and every millisecond that separates victory from defeat.???

Ofcom’s annual Media Nations report recently published research showing that the decline in broadcast TV’s reach accelerated in 2023. However, for every age group, the amount of viewing declined at a slower rate than in the previous year. Time spent watching online video services continues to grow at the expense of live broadcast TV. Overall viewing of TV and video increased in 2023, driven by online platforms, including video-sharing platforms such as YouTube, and broadcasters’ own services such as iPlayer and ITVX.???

Streaming video in real-time enables services to overcome centralized bottlenecks, achieve broadcast-grade standards, and enhance resilience. As capacity-based video delivery services become more popular, offering predictable costs, we provide innovative, cost-effective business models. The need for guaranteed capacity to underpin service performance will grow as broadcasters transition more of their audience and revenue to streaming.???

With the event approaching its finale, which is about cheering, hugging, and shaking hands not only when you win but also when you lose, I am finishing my article on this note.?

Congratualtions to all athletes for an outstanding performance! Thank you for reading!?