With mobile video viewing on the rise, the quality of the video experience is more important than ever. Companies that can consistently provide better streaming experiences than competitors have a distinct advantage in the fierce battle for subscriber acquisition and retention. To address this, Measurement giant Nielsen has launched Nielsen Mobile Video Performance, a video performance evaluation framework for IP-based video content delivery.
Developed for mobile operators, ISPs, device manufacturers and content providers, Nielsen Mobile Video Performance evaluates streaming video quality on mobile and Wi-Fi networks, benchmarks data across the industry and rates individual players on the factors which contribute most to positive customer experiences.
Nielsen Mobile Video Performance focuses on four key performance indicators that can make or break the video experience in the eyes of connected consumers: video resolution; the number of seconds it takes for video to load and play; the total duration in seconds that the video stalls during playback; and the ability to launch and play a video in 60 seconds.
“With the growth in mobile video usage, operators need to know how well they are meeting consumer demand,” said Mike Greenawald, SVP, Nielsen Service Quality.“Our initial results point to some wide variances in the ability to deliver high quality video content consistently. As the industry’s first solution to evaluate video performance using active and passive techniques, mobile operators will now have the advantage of translating the benefits of fast speeds into high quality consumer experiences.”
According to data gathered by Nielsen, the industry’s most notable mobile operators deliver HD (720p or greater) quality video 69% of the time. By contrast, services at the opposite end of the spectrum deliver HD quality video only 39% of the time. With the industry average at 53%, Nielsen Mobile Video Performance solution identifies which players are over-delivering and those that are heavily under-performing high quality video experiences.