Kaltura and Cleeng Crack the Code for Live PPV Success

This post is provided by Gilles Domartini – founder and CEO of Cleeng. Cleeng, a leading freemium platform for Pay-Per-View and Video-On-Demand, has joined forces with online video platform Kaltura, to change the landscape of the paid online video streaming industry.
Two major events recently demonstrated the enormous consumer appetite for live-streaming worldwide: First, Super Bowl XLVIII became the most-viewed, live-streamed sporting event in US history with record online audience engagement. Second, the Oscars ceremony became the victim of its own success when the live internet broadcast crashed due to “traffic overload”, generating more angry tweets than the famous Ellen DeGeneres selfie. Compared to linear television, online audiences were offered a wider range of viewing and navigation options between the Oscars pre-show, ceremony and backstage events across any electronic device. Although, streaming offers viewers more choice and flexibility, it isn’t always easy, as the end-to-end ingestion and video processing distribution challenges during the show demonstrated.

If only Bradley's arm was longer. Best photo ever. #oscars pic.twitter.com/C9U5NOtGap

— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) March 3, 2014

Paid Streaming Usage is Here
There is a plethora of new opportunities: Take for instance Louis CK grossing $4.5 million in 45 hours for digital downloads of his one-man-show or the World Wrestling Entertainment Network expecting to reach 1 million subscribers to its online service less than two months post-launch. Both cases further prove that buying online entertainment is quickly gaining popularity. The appeal is much broader than just celebrities and sporting events – many prestigious universities, health foundations and B2B conferences are also embracing live streaming as a way to directly connect with their audiences on a global scale. Both Kaltura and Cleeng are committed to easing the existing pain-points of live streaming. Kaltura’s is working toward this with the launch of Kaltura Live Streaming, which provides a unified, affordable and robust Live-to-VOD solution; Cleeng recently launched the new Cleeng Live!, allowing any event organizer to easily setup tickets, pre-booking and payments for online events in just two-minutes.
Challenges Remain to Organize a Successful Pay-Per-View Event
There is great potential for live-streaming opportunities, but it remains complex due to frequent, high profile outages. If you’re planning to organize a pay-per-view event, it’s important to manage six key factors:

1. Securing video access across devices, while ensuring a smooth user experience. This is no easy task due to the fragmentation of technologies like HTML and Flash and a variety of devices from smartphones to TVs.
2. Congestion of peak loads is a big deal – typically 10% of transactions are processed in the last 10 minutes before an event starts. Server failure is the most predictable issue, but, in case of sudden transaction growth, the payment gateway may be suspected as fraudulent or your email gateway could be perceived as a potential spammer.
3. Delivering a seamless login and user experience during the pre-booking phase and at the moment of the event.
4. Providing immediate support during the show. When people pay, they expect answers, fast! It’s important not to fail in this area, otherwise you may be left to deal with hundreds of complaints from social media channels over the next few hours!
5. Providing worldwide payment, especially when it comes to handling various payment methods, multiple currencies and tax management along with potential geo-blocking.
6. Setting up paid or free online events can be a time consuming task especially if you need to enlist consulting agencies and multiple solution providers from live page design, streaming to payment gateway.

Cleeng has powered more than 300 live shows for leading brand names such as Cirque du Soleil, TEDMED and the University of Massachusetts, reaching millions of viewers worldwide. After measuring these interactions, we have uncovered the components that define a successful user experience and the type of business models required to meet user expectations and to further empower social sales. With Cleeng’s experience and expertise in live-streaming and Kaltura’s powerful and flexible video platform, we’ve created a solution that empowers publishers to host premium events and build engaging, revenue-generating online video experiences.
Free trial account for Kaltura users!
See Cleeng, a proud sponsor, at Kaltura Connect 2014 – The Video Experience Conference, which will take place in New York City on June 16-18.