Optimising CDN cost while enhancing video quality, Latest OTT News and more!
OTTVerse Newsletter #63
Hi everyone, and welcome back to the OTTVerse newsletter.
This week, we present:
Latest OTT News
Optimising CDN Cost While Enhancing Video Quality – A Case Study from Zee5
And more!
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Latest OTT News
Prime Video Adds NFDC’s ‘Cinemas of India’ Library to Boost Classic Indian Cinema Access - Amazon Prime Video India is taking a significant step towards celebrating the country’s cinematic heritage by adding NFDC – Cinemas of India as a new add-on subscription, now available for just INR 199 per year.
Netflix Expands Programmatic Ad Access With Yahoo DSP Partnership - Netflix is deepening its push into the advertising space by teaming up with Yahoo to expand access to its ad inventory.
Warner Bros. Partners With Bhanushali Studios to Create Bollywood Versions of Iconic Films - Warner Bros. Pictures has signed a major partnership with Bhanushali Studios Limited (BSL) and JOAT Films to create Bollywood adaptations of some of its most iconic titles.
Netflix and TF1 Sign New Deal to Stream Live French TV and Shows Starting 2026 - Netflix and TF1, France’s commercial broadcaster, have announced a new partnership that will change how French audiences watch TV.
ESPN Secures Exclusive Rights to UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 for Spanish-Speaking Latin America - ESPN has signed a new agreement with UEFA to become the exclusive media rights holder for the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 across Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America.
Amazon Increases Prime Video Ad Load to 4–6 Minutes Per Hour - Amazon’s streaming service Prime Video has quietly increased the number of ads viewers see while watching content.
YouTube Updates Moderation Rules to Protect Free Speech on Sensitive Topics - YouTube has changed how it moderates videos, especially those that deal with sensitive issues like elections, race, gender, and immigration.
Tubi Expands UK Library With Thousands of Free Movies and TV Shows - Tubi, the free ad-supported streaming service owned by Fox Corporation, has just made a major content expansion in the UK.
Tubi Brings YouTube Creator Content to Its Streaming Platform with New Initiative - Tubi, the free ad-supported streaming service owned by Fox Corporation, is expanding its content library by partnering with YouTube creators.
ITV, Channel 4, and Sky Join Forces to Launch Unified TV Ad Marketplace for SMEs - ITV, Channel 4, and Sky, in partnership with Comcast Advertising, have announced the launch of a new advertising marketplace aimed at simplifying access to premium TV inventory.
Disney and Amazon Unite to Redefine Global Streaming Advertising - At the 2025 Cannes Lions Festival, Disney and Amazon unveiled a major advertising partnership set to reshape the future of streaming.
Netflix Teams Up with Canal+ to Expand in Sub-Saharan Africa - As subscription-based streaming services hit growth limits in mature regions like North America and Europe, companies are now turning to untapped markets for new audiences.
YouTube to Bring Advanced AI Tool Veo 3 to Shorts, Ushering in a New Era of Video Creation - YouTube is set to integrate Google’s latest AI video generation tool, Veo 3, into YouTube Shorts later this summer.
Tubi Brings YouTube Creator Content to Its Streaming Platform with New Initiative - Tubi, the free ad-supported streaming service owned by Fox Corporation, is expanding its content library by partnering with YouTube creators.
MIB Asks MSOs to Share CAS and SMS Details with DoT by June 20, 2025 - The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has issued a formal advisory to all Multi System Operators (MSOs) across India, asking them to submit technical information about their Conditional Access System (CAS) and Subscriber Management System (SMS) to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) by June 20, 2025.
Lionsgate, DirecTV Team Up for Exclusive Streaming and Satellite Channel - Lionsgate and DirecTV have announced the launch of a new premium entertainment channel, the Lionsgate Collection, bringing a custom-curated lineup of movies and TV shows to audiences across the United States.
ESPN Secures Exclusive Rights to UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 for Spanish-Speaking Latin America - ESPN has signed a new agreement with UEFA to become the exclusive media rights holder for the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 across Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America.
JioHotstar Nears Netflix with 300 Million Subscribers After IPL 2025 Boost - India’s streaming platform JioHotstar has reached a major milestone, reporting 300 million subscribers just four months after its launch.
Amazon Targets India’s Streaming Market with Dual-Platform Strategy - Amazon is taking a two-platform approach to tap into India’s rapidly expanding and diverse streaming audience.
Paramount+ Drops Showtime Branding From Premium Streaming Plan - Paramount Global has quietly rebranded its top-tier streaming subscription plan, removing the “Showtime” name from the package.
NBA Playoffs Power TNT and Warner Bros. Discovery to TV Viewership Gains in May - Live sports continue to play a major role in keeping traditional television alive.
YouTube and the NFL Are Teaming Up to Reach Gen Z and Millennials - When YouTube acquired the rights to the NFL’s Sunday Ticket, it wasn’t just a move to bring football online.
How YouTube’s AI and TV Integration Are Redefining Short-Form Video - At the 2025 Cannes Lions Festival, YouTube made a huge announcement that could change how content is created, shared, and consumed.
WBD Sports to Broadcast Legends Team Cup Featuring Iconic Tennis Stars in 2025 - Tennis fans will soon get a chance to see some of their favorite former ATP stars back in action.
Sky Italia Extends Exclusive Wimbledon Broadcast Rights Until 2030 - Sky Italia has officially secured the exclusive broadcasting rights for Wimbledon in Italy for another four years, ensuring that tennis fans in the country will continue to enjoy one of the sport’s most prestigious tournaments on Sky and its streaming platform NOW until at least 2030.
Optimising CDN Cost While Enhancing Video Quality – A Case Study from Zee5
Zee5 aimed to reduce CDN costs while improving video quality, especially as more users streamed 4K content on large screens. They focused on two key strategies: switching from HLS TS to HLS fMP4 to reduce segment size, and fine-tuning transcoding presets using AWS MediaConvert. By testing across multiple content types and resolutions, they ensured quality was maintained using VMAF scores. Most Zee5 viewers use DASH, so optimizations were also tailored for AVC and HEVC encoding. Despite avoiding time-consuming methods like multi-pass encoding, Zee5 achieved better quality and reduced file sizes using methods like QVBR tuning, scaling, and noise reduction.
Suneel Khare, Senior Vice President and Rahul Banerjee, Principal Architect, Zee5, talk about how the team reduced CDN costs while enhancing video quality through smart encoding and packaging optimizations -https://ottverse.com/optimising-cdn-cost-and-enhancing-video-quality-zee5/
The End
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