Adobe announced a set of new analytics features for its PrimeTime product that will make it easier to both monitor the quality of TV everywhere streams and evaluate viewer behavior. The new capabilities come with a new per-stream pricing model.
Adobe also announced that Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) is the latest customer of Primetime, adding to the company’s roster of more than 50 clients. That client list includes Comcast, which Adobe said recently expanded its use of PrimeTime to deliver video to iOS platforms.
TBS is using Adobe Primetime to power its new TNT and TBS apps, with several other Turner properties soon to follow, including AdultSwim, Cartoon Network, truTV, NBA League Pass and others.
Ashley Still, Adobe’s director of product management for video solutions, said TBS is using several elements of the PrimeTime suite, including the company’s video player, content protection (DRM), and ad insertion service to incorporate ads into live streams to both iOS and Android devices.
PrimeTime had been set up to provide analytics at intervals of 30 minutes or longer. The system is now reporting at 1 second intervals, which provides a much clearer indication of viewer engagement with both content and ads.
The reporting includes real-time diagnostics, including such measures as bit rates, buffer rates, and bit error rates, again at 1 second intervals.
Still said the company is now charging a flat price per stream.
The company also announced a new cloud DRM service. Adobe said it is already being used by programmers and pay-TV service providers including AT&T, DirectTV, Fox, Scripps Networks, Turner Broadcasting System, Walt Disney Pictures, Vudu and others. Hulu, HBO Go and Comcast are the latest media companies that have adopted Adobe’s DRM technology.
Also, Adobe published some statistics quantifying the rapid increase in the popularity of TV everywhere type services. The data was from content programmers only; the calculations do not include video transmitted by MVPDs.
Adobe Digital Index has seen the number of authenticated streams increase by 400 percent in the first six months of the year compared to the same period in 2012.
The average number of unique visitors to sites with online TV content grew nearly seven fold in the first six months of the year compared to same period in 2012.
Still said there has been a 150 percent increase in the viewing of video on tablets.
