2023年4月11日
By 艾德里安•加西亚解决方案顾问，掌声
博客

The Challenges of Testing 在线直播 Broadcasts

去年12月, YouTube 为美国国家橄榄球联盟(nfl)支付了近20亿美元的流媒体转播权。国家橄榄球联盟). 这是向主要职业体育联盟支付的最大一笔直播内容版权费用. It exemplifies the dominance of streaming and over-the-top (OTT) content, 当然, but also the investment streaming players are willing to make in live content.

随着媒体巨头和OTT平台寻求差异化，并增加视频点播(VoD)内容，这一直是数字成功的标志其他活动，比如科切拉音乐节 that were not part of traditional linear offerings find their way into streaming, live streaming has emerged as the next frontier. Hulu等平台, 派拉蒙+, 孔雀, 和YouTubeTV正在确保在网络或有线电视上播出的任何内容都可以通过他们的流媒体平台进行直播. It’s a market that’s forecasted to grow to over

However, live streaming has risks similar to the early days of VoD. 体验很重要，因为消费者是善变的——流媒体服务在很大程度上成功地利用了数字的好处，并将观众从传统电视中转移出来. 去年八月，第一次，流媒体的收视率超过了有线电视.

Unlike VoD, testing for live broadcast is not done in a static environment. 一个失败的直播是显而易见的. 和, 不像重量级的流媒体组织, 大多数组织无法扩展以支持当前生成的直播流的数量.

So, OTT提供商如何利用直播机会，同时保持观众期望的高质量体验? Doing it right - and at a global scale - requires testers who represent real viewers, 各种各样的设备, 并访问数据，使供应商能够采取可操作的输入来改善体验.

直播的陷阱

验证实时事件流和在这些事件中显示的广告意味着在大范围内进行测试. Not only must media providers cover a wide base of subscribers with many devices, 操作系统和运营商, but they must do so for customers located in various locales around the world.

在进行实时测试时，组织所犯的主要错误之一是假设登台环境测试将产生与实际的实时生产相同的输出. 团队有时会假设，如果它在阶段中工作，那么它在生产中也会工作. 这个假设的内在挑战是，有太多可能的变量，团队很难在内部重现它们并适当地测试它们.

Take for an example, the most watched event in the world: the Super Bowl. It may have been Kansas City facing off 再一次。st Philadelphia in Glendale, 亚利桑那州, 但观众是全球性的. That’s far more complicated than just streaming the game in the U.S. because bandwidth speeds vary from country to country, making network capabilities are going to be very different. If there is any type of latency, package sizes are not sent correctly. As that starts building up, it creates a disruption into the viewers’ side.

Advertising is also a hurdle when considering live broadcast. Server and client-side ads may perform differently and, 再一次。, there are regional issues that are even more micro than country to country. 为了超级碗这么大的赛事, 哪些广告客户花了数百万美元, 他们想要确保他们的广告不仅是针对不同的国家，而且针对不同的城市. If you don’t have testers reviewing this real time, 你不能保证广告是有针对性的——这可能会让广告商不再回来.

Devices are also an issue from country to country. In the United States, you'll see a lot of Apple TV or Chromecast. 在亚洲, you’re more likely producing content for Amazon Fire Stick or Xiaomi, a device a testing team outside of Asia likely doesn’t have access to and, 即使他们做了, 他们需要复制他们可能在美国测试的相同类型的网络条件.S. with a 4G or 5G connection or high-speed internet.

在为直播进行测试时，有很多需要考虑的问题——对于大多数内部团队来说，要做好这些问题太多了.

Live broadcast needs a different testing approach

直播要想成功, 媒体机构需要在你直播内容的每个地区都有测试团队. 如果你是超级碗的制作人, find testers that are passionate about football; if you’re producing the Oscars, 确定为艺术而活的测试员. 你的最终目标是避免这种情况失败的实时事件流 that can quickly go viral, causing significant damage to your reputation. This is particularly true in the age of social media, 不满意的观众可以通过直播将他们的负面经历迅速传播给更广泛的观众.

众测将合适的受众聚集在一起，并授权他们在基于特定位置的测试环境中打破某些东西, 按设备类型划分, and based on the network options that are available. Once crowdtesting teams have been implemented, they can be engaged repeatedly.

There’s no substitute for real testers with real devices in real markets. 设备群和vpn可能会遇到一些问题, 但如果你不能捕捉到一个影响大量直播观众的缺陷，那就没什么安慰了. 流媒体设备的碎片化使得测试团队评估流的质量变得越来越具有挑战性, 播放和广告, 由于许多可用的决议, interactive camera views and closed captions availability, 仅举几个例子. 市场上的测试人员经过培训，可以提供详细的报告和捕获Charles日志，这有助于快速识别和解决这些缺陷, 尤其是在实时协作的时候.

Crowdtesting, which offers in-market testers to cover gaps in internal testing coverage, can help providers ensure they are bringing their best, high-quality experiences to this complex and competitive marketplace.

艾德里安•加西亚，解决方案顾问，掌声

作为解决方案顾问掌声, 艾德里安•加西亚与世界各地的客户合作，了解他们的战略业务目标和需求, and align them to the appropriate digital quality and feedback solutions. Adrian is passionate about helping customers ensure high quality for their websites, 移动应用程序, 通过掌声全面管理的众测服务提供物联网产品和数字体验.

[Editor's note: This is a contributed article from 掌声. 流媒体 accepts vendor bylines based solely on their value to our readers.]

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