In today’s OTT video streaming universe, the number of service contenders has risen dramatically with the latest entrants like Disney+ and NBC Universal’s Peacock service. With so much choice, competition for eyeballs is higher than ever. These days viewers of course expect access to content anytime and on any device, with limited patience for operators that do not meet such expectations. This makes it challenging for operators to effectively monetize their services while also protecting the content against piracy in various forms.

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The COVID-19 pandemic is putting pressure on society in innumerable ways, ranging from first responders, to hospital facilities and government agencies, to families and individuals “sheltering in place.” Streaming service providers have experienced a surge in new customer sign-ups combined with extended viewing throughout daytime and evenings. Netflix added 15.8 million subscribers, more than double the 7.2 million that were expected, during Q1 2020. As state policies were put in place, research conducted by Fastly revealed a substantial increase in traffic load in several industry verticals including, digital publishing, social media, GIFs, gaming, education, and streaming. For streaming services specifically, between February and March there was an observed increase of 29.6% in average requests per second.

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