Streaming Media East 2005 Wrap-Up

The Cost of Streaming Media Services
Michael Hoch, VP of research for RampRate Sourcing Advisors, renamed his session "The Cost of Media Delivery Services," since he addressed both streaming and progressive download content. "Streaming is a strategy, not a market in itself," he said.

Hoch presented data from his upcoming report, which shares the name of his session and will be available from StreamingMedia.com later this year. Hoch surveyed 253 qualified respondents through StreamingMedia.com, and conducted a CDN buyer study that included 49 in-depth interviews with service buyers across all verticals. He also used RampRate’s own data from more than 120 sourcing transactions, which included contracts as small as $500,000 and as large as $50 million.

The results were revealing. Fifty-six percent of the respondents spent less than five percent of their IT budget on streaming and media delivery, while only 28% spent 10% or more. "Most people spend only what they must," he said, suggesting that enterprises still weren’t getting the most out of media delivery technology. Fortunately, prices are stabilizing both for streaming and on-demand content delivery, showing far less differentiation between highest and lowest prices than in previous years.
—Schumacher-Rasmussen