As more content becomes available for free online, carriers are increasingly investing in Video On Demand and time-shifting services. This trend towards time-shifted television viewing has helped produce a shift from schedule-based TV broadcasting to on-demand distribution. Time-shifting has created a new opportunity for operators to acquire and retain new customers, and has enabled several applications such as “catch up TV,” “pause live TV,” and nPVR (network personal video recording) capabilities.

Time-shifted TV has led to an increase in the amount of content, which also has an impact on storage requirements. Additionally, a continued transition to high-definition content will result in increased demand for video server capacity over time.

ABI Research’s recent “Video Server Market Analysis” examines current trends in the video server market, and the video server’s role in delivering on-demand and interactive services to subscribers. It also identifies market drivers and inhibitors, and profiles key players and their product offerings in the cable, telco and broadcast segments. Market share and pricing trend data are accompanied by regional and market segment forecasts.