Playout Automation and Channel-in-a-Box Market Size & Share Analysis - Trends, Drivers, Competitive Landscape, and Forecasts (2024-2030)

Playout Automation and Channel-in-a-Box Market Data

Playout Automation and Channel-in-a-Box Market Trends & Drivers

Need for High-Quality Video Content Is Main Trend

• As the demand for excellent audio and video content grows, companies are focusing on improving the quality of their graphics and videos. This trend is easily visible in the gaming, e-learning, entertainment, and media sectors.
• As consumers’ demand for high-quality streaming video expands, platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney+ are continuously improving their audio and video quality. For this, they depend on a range of solutions to satisfy the increasing requirements and deliver excellent viewing experiences.
• Playout systems that are automated provide better transmission of content, which ensures continuous distribution and broadcasting to meet the increasing requirement for video content.
• Playout automation and channel-in-a-box solutions provide a better coverage area that includes national and international broadcasters, which helps easily transmit content all over the world.

Growth in Broadcasting Activities

• The current digital shift, together with the rising need for content from sectors such as media, entertainment, education, and gaming, fosters the growth of broadcasting activities.
• Streaming platforms, such as Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Disney+, are continuously increasing their geographical area to cater to the increasing demand for broadcasting services.
• Broadcasting services provide a strong foundation for media transmission, which facilitates the introduction of playout automation and channel-in-a-box solutions. 
• Broadcasting services have played a key role in the growth of various streaming platforms by providing different technologies and tools to handle large data volumes and satisfy the needs of an expanding audience. 

Evolution of Online Education Is Main Driver

• The growth of e-learning and online education platforms has created a need for more-efficient ways for the creation and delivery of instructional/learning materials. The idea is to allow everyone to access them easily and provide an enjoyable learning environment.
• The increasing demand for online education and e-learning creates a high requirement for better content delivery solutions, so that learners do not face any difficulty in accessing the information, which increases the demand for playout automation services.
• User-friendly interfaces play a crucial role in making educational platforms attractive to diverse learners. Good design and clear navigation enhance the learning experience, supporting equal opportunities in online education.

Increasing Demand for Virtualization Leads to Market Growth

• The virtualization technology used to create digital representations of real-life objects and scenarios. There are many types of virtualizations, such as storage virtualization, desktop virtualization and application virtualization, which enhance the user experience. As the demand for various applications increases, so will the need for virtualization.
• This approach can combine several transmission operations in one server, which enables producers to maximize their resources. This makes it possible for tasks such as playout, graphics rendering, and encoding to operate as separate processes on a single server, thus helping save money on specialized hardware for each activity. This consolidation optimizes resources, thus lowering hardware and software expenses.
• Virtualization provides scalability by allowing servers to dynamically allocate resources in response to the changing demand. It allows servers to add or remove resources, to meet the changing requirements for playout automation and channel-in-a-box solutions. By using this technology, servers are able to handle high traffic efficiently, without requiring large initial investments in physical equipment. 

Security Risks in Automated Broadcasting Systems Are Key Challenge

• The developing threat environment poses a significant challenge for the playout automation and channel-in-a-box market, as cyber attackers continuously devise new tactics to exploit vulnerabilities and attack the broadcasting infrastructure.
• Automated broadcasting systems often constitute vital infrastructure elements, making them attractive to cybercriminals seeking to disrupt communication or obtain unauthorized access to sensitive data, thus posing a substantial threat to broadcast operations.
• Data breaches in automated broadcasting systems may expose sensitive viewer information, including personal preferences and viewing habits, which raises concerns about privacy violations and compliance with regulatory requirements.

Playout Automation & Channel-in-a-Box Market Outlook

Channel Type Insights

• The multiple-channel category is expected to witness the highest CAGR, of 16.5%, during the forecast period.
• The growing demand for entertainment and news worldwide increases the popularity of multiple-channel platforms. They offer a wide range of content, which helps attract audiences with different interests.
• Multiple channels help broadcast content across different regions, for a larger audience.
• Collaborating with popular international broadcasters boosts the credibility and global presence of multiple-channel platforms. Aligning with established brands builds viewer trust and attracts new subscribers, thus driving the market growth in this category
• Big media houses and companies possessing a wide range of streams benefit greatly from multi-channel playouts as they make it easier for businesses to manage processes and allocate resources efficiently.

We analyzed the following channel types in the report: 

• Single-Channel (Largest Category)
• Multiple-Channel (Fastest-Growing Category)
• Others

Application Analysis

• Sports is expected to be the fastest-growing category in the forecast period, with a CAGR of 16.8%.
• Sports are becoming increasingly popular around the world due to population growth, increasing monetary freedom, and technological advancements in devices. The greater viewing and interaction with sports material are a direct result of this rising interest. Sports fans need a better watching experience, which is provided by automation. Playout automation also helps in lowering mistake rates.
• Viewers all over the globe monitor players and competitors in sports and events, which are becoming increasingly international. The global increase in the number of people who watch sports creates new opportunities for sponsors and broadcasters, which indirectly promotes the adoption of playout automation services.
• The transition of sports material from conventional televisions to online platforms is greatly aided by playout automation. It enables journalists to attract more people on the internet, by improving customization, facilitating real-time engagement, and expediting the distribution of material. This guarantees flawless content transmission, economies of scale, and scalability, thus supporting the general expansion of the sports market in the digital age.
• Considering the sizeable and enthusiastic crowd that watches sporting events, companies are preparing to spend on sponsorship arrangements and spots for advertisements. 

Below are the applications that were studied in this report

• Broadcast TV
  • National networks
  • Regional and local channels
• Cable & Satellite TV
• News
• Sports (Largest and Fastest-Growing Category)
• OTT Platforms
  • Subscription-based OTT channels
  • Ad-supported OTT channels
• Web TV & Streaming Services
  • Independent web TV channels
  • Streaming service-specific channels
• Others

Deployment Mode Insights

• The cloud category is expected to grow faster because cloud-based solutions do not require any physical infrastructure. Users simply have to connect to the online server of the service provider to access the content.
• Cloud platforms provide high scalability, which helps organizations easily scale up or down their resources based on the user requirement. This allows organizations to respond quickly without the need for a great change in the hardware and software.
• Cloud-based deployment is a pay-as-you-go model, in which users pay only for the resources they use, thus offering cost-effectiveness over models wherein all the services, are chargeable regardless of whether they are used or not.

Below are the types of deployment mode which are studied in this report

• Cloud (Faster-Growing Category)
• On-Premises (Larger Category)

Vertical Analysis

• The education and corporate category will showcase the highest CAGR, of 16.6%, over this decade.
• Playout automation and channel-in-a-box solutions increase the quality of the information delivered to students, teachers, and corporate employees. The education and corporate sector’s digital transformation is happening quickly. Therefore, the demand for online education platforms, virtual classrooms, digital collaboration tools, and remote work increasing, which promote the growth of this market.
• The technological advancement of all industries creates a demand for upskilling and education, which, in turn, propels the online education domain.
• As companies are expanding into other countries, their need for workforce dispersed across countries is also rising. This drives the need for playout automation and channel-in-a-box solutions in the education and corporate sector.

Below are the verticals that were studied in this report

• Media & Entertainment
• Telecommunications
• Education & Corporate (Largest and Fastest-Growing Category)
• Cartoon & Lifestyle
• Others

Geographical Analysis

• Geographically, North America held the largest share in the playout automation and channel-in-a-box market in 2023 due to the continuous growth of broadcasting companies and the integration of digital platforms. Other key drivers are technological advancements, competitive pressure, demand expansion, consumer preferences shift, and favorable economic conditions. Companies in North America are focused on advancing their technology and reducing costs, leading to the rising use of these solutions.
• Asia-Pacific (APAC) will be the fastest-growing market, advancing at a CAGR of 16.6% during 2024–2030. This is mainly due to the increasing number of viewers and the rising need for better video quality.

The regions and countries analyzed for this report include:

• North America (Largest Regional Market)
  • U.S. (Larger and Faster-Growing Country Market)
  • Canada
• Europe
  • Germany (Largest Country Market)
  • U.K. (Fastest-Growing Country Market)
  • France
  • Italy
  • Spain
  • Rest of Europe
• Asia-Pacific (APAC) (Fastest-Growing Regional Market)
  • China (Largest Country Market)
  • Japan
  • India
  • South Korea (Fastest-Growing Country Market)
  • Australia
  • Rest of APAC
• Latin America (LATAM)
  • Brazil (Largest Country Market)
  • Mexico (Fastest-Growing Country Market)
  • Rest of LATAM
• Middle East and Africa (MEA)
  • Saudi Arabia (Largest Country Market)
  • South Africa
  • U.A.E. (Fastest-Growing Country Market)
  • Rest of MEA

Market Nature - Fragmented

• Companies such as Cinegy LLC, Harmonic, and PlayBox Technology Pvt. Ltd. provide software for digital video processing, video compression and automation, to provide a high video quality.
• To satisfy consumers’ needs, companies are providing a wide range of options, one of which is Grass Valley, which provides live production services via the cloud for a wide range of events.

Playout Automation & Channel-in-a-Box Companies News

• In February 2023, Cinegy GmbH published Cinegy Air version 22.12.
• In April 2023, Harmonic expanded its cloud playout ecosystem and automated the creation of FAST channels. Spideo had a deal with Harmonic to automatically create schedules for FAST channels and offer innovative personalization with the latter’s VOS360 Media SaaS.
• In September 2023, Pebble and Virtual AI entered into a partnership to integrate their advanced traffic and planning capabilities and playout solutions, to enhance the functionality of FAST services.
• In November 2023, Avid Technology completed its acquisition of an affiliate of STG in an all-cash transaction worth USD 1.4 billion.
• In September 2023, Imagine Communication and Google Ad Manager began collaborating to transform converged TV advertising.
• In April 2023, the partnership of MSG Network and Harmonic launched a network that is reliable and scalable in real-time. The DevOps team at Harmonic supports the solution's reliability and ensures high availability for continuous streaming services.
• In April 2023, Evertz introduced a new technology, called Evertz.io, which helps new TV channels start services. It works for different types of viewing experiences, such as online streaming (Netflix), direct subscriptions (where people pay to watch directly), and traditional TV broadcasts.