Which video streaming platform would you choose today?

Question

We have decided that it is time to ditch the ad-hoc method of deploying video on our web properties and pick one or more Video Platforms to handle this task for us. High level requirements are:

• Needs to have an easy to mount and embed player.
• Needs to make uploading and converting existing video.
• Needs to have strong analytics, preferably integrated with google analytics.
• Needs to be capable of "canned" video (ie -- video on demand) and live streams (ie -- live events).

Some other things that could tilt the balance:

• Mobile-friendly.
• Multiple-bitrate streaming.
• Flexible APIs.

Hosting this ourselves isn't an option--we just don't have the manpower to care/feed for it. Price is not a major object.

So, who would you pick?

Answer 1

I'd recommend Ooyala or BrightCove as a professional video platform for mid-to-large size businesses. Both have scalable pricing as demand increases (including support for mobile, API's and live-streaming). They're expensive (see pricing: Ooyala and BrightCove), but acceptable for mid-large businesses. Brightcove is used by big names such as Fox, DiscoveryChannel, etc. Ooyala is used by EA, Dell, etc.

Competitors to also consider: Kaltura, Delve, Viddler (no live), Wistia (no live).

Ps. personally I wanted to recommend Vimeo because I love their player's interface, but Vimeo Plus' 5gb/week limit means it's probably not suitable for businesses.