Smooth migration to a new video streaming platform bolsters bottom line
KDDI's Video Pass
Background
With 49 million subscribers, KDDI is one of Japan's largest telecommunications companies. In addition to telecommunications services, KDDI also offers Video Pass, a video streaming service that allows subscribers to watch movies and TV shows on demand. As mobile technology began to shift towards 4G connectivity, KDDI knew they needed to quickly upgrade their platform capacity in order to expand their network and accommodate new subscribers.
Challenges
Operating in the highly competitive streaming services market, KDDI needed a platform flexible enough to grow with streaming trends and market demand. However, their platform provider at the time had already reached their technological limits, and could only fulfill KDDI's requests under a lengthy timeframe incompatible with rapid changes of the streaming industry.
As KDDI is first and foremost a telecommunications company, they required a streaming service platform provider that could not only provide cutting-edge streaming technology, but that also understood the video streaming market. That's when they approached KKStream with a challenge: migrate Video Pass's entire subscriber base to a new and improved platform, while also boosting profitability.
Solutions
KKStream provided a comprehensive streaming platform solution, flexible enough to grow alongside changing market demands. We provided KDDI with the following solutions:
Business Intelligence
With an in-depth understanding of user behavior and the video streaming market, KKStream provided valuable insight to recommend business strategy and validate decisions according to market demands.
OTT Easy Solution
KKStream implemented a content management system that simplifies metadata editing and content promotion, while also redesigning KDDI's video streaming storefront with a crisp new design and user-friendly interface. KKStream ingested and transcoded tens of thousands of videos into a format compatible with all mainstream devices, protected via studio-standard DRM, and stored on a cloud-based system.
KDDI Ecosystem Integration
KKStream fully integrated Video Pass with KDDI's other telecommunications and entertainment services under a unified payment structure, allowing existing KDDI telecommunications subscribers to easily purchase on-demand videos from Video Pass using virtual currency or points.
24-Hour Operation
KKStream constantly manages server stability to ensure emergency technical issues are addressed immediately.
Since working with KKStream, Video Pass has experienced impressive business growth—signifi-cantly expanding user base, increasing profits, and adding 1.5 times more daily active users than before.
Satoshi Miyaji
General Manager of Entertainment Business Development, KDDI
Results
Following a year of development, KKStream seamlessly migrated KDDI's entire subscriber base onto KKStream's platform in less than two months—without disrupting user experience. Within three years, Video Pass already started turning a profit.
Increased Subscribers and User Active Rate
By reducing the loading time and modernizing the display, KKStream's new app interface increased daily active users and markedly grew subscriber base. With the rapid influx of new subscribers, KKStream further improved device compatibility, allowing more devices to access Video Pass's streaming service.
Smoother Streaming
All of our streaming solutions include adaptive bitrate streaming, which automatically adjusts bitrate based on users’ connection to create a smoother viewing experience.
Reduced Cost
By transitioning towards a cloud-based solution, we helped KDDI minimize infrastructure expenditures—reducing cost and enabling KDDI to offer a better streaming experience to Video Pass subscribers.
Strengthened Bottom Line
In stark contrast to a typical platform migration that fails to smoothly migrate users and weakens service providers’ bottom line, KKStream not only seamlessly migrated Video Pass's massive subscriber base onto a new platform without disrupting user experience, we also markedly increased Video Pass's profit margin.