The world’s largest video streaming platforms alone account for a few billion users globally. Live video is demanding far more bits per second than any other type of internet usage. In 2019, Cisco estimated that video would make up at least 80% of the 4.8 zetabytes of data being delivered over the internet by 2022. More than a billion hours of content is consumed on a single streaming platform every single day. As a result, the industry’s carbon footprint is growing exponentially and now exceeds that of the airline industry.
Last year, The Guardian reported that just one of the world’s top three streaming sites is responsible for emitting more greenhouse gases than Glasgow – the site of the 2021 Cop26 climate summit.
The urgent challenge facing media and entertainment companies today is the need to reduce their environmental impact, while still delivering the impeccable quality and end-user experience that viewers expect and demand. As they tussle with the perennial issue of quality, many of the big names in Silicon Valley have set ambitious goals of achieving net zero by the end of 2022.
“The industry’s carbon footprint is growing exponentially and now exceeds that of the airline industry”
Read the full article by iSIZE CEO, Sergio Grce, published in IBC 365 here.
