Akamai and Bitmovin: Revolutionizing Live and On-Demand Video Streaming

Streaming, both live and on demand, has become a primary way that people consume content, and the expectations for video quality have never been higher. Meeting these demands requires reliable infrastructure that can deliver at scale.

To meet these needs, Akamai and Bitmovin have partnered to give streaming providers a more efficient way to deliver live and on-demand video. The combination of Akamai Cloud and Akamai’s global content delivery network (CDN) with Bitmovin’s complete video technology suite results in a powerful partnership that simplifies delivery, improves performance, and unlocks new opportunities for monetization and engagement.

This blog post explores how the combined capabilities of Akamai and Bitmovin solve the key challenges that face streaming providers today, from cost control and latency reduction to viewer engagement and workflow flexibility.

Akamai and Bitmovin work together to provide streaming providers with solutions that combine infrastructure, technology, and a strong partner ecosystem to support live and on-demand experiences. The partnership reduces complexity, improves performance, and creates new opportunities for growth.

The partnership addresses:

• Cost control
• Scalability
• Workflow efficiency and flexibility
• Monetization
• Playback quality, experience, and reach
• Innovation and future readiness

Content licensing, cloud hosting, back-end development, and other factors can quickly drive up costs for streaming providers. Examples of how Akamai and Bitmovin help with cost control, include: 

• Akamai offers competitive cloud compute pricing that bundles CPU, transfer, storage, and RAM into one flat price.
• Akamai offers reduced egress pricing that is 50% to 94% lower than other cloud providers’ prices
• Bitmovin’s content-aware encoding, including per-title and per-scene optimization, reduces storage and CDN costs by 30% to 55%.

Competitive pricing plus smart storage is a winning combination: Streaming providers that run the Bitmovin Live Encoder (such as One Football) and VOD Encoder (like Ascend Learning) within Akamai Cloud can reduce data transfer out (DTO) costs by up to 94%.

Streaming platforms must be able to handle fluctuating audiences, expanding content libraries, and new market launches without sacrificing performance or cost control. Akamai and Bitmovin provide an infrastructure foundation that grows with demand while keeping operations simple.

• Bitmovin’s encoding stack runs on Akamai Cloud, allowing providers to consolidate workflows within a single infrastructure and to scale resources as demand changes.
• Akamai’s scalable delivery network ensures that as audiences grow, performance and cost-efficiency remain stable. 
• With Akamai and Bitmovin, streaming providers also have access to dozens of pre-integrated industry partners like Videon (for reliable live contribution encoding), Zixi (for secure, low-latency content transport), EZDRM (for comprehensive digital rights management), and Yospace (for advanced server-side ad insertion).

By simplifying infrastructure and outsourcing many aspects of the streaming workflow, streaming services reduce back-end complexity while improving scalability, creating a strong yet flexible foundation for growth.

Audiences take content for granted, but streaming providers manage complex workflows that include encoding, packaging, delivery, and playback. Simplifying these processes is key to building adaptable workflows that accelerate time to market and reduce manual effort. 

Providers need solutions that support flexible deployments and integrate easily into existing environments.

• Bitmovin’s modular architecture and API-first approach help developers integrate encoding, playback, and analytics into tailored workflows across a range of verticals.
• Bitmovin’s Cloud Connect provides flexible deployment options for encoding in Bitmovin’s managed environment or within dedicated infrastructure in Akamai Cloud.
• Akamai EdgeWorkers enables content personalization, access control, and business logic execution directly at the edge.
• EdgeWorkers also supports advanced use cases like A/B testing, geospecific logic, and user session personalization. 

Bitmovin’s Cloud Connect is particularly valuable for providers who already have Akamai Cloud credits or infrastructure investments, helping them maximize these resources while continuing to use Bitmovin’s encoding solutions. Running on Akamai Cloud, Bitmovin’s Cloud Connect supports end-to-end workflows and gives teams the flexibility to deploy and manage services more efficiently.

Live viewers expect streams to be as close to real time as possible, especially during major events like sports, concerts, or global broadcasts. Akamai and Bitmovin reduce latency by combining low-latency delivery with fast, reliable playback. Some of the ways that this is achieved include:

• Akamai places compute and content closer to end users for smooth, consistent playback through a globally distributed infrastructure. 
• The Bitmovin Player uses adaptive bitrate streaming, quick start-up times, and advanced features like Multiview Playback, which lets users switch between camera angles or perspectives in real time.
• Akamai and Bitmovin support Common Media Client Data (CMCD) by incorporating playback data into delivery decisions to reduce buffering and improve reliability.

Whether it’s a big game or a live stream from their favorite influencer,  audiences can experience smooth, instantaneous streaming.

Monetization plays a key role in the success of streaming services, and effective ad strategies can significantly boost revenue. Bitmovin and Akamai provide the tools and integrations needed to support multiple ad delivery workflows and advanced measurement capabilities.

• Akamai and Bitmovin support CSAI, SSAI, and SGAI ad delivery, giving providers the flexibility to choose the best approach for their workflows.
• Both integrate with partners such as Yospace, Broadpeak, Google Ad Manager, and others to enable seamless ad delivery across devices and regions.
• Bitmovin’s AI Scene Analysis generates scene-level metadata by automatically detecting important content moments, providing data that can be used for smarter ad placement and contextual advertising.
• Bitmovin’s Advertising Analytics provides insights into ad performance, helping providers track results and refine campaigns.

These capabilities unlock new ways for streaming providers to engage viewers with relevant ads, optimize campaigns, and generate additional revenue.

Delivering a consistent and personalized viewing experience is critical to keep audiences satisfied. Bitmovin and Akamai combine advanced playback technology with global delivery to ensure high-quality streaming for both live and on-demand content.

• Bitmovin’s Player supports the widest range of devices on the market, offering consistent features and performance across every platform while maintaining fast start-up times and adaptive playback.
• Bitmovin’s support for live-to-VOD and live clipping increases content reusability.
• Bitmovin’s Analytics provides real-time observability into playback performance, helping providers identify issues faster and optimize the viewing experience — and also supports CMCD to further improve playback quality.
• Akamai’s cloud infrastructure enables streaming providers to serve audiences worldwide with dependable reach and scale.

Viewers want a reliable, personalized experience and Akamai and Bitmovin make it easy to give them exactly that.

As the industry changes rapidly due to the increasing role of AI, new monetization models, and evolving devices, Akamai and Bitmovin enable workflows built to grow with these changes. Their technology is designed to stay ahead of industry trends, giving providers the ability to adopt new technologies, explore innovative monetization strategies, and deliver improved viewing experiences.

Regular updates and ongoing maintenance ensure that these workflows remain current, which allows developers to focus on improving and launching new features rather than managing infrastructure.