Zee5 adopts CMAF for enhancing accessibility and streamlining content delivery

New Delhi: Zee5 on Thursday said it successfully adopted the Common Media Application Format (CMAF) at a wider scale to transform content delivery and enhance viewer experience. This will enable Zee5 to expand its reach to a target of 100 million users, ensuring more viewers can have access to high-quality streaming – by optimising bandwidth consumption and reducing operational costs.  

Implemented by Company’s Technology & Innovation Centre based in Bengaluru, the step aims at facilitating smoother video playback across devices and for users to experience good AV quality even during low internet network. 

Reflecting on the impact of CMAF, Shiva Chinnasamy, Chief Technology and Product Officer, ZEE said, “Our strategic focus is to provide best-in-class AV experience even in areas with low internet. CMAF allows us to serve content more efficiently, ensuring no data wastage while delivering high-quality immersive experiences to every viewer, no matter their bandwidth. Zee5 is focusing on building in-house capabilities to provide robust services and experience to their consumers and adoption of CMAF is a crucial step to achieve the same."

Manish Kalra, Chief Business Officer, Zee5 India, said, “At Zee5, we remain focused on enhancing viewer experience through cutting-edge technology. Adopting the Common Media Application Format (CMAF) is a step forward in Zee5’s vision to democratise access to quality entertainment. This ensures that even in regions with low internet connectivity, our users can enjoy seamless viewing experiences. This strategic move reflects our commitment to bring quality content to a broader audience, which also aligns with our goal of delivering immersive entertainment across multiple devices. CMAF represents a significant step in further refining how our viewers engage with content on our platform.”

Commenting on the success of the format, Suneel Khare, Senior Vice President and Head of Video Engineering, Zee, said, “The implementation of CMAF is strategic. It allows us to streamline and improve our content delivery, enabling real-time low-latency streaming while significantly reducing data requirements. This enhancement ensures smoother playback even in regions with low bandwidth, expanding Zee5’s reach to a broader audience, including those with limited internet access.”

Zee5’s successful implementation of CMAF facilitates the following:

• Low-Latency Streaming: Essential for live events, CMAF ensures near real-time video delivery, minimising delays and enhancing live event viewing.

• Bandwidth Optimisation: The efficient CMAF packaging reduces data consumption, enhancing video quality in low-bandwidth environments.

• Cross-Device Compatibility: CMAF supports both HLS (HTTP live streaming) and DASH (Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP) formats, ensuring consistent video playback across mobile devices, Smart TVs, and more.

• Future-Ready Encryption: CMAF utilises Widevine CBCS technology, a standard for content protection that allows for seamless playback across both Apple & Android devices and ensures a seamless and secure streaming experience.

Rahul Banerjee, Principal Architect of Video Engineering, Zee, added, “With CMAF, the real-time improvements in video quality and reduced buffering have significantly enhanced viewer engagement. This upgrade ensures viewers enjoy higher-quality streams with minimal delays, even in regions with weaker internet connectivity.” 

Apart from enhancing the viewer experience, CMAF also optimises content packaging for ZEE5, reducing storage requirements by over 30% while keeping Content Delivery Network costs static despite growing demand for higher-resolution content. Leveraging the same benefits, ZEE5 is expanding its global reach in more than 12 languages, ensuring consistent performance during peak usage.