2.1. Video streaming as part of the Entertainment and Media sector

Video streaming is an entertainment service delivered over the internet. As such, it is heavily dependent on elements of the ICT sector. To understand the emissions of streaming it is helpful to realise how video entertainment (and the media industry in general) has been digitising.

ICT has become an intrinsic part of everyday work and social life, with constant connection, instantaneous media and social media. Multiple economic sectors rely on ICT, with ICT providing a horizontal layer that cuts across a vast number of industries. The development of video entertainment has been rapid. Video store rentals were replaced with DVD postal delivery, which in turn has been replaced by online streaming. Like other sectors, the Entertainment and Media (E&M) sector has gradually shifted towards digitalisation and dematerialisation of its services. Video streaming is reliant on the ICT and E&M sectors to deliver content into the home, and within the ICT system there are multiple touch points.

The key ones being:

The originating and encoding of video content is performed in Data Centres The home is connected to the internet using home terminals and routers

Video content is stored on edge servers close to the end-user for better quality streaming using Content Delivery

Networks (CDN)

The transmission of video from the data centres to the CDN to the home occurs over the telecommunications networks comprising the internet Some video services use home peripherals (e.g. set-top boxes) to enable selection of the services

And finally, watching the video uses an end-user device such as a laptop, tablet, smartphone, or TV.

All of these stages consume electricity and hence generate related carbon emissions. This therefore requires an understanding of the wider context of ICT and E&M.