‘Quality of Service’ a Key ‘Dimension’ in Competitive Streaming, Says Harmonic CEO

The “pay video service arena is turbulent to say the least,” said Harmonic CEO Patrick Harshman on a Q1 call Monday evening. “We have several large customers who are in the midst of a variety of M&A activities, all fighting ferociously with each other as well as a whole host of new players.” A “dimension” of that competition involves “quality of service,” he said. “Incumbents” and “new players” are making “significant investments in new streaming capabilities,” he said. Quality is “a big deal,” he said. “Consumers more than ever are expecting high-quality services.” Streaming is an “opportunity-rich area,” he said. “You see some of our customers on the defense and some of them are on the offense.” They have “more flexibility than they've ever had to go to market with in this really rapidly changing environment,” he said.