Company also sees 55 per cent increase in live transmission hours and emergence of 4K resolution in live broadcasting. As part of its annual State of Live report, LiveU says 25 per cent of its traffic is now HEVC-encoded.

The company says it has seen a significant increase this year, helped by this summer’s FIFA World Cup in Russia.

Live transmission hours have increased overall over the past year with over 2.2 million hours of live video delivered in 2018, representing a 55 per cent surge in hours compared to 2017. The findings, collected for the second year, are based on data gathered from LiveU’s global customer base of over 3,000 users.

LiveU says the adoption of HD resolution has also risen as its customers reduce use of SD. UHD/4K resolution is emerging with sports leading the way, most notably in the US, Japan and Western Europe.

Samuel Wasserman, LiveU’s CEO and co-founder, said: “HEVC technology has undoubtedly transformed the market this year, enabling dynamic sports productions in the most challenging locations, as well as ongoing global news coverage.

“Looking ahead to 2019, we believe that live sports usage will continue to grow across multiple segments as HEVC offers the quality and reliability of satellite and other traditional transmission methods at a fraction of the cost. In-station services based around the IP distribution of content are also playing a key role in the industry, replacing traditional fibre and satellite services, and this will likely continue next year.”