About the Client
AfriStream is an African streaming service focused on original African content — movies, series, and documentaries — serving viewers across 15 countries.
The Challenge
Their existing platform buffered constantly, had high CDN costs, and couldn't handle concurrent viewership spikes during original content premieres.
The Solution
We re-architected the entire streaming backend with adaptive bitrate delivery, multi-region edge caching, and a microservices architecture that handles 500K concurrent streams.
Key Features
Adaptive Bitrate
Automatic quality adjustment based on connection speed
80% reduction in buffering
Edge Caching
Content cached at 12 edge locations across Africa
50% lower CDN costs
Live Streaming
Low-latency live event broadcasting infrastructure
Supports 500K concurrent viewers
Content Analytics
Viewing habits, engagement metrics, content performance
Data-driven content investment
The Results
80% less buffering. 50% lower CDN costs. 2M+ active subscribers.
80%
Less buffering
50%
Lower CDN costs
2M+
Subscribers
500K
Concurrent streams
Our Process
Architecture
3 weeksPlatform audit, streaming architecture design, edge strategy
Infrastructure
4 weeksMulti-region setup, edge node deployment, CDN configuration
Backend
7 weeksMicroservices development, transcoding pipeline, analytics
Launch
2 weeksLoad testing, premiere stress test, gradual rollout
"We went from a broken streaming backend to a Netflix-calibre experience in under 4 months. CiroStack's media engineering expertise is second to none."
Isabelle Fontaine
CTO, AfriStream
What the Client Loved
- Viewers in rural areas can now stream without buffering
- CDN costs dropped dramatically
- The analytics dashboard drives our content strategy
Challenges We Overcame
- Delivering quality streams over unreliable African internet — multi-CDN fallback
- Transcoding 10,000+ hours of content — distributed FFmpeg pipeline
Technology Stack
Backend
Streaming
Cloud
Database
