DocumentationAnalyticsStreaming media services guide

Track playback

Last update: May 28, 2026

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Playback events track state transitions in the media player throughout a session. They form the core of the event stream and apply to any content type.

Player events

Player event
Action
Media plays or resumes
Call Play
Media pauses
Call Pause start
Buffering begins
Call Buffer start
Buffering ends
Call Play
Bitrate changes
Call Bitrate change
Timer fires
Call Ping

Implementation steps

  1. Call Play after Session start when the first frame of content renders on screen. Also send Play when playback resumes after a pause or buffer stall. There is no separate resume event.
  2. Call Pause start when the user pauses playback. Send Play when playback resumes.
  3. Call Buffer start when the player stalls waiting for data. On XDM-based APIs, buffer end is inferred when you send the next Play event. On Mobile SDK, also call BufferComplete explicitly when buffering resolves.
  4. Call Ping every 10 seconds during main content playback and every 1 second during ad playback. Ping keeps the session alive and records playhead movement. Mobile SDKs send pings automatically; all other platforms must send them manually.
  5. Call Bitrate change whenever the player negotiates a new bitrate. Include the current QoE data — bitrate, frames per second, dropped frames — so the backend can compute Average bitrate and related quality metrics.
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