Apparatus, system, and method for conditionally performing media delivery index measurements on streaming media

A disclosed method may include (1) identifying, within a network, a media stream under consideration for a conditional MDI, (2) identifying, for the media stream, an expected packet rate at which the media stream is expected to pass through at least a portion of the network, (3) determining, for the media stream, an actual packet rate at which the media stream actually passes through the portion of the network, (4) calculating, based at least in part on the expected packet rate and the actual packet rate, a media rate variation that represents a reference for determining whether to perform the conditional MDI on the media stream, (5) determining that the media rate variation meets a certain threshold, and then upon determining that the media rate variation meets the certain threshold, (6) performing the conditional MDI on the media stream. Various other systems and methods are also disclosed.