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Media/Entertainment Video

Today's viewers expect to be able to watch movies and TV shows anytime, anywhere, and on any device, including set-top boxes, game consoles, phones, and tablets. Here you'll find Streaming Media's coverage of OTT, social video, and other media and entertainment video, as well as the business models (AVOD, SVOD, TVOD, HVOD) behind them.

We're back August 11-13, for the next installment of Streaming Media Connect.
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Features

The Streaming Industry Is Building for Personalization Before It Solves Discovery

While the industry races towards increasingly sophisticated personalized sports streaming experiences, the fundamental viewing journey for many fans remains fragmented, confusing, and unnecessarily complicated.

The Perks and the Perils of Pop-Up FAST Channels

The flexibility of FAST channels has led to the emergence of FAST channel pop-ups, which can be created to cover niche content, test formats, and even react to specific events, such as an iconic celebrity's passing, to showcase their work. This vitality has generated a growing demand for pop-up FAST channels, and while the technology to launch them continues to improve, there are still technical, marketing, discoverability, and other logistical issues to overcome. In this article, several industry experts weigh in on both the various benefits and challenges of FAST channel pop-ups and what their continued development means for the industry.

Q&A: Tennis Channel SVP Direct-to-Consumer Matthew Graham Talks Launching, Programming, and Scaling the Tennis Channel App

In late 2023, Tennis Channel brought in AMC Networks and PBS Digital veteran Matthew Graham to spearhead the development of the network's DTC app. In this Q&A, Graham delves into the app's content, monetization, partnership, and growth strategy, as well as how Tennis Channel positions the app in relation to its other platforms and leverages data and audience insights to measure customer lifetime value, personalize content, and inform future strategic decisions.

AI's Streaming Stack: Engagement Agents

The three companies covered in this issue's column are all involved in bringing more monetization or engagement to today's streaming content. The key differentiator is using AI to delve deep into content meaning and adjacent data to create new opportunities for content formats that previously did not exist. While we sometimes cover tools that are suitable for smaller publishers, these AI tools require a certain scale of content to … well, work at scale. Two of these companies have been around for 10-plus years. The other one is much newer but already has an impressive connection with a media company.

Spotlights

A View From the Top: BuyDRM

Today we live in a DRM-driven streaming video landscape. DRM is the sole studio-mandated streaming security technology in use across every major streaming video and audio platform in existence. While part of a broad-spectrum approach to security, DRM is the one technology standing between your content and your enemies. Thankfully, our industry has evolved DRM into a thin, scalable, nearly silent component of the streaming ecosystem with broad support on the industry's leading encoders, servers, and playback platforms.

Stream It in IMAX Enhanced: A Gamechanger for Live Sports Streaming

With its new ‘Stream it in IMAX Enhanced' program, IMAX is bringing its world-renowned brand, expertise, cutting-edge VisionScience™ technology, and proprietary digital source enhancement workflows to live-streamed sports and events.

View From the Top: Bitcentral

Bitcentral, a trailblazer in media software solutions, presents ViewNexa®, a game-changing streaming platform designed to meet the evolving demands of the digital video era. Bitcentral's commitment to innovation is exemplified in ViewNexa, a solution that redefines how broadcasters, content creators, and publishers connect with their audiences.

View From the Top: Zixi | Navigating the Challenging Financial Landscape: The Strategic Importance of Total Cost of Ownership in Broadcasting and Streaming

The broadcast and streaming industry is currently navigating a challenging financial landscape, marked by economic uncertainties, intensified competition and shifting consumer behaviors. In this environment, understanding and optimizing Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) has become more critical than ever. TCO is not just a financial metric; it's a strategic tool that helps organizations manage resources efficiently, maintain competitiveness and contribute to sustainability in a rapidly evolving market.

Columns

CTV Is Defining the Future of Streaming Ads

While advertising has long been a unidirectional experience, there have been forays into making it bidirectional for a long time. The value proposition is pretty clear. If people are watching a show and an advertisement comes on showcasing a product that interests them, wouldn't it be great if they could grab the remote, push a couple of buttons, and have it delivered to their doorstep?

AI Meets Adtech

During an "AI Meets Adtech" panel at Streaming Media 2025 in Santa Monica in October, I did my best to stir things up with a group of industry thought leaders that included Google's Inderpreet Sandhu, Tavant's Filiz Bahmanpour, FOX's Amit Shetty, IAB Tech Lab's Shailley Singh, and former Disney tech ops expert Sarge Sargent.

Farm to Table

One of the overarching themes of Streaming Media 2025, which took place October 6-8 in Santa Monica, Calif., was the rise of the creator economy. Discussions centered around the changing economics of content creation, delivery, distribution, and curation (with AI playing an ever-larger role in leveling the playing field to varying degrees at all stages); evolving business models for creators looking to leverage and grow their brands and survive and thrive; and the ongoing, unignorable convergence of creator channels and "traditional" streaming platforms. The last topic seems like a particularly noteworthy sign of the times—how many conversations carried on just down the 405 in Huntington Beach in the heyday of Streaming Media West concerned the convergence (or divergence) of streaming upstarts and traditional linear broadcast?

Greatly Exaggerated: The Death of Linear TV

Take with a grain of salt any post that talks about the "Death of Linear TV." Viewers are watching linear TV on YouTube TV. They're watching linear TV on Twitch, on Hulu, on Disney, on Prime, and more. People are watching linear TV on all sorts of streaming platforms. Regardless of the underlying technology used to deliver it, it's all linear TV programming, and linear TV is alive and well.