Given FAST's traditional identification with VOD and even legacy content, the arrival and growing success of live events, news, and especially sports have begun to change perceptions of FAST as a vehicle for profitable live programming. But according to Cathy Rasenberger of Free Live Sports at Streaming Media Connect 2026, it's often VOD content from recognizable brands that draws viewers to FAST and live content that keeps them watching.
11 Jun 2026
Premium live sports, from basketball and American football to soccer/football and cricket, remain the primary target of streaming pirates in 2026, with the majority of aggressive gatecrashers looking to recast and simulcast high-profile streams while the match is live and its value is highest, according to BuyDRM CEO Christopher Levy in this conversation with Help Me Stream's Timothy Fore-Siglin at Streaming Media Connect 2026. Levy goes on to describe the forms these recasts typically take, the sophisticated strategies pirates use, and the challenges of stopping them, while Sargeway's Sarge Sargent chimes in to discuss the material and opportunity costs of live sports streaming piracy and what that means for streaming operators.
09 Jun 2026
Soccer, aka football, has established a significant presence on FAST in recent years, making its first major splash with the launch of FIFA+ on Samsung TV in 2023, according to TeleGraff Media president William "Bill" Graff. But the sport's growth on FAST and streaming in general, where it is growing significantly faster than it is on broadcast, has come as the result of improvements in ad-stitching technology and sponsors' growing recognition that streaming is where the audience is and the data value of streaming viewers. Graff provides a capsule history of the sport's ascendancy on ad-supported and subscription-based streaming and a snapshot of where it stands now (including Apple's recently extended MLS broadcast deal) in this discussion with Chris Pfaff Tech Media's Chris Pfaff at Streaming Media Connect 2026.
08 Jun 2026
Even as more big league sports events become tentpole streaming events like Christmas Day NFL games on Netflix, NBA playoffs on Prime, or the Olympics on Peacock, these big-ticket matches are happening on premium platforms paying ultra-premium prices to license them. But can streaming also provide a launching pad for niche events and middle- and lower-tier leagues with passionate pockets of fans clustered by location or affinity? FAST is proving the perfect platform for heightening access, awareness, and profitability for lower-tier leagues like college athletics and grassroots motor sports. Niche doesn't always mean small, attests FloSports' VP of business development Dave Stelnik to Chris Pfaff Tech Media's Chris Pfaff at Streaming Media Connect 2026.
04 Jun 2026
Opening our blog to a never-ending stream of guest contributors yields some of the coolest stuff we publish, with topics that would never occur to me. Though I rarely know when these pieces will arrive or where they'll come from, it is often heady, provocative stuff that I'm proud to publish.
16 Mar 2026
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?
26 Feb 2026
There are a few tools that many streaming pros have used through the years, from WeTransfer to Brightcove to Vimeo. Some are essential to content creation, OTT delivery, and live streaming. All of these tools have one important thing in common now: their recent acquisition by the Italian company Bending Spoons.
15 Dec 2025
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?
15 Dec 2025
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