The Next 20 Years: What Role Will Large Social Platforms like YouTube Play in the Future of the Creator Economy?

For the past two decades, YouTube, and large social media platforms like it have been at the center of the creator economy. But many creators have learned that building a business on top of a platform you don't own or control comes with downsides. As a result, after two decades of platform dependency, several large creators have started experimenting with more direct-to-consumer (D2C/DTC) outlets for their content.

Monetization. Agility, and Tech Readiness Define Streaming Success

In the highly competitive world of streaming, there is no single recipe for success. As platforms proliferate and audiences grow more fragmented, it has become increasingly clear that sustainable monetization demands more than one revenue stream. Today's media companies must adopt a flexible, multi-pronged approach to monetization to remain competitive, profitable, and future-ready.

Accelerating FAST Revenue With Live News and Sports

The FAST space is experiencing explosive growth. Platforms no longer want channels that simply fill space. They demand content that drives engagement, ad revenue, and repeat viewership. The bar is much higher: content must be immediate, authentic, and often exclusive. That's why the next phase of FAST will be defined by real-time, high-value live news and sports content as platforms compete to capture and keep audiences.

Manufacturers Want a Cut of Publishers’ CTV Monetization. Have They Earned It?

The expansive growth of the connected TV (CTV) landscape brought with it an explosion of new video content - and by extension, new opportunities for publishers to monetize. And yet, the landscape has been evolving in a direction where publishers don't have full monetization of their video content. So who else is vying for control? Increasingly, it's the CTV device makers - the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) - and the streaming platforms. Those businesses believe that because they're necessary parts of the ad delivery process, they deserve a share of ad revenue. 

CTV’s Frequency Problem Isn’t Fixed … But It Can Be

Despite having more tools, data, and control, overexposure remains a defining flaw of the CTV experience. Viewers still see the same ads too often. Advertisers still struggle to manage delivery across different platforms. The inefficiencies this creates are not a result of outdated technology, but a consequence of endemic fragmentation. 

Why Customer Experience is Key to Reducing Churn

Faced with the ongoing challenge of reducing churn and increasing retention, video platforms have realized that customer acquisition alone isn't enough and nor is aggressive pricing. What's really needed is a better understanding of how users engage with content and what kind of experience they're having.

Why Streaming's Rise Means the Death of DSPs

Going forward, streaming is the best way to capture mass audiences. In the world of TV advertising, CTV has fully grown up and it's time to move on from basic digital tactics. For bigger brands and old school agencies, that's easier said than done. In an effort to move away from relying on streaming TV as a targeting play, they need to divorce themselves from the technical (and digital) tools that they've become so reliant on--especially DSPs.

Building a Bingeworthy Content Future on Hybrid Cloud

Cloud computing offers an enticing solution to the Media & Entertainment (M&E) industry's scaling, collaboration, and efficiency needs. Yet, full cloud adoption is fraught with unique challenges, including costs, latency, security and compliance. Media companies need more than a "one-size-fits-all" solution. They need a strategy that balances the best of both cloud and on-premises workflows. That's why hybrid cloud architectures are becoming the norm—not the exception—for streamers and broadcasters who are playing to win.

Streaming Platforms and CDNs: Time for Disruption

CDNs are clearly strategic partners for content streamers, yet content delivery is often viewed as a commodity service. This has resulted in massive turmoil within the CDN industry. Several CDNs have already collapsed under the pressure or simply left the market. Other CDNs, to remain viable, have diversified into areas such as security and edge computing. That might be a great business strategy for the CDNs—but it means they're no longer solely focused on the needs of streaming video platforms.

AI-Driven Audience Segmentation Is Reshaping Ad-Supported Streaming and Unlocking New Revenue Opportunities

Audience segmentation is the process of dividing viewers into groups based on shared characteristics, such as demographics, location, interests, and viewing behaviors. Video service providers use their own data (i.e., first-party data) to create precise audience segments, allowing for targeted advertising, personalized content recommendations, and tailored marketing strategies. This approach not only increases the relevance and effectiveness of ads for viewers and advertisers, it also helps reduce viewer resistance, generate higher acceptance, boost engagement, reduce churn, deliver more valuable advertising opportunities, and unlock new revenue streams.

Beyond Broadcast: How Streaming is Reinventing the Live Sports Experience

Success today isn't defined by simple reliability. It's about delivering live sports at broadcast-level speed, enhancing it with personalized viewing options, and orchestrating a broader digital ecosystem that keeps fans connected before, during, and after the game. Streaming isn't a replacement for TV - it's a complete redefinition of what sports media can be.

Predictive Analytics Is the Next Frontier for Media Company Growth

The move to predictive analytics is critical for growth. With increased competition from every angle, media companies need to take advantage of these new innovations to move faster and make more informed strategic decisions. However, the foundation of great analytics is access to the right data and technology, which requires media companies to prioritize elements of their business that might not be as obvious as audience growth or content development - but are just as important for future growth.

Should Data Be a Piece of the Upfront Equation?

Upfronts offer a forum for the sell side to showcase content, and the buy side to begin their pre-planning for advertising commitment. Now that we're entering the streaming-first upfront era, the ad industry has yet to elevate the importance of data into the upfronts. If meaningful advertising outcomes is the goal, data should have a place on the stage, as a critical piece of the equation.

Beyond One-Size-Fits-All: The Rise of Hybrid Streaming Architectures

As the demand for high-quality, scalable and cost-efficient video streaming services continues to grow, the industry is undergoing a fundamental shift in video workflow architectures. The notion of a "one-size-fits-all" streaming solution no longer holds up against the pressures of rising audience expectations, live event peaks and a rapidly evolving ecosystem. A hybrid streaming approach—combining on-premises and cloud infrastructure strategies—is the most flexible and future-ready path forward.

Pause to Progress: Sports Innovation Five Years After COVID

The COVID-19 pandemic marked a turning point in how sports are produced, distributed, and experienced. From remote production to virtual competitions and direct-to-consumer (D2C) streaming, many of the solutions quickly put in place during lockdowns have become core components of a new, more interactive and fan-focused era of sports.

Why CTV Is a Bright Spot for Sports Advertising

If the past six months have shown us anything, it's that streaming isn't just a major player in sports—it's rewriting the playbook. Netflix broadcast NFL Christmas games for the first time, Amazon retained Thursday Night Football, and the NBA inked an unprecedented 11-year media rights agreement with streaming giants Disney and ESPN+, NBC and Peacock, and Amazon Prime Video, leaving behind its long-standing linear partner TNT. The message is clear: Connected TV (CTV) is no longer just an alternative for sports viewing—it's becoming the primary stage.

Powering the New Streaming Superstore in the Age of Subscriber Choice

The age of unprecedented subscriber growth in streaming is morphing into a new phase. Today, the video subscription market is more mature, complex, and nuanced than it ever has been, with providers increasingly focusing on strategic partnerships alongside pure direct-to-consumer growth. While content exclusivity remains the most compelling hook for any premium service, Vijay Sajja, CEO and Founder of Evergent, writes that a flurry of aggregation and bundling activity means that the biggest services will live and die by their ability to offer superior experiences and value-added personalization.

Addressable TV Is No Longer “Optional” – It’s Table Stakes

Going into 2025, advertiser conversations around addressable TV are different than they have been in past years. Considered an "add-on" by many just a few years ago, addressable TV is now considered a "must-buy" among the majority of advertisers today. Sona Pehlivanian of New York Interconnect writes that this shift represents a new level of maturity in how the advertising industry views addressable and how it is an important milestone in bringing TV advertising in line with shifts in consumer viewing behaviors.

Three CDN Strategies To Lower Live Streaming Latency

Akhil Ramachandran addresses some key challenges he faced when he added low latency streaming support for MediaStore, leveraging the state-of-the-art Chunked Transfer Encoding, and the strategies adopted to solve them.

Digging into CTV’s 3 Biggest Challenges in 2025

CTV advertising will dominate most brands' media plans in the next 2-3 years, yet major challenges persist. Suvadip Choudhury of Alliant talks about achieving scale, precision targeting, and the lack of overall education holding buyers back, but he also argues that there is light at the end of the tunnel.