5 Ways to Future-Proof Your Streaming Role with AI on the Rise

How do you keep your skills relevant and useful regardless of developments in AI, Machine Learning (ML), or more advanced automation in any process related to your role in streaming media? Whether you are a seasoned veteran or just starting out with your career, I recommend setting five goals for the coming year.

Learning on YouTube

YouTube Player for Education is something to keep an eye on as it matures in 2023. I don't expect it to be a particularly disruptive technology, but it will prove a welcome way for teachers who are exceptionally on camera to augment their teaching salaries.

The New Advertising-Industrial Complex

Strategically, streaming delivery needs more advertisers. Advertising is a necessary part of the media business model, but by not being nimble enough to attract more advertising and somehow sell digital the same way cable and broadcast are sold, digital services are shooting themselves in the foot.

From Remote to On-Prem Events: The Pendulum Swings

The pendulum has swung back away from streaming for a brief period, but COVID opened millions of eyes to the power, capability, and convenience of streaming—for the providers and the attendees. It also helped a lot of people realize that it's not as easy as it looks. I see the end result moving that pendulum toward more streaming—and more kinds of streaming—in the near future

Where and When to Look

When it comes to knowing where to look to stay on top of the most meaningful developments in the streaming world, one simple maxim is not to always be tracking Netflix's stock price or churn rate to the exclusion of everything else, and at Streaming Media, we try to direct your gaze to the right places.

Do Our Technology Advances Slow Down Justice?

Far from content being scarce, the integration of streaming into professional- and citizen-based news-gathering has generated such a monumental level of potential war-crime footage that every day sees an additional 10-100 documented cases of crimes against humanity. And this increased footage brings with it both greater accountability and a significantly higher backlog of cases that need to be tried.

What's the Point of Streaming?

You might think it's crazy of me, as the executive director of the world's largest streaming technical association, to ask the question in this column's title. But I think it's actually important that we do a gut check every once in a while.

Can Better Video Help the Metaverse?

Will the metaverse have legs? Will the headsets currently in use suffer a fate similar to the PocketPC precursors to the smartphones we know and love today? Only time—and a lot more investment in tech by a wider range of companies and individuals—will tell.

Streaming Numbers in the News

Targeting streaming viewers is becoming harder. Today, services are looking at understanding what viewers will buy, not their personal information. Here's a roundup of a few recently published reports.

Everybody’s Streaming

While you were busy streaming, what you think of as "streaming" evolved in­to many different things. Today, what you do when "streaming" is but one small piece of the streaming world.

The Envelope, Please?

What lies ahead for Netflix in the ad-tier/hybrid era?

Teaching With Dante

A commonly used streaming media technology at schools, conference centers, and houses of worship is Dante (Digital Audio Network Through Ethernet). A Dante-enabled device can be plugged into a Dante network using a standard Category 5e or Category 6 network cable; the network connects devices using either 100Mbps or gigabit network switches, typically with Power over Ethernet (PoE) capabilities.

Does Streaming's Future Success Depend On Discoverability?

The future of streaming is about unification built on top of a single open standard of content metadata. Right now, it's a matter of seeing the forest for the trees.

Transitions

Tim Siglin reflects on his 25-year-long career as a writer, instructor, and consultant in the streaming industry along with his professional partnership with Eric Schu­macher-Rasmussen.

FAST and the Future of Streaming Monetization

FAST (free ad-supported television) is on the rise, but how can content distributors thrive in this very competitive landscape?

A Long Strange Trip

Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen reflects on recent unexpected changes in his life, including a surprising newfound appreciation for the Grateful Dead, and his thoughts on his long-time tenure as editor of Streaming Media now that he is moving on from the role.

Gear for the HyFlex Teaching and Learning Space

The name of the game for designing a hybrid classroom or meeting space is balancing inclusivity of the remote and on-premise audiences that a colleague sometimes refers to as the "zoomers" and "roomers," respectively. Here's a look at some gear that can help you achieve that balance.

Where Does Your Media Fit Into Web3?

Look beyond the hype and the monkeys. NFTs, blockchain, and other elements of the new decentralized web—Web3—have serious implications for video creators and publishers.

Long Live (A Different) DRM!

A blockchain-based, ledger-and-wallet approach promises a digital rights management that's just as effective as anything we have now, with the benefit of being more consumer-friendly.

Of Subscriptions and Submarines

What do Lewis Carroll, OTT subscriptions, and submarine power cables have in common? Read on!