How Will AI Change Your Streaming Business?
02 Dec 2024
AI is the buzz term of 2024, and indeed, tech companies have put a lot of resources and commitment into adding or improving AI components in their products and services. The term AI covers a wide swath of technologies, but for this column, I'll focus mainly on generative AI, or services that can generate human-like output based on input that we humans provide.
Third-Party Cookies and EdTech
02 Dec 2024
In edtech, the demise of third-party cookies may be even more dire than in ad-supported streaming, since course websites are typically designed with third-party integrations that deliver crucial elements of the curriculum and traditionally rely on cookies to allow seamless cross-domain integration.
Chick-fil-A’s Play App: A Family-Focused Strategy with a Strategic Edge
02 Dec 2024
Why the heck would Chick-fil-A start a streaming channel? Is this a completely new strategy or a copycat move? I endeavored to find out, and this is what I learned.
How Can AI Identify Emotions That Make Up the "Holiday Spirit" in CTV Content? A Q&A With Wurl's Ron Gutman
26 Nov 2024
A Q&A with Ron Gutman, CEO of Wurl, about their Gen AI-powered technology that matches CTV ads to the emotion and context of what viewers are watching using Plutchik's Wheel of Emotions. This technology has identified the emotions that make up the "Holiday Spirit" and found that the key emotions are "trust and joy."
Brightcove Sold for $233m, Akamai Swoops in for Edgio, and Harmonic Raises For Sale Sign
26 Nov 2024
Brightcove, the Technical Emmy-winning video platform vendor, has been sold to app developer Bending Spoons for $233 million. After filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September select assets of CDN Edgio were picked up by Akamai last week. And a company with a "for sale" sign to watch is Harmonic.
Live Sports in the Streaming Era: What’s Changing and Why It Matters
25 Nov 2024
Samba TV's recently released report, Live Sports on Streaming Platforms, provides five key sets of data points to help advertisers and sports leagues better target their audiences both during and after live sporting events. The report begins with insights into web-only sporting events, revealing audience numbers for the most-watched and least-watched games on platforms like Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime Video.
Ad Buys: StackAdapt, Disney, and Bell Target SMB
25 Nov 2024
StackAdapt recently announced they are working with Disney and Bell Media to provide their demand-side platform for agencies to access inventory programmatically.
CTV Advertising Strategies for the Holiday Season - A Q&A With Angelina Marmorato of Lemma
21 Nov 2024
With the holiday season upon us, consumers are ramping up spending and turning to CTV more than ever. Angelina Marmorato, AVP of Sales and Partnerships at Lemma, has put together a set of actionable strategies for brands to maximize their holiday advertising impact on CTV. In this Q&A, she gets into the specifics of each of her strategy points and how advertisers can best optimize them.
Gracenote Resources Provide New Insights into State of Streaming Content
21 Nov 2024
Gracenote, the content data business unit of Nielsen, has launched a new Data Hub providing insight into the current state of SVOD programming to identify global content trends and changes over time. Tapping Gracenote Global Video Data, the industry's most comprehensive database of TV show and movie information, the data visualization graphically illustrates the current makeup of Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Disney+, Netflix, and Paramount+ content catalogs to provide visibility into the programming that's keeping viewers engaged today. In this article, Trent Wheeler, Chief Product Officer of Gracenote, provides further insights about the benefits of the new Data Hub.
Comcast Cuts Cord as Deckchairs Shift Again
21 Nov 2024
Comcast has cut the cord from its own cable networks, the first major studio to sign away its linear TV assets for a future almost entirely based on streaming. The move has been widely viewed as bold and inevitable but positive by analysts who believe that Comcast will be better placed for growth after the split from the cable networks, which have seen audiences decline.
Great New Gear: Cameras, Capture, and Connectivity - MVD Demo From Streaming Media Connect
19 Nov 2024
Producing exceptionally engaging live streams requires robust, high-quality products throughout your workflow. The visual quality of your stream starts with the camera and must be maintained throughout the production process. At Streaming Media Connect, Ryan Brenneman, CTO, Mobile Video Devices, featured live demos of three of the latest and greatest solutions from Telycam, Magewell, and Miri Technologies.
Tyson-Paul: A Black Eye for Netflix and Live Sports Streaming?
17 Nov 2024
If the majority of Tyson-Paul viewers tuned in to see the notoriously erratic Mike Tyson in another train wreck, they got exactly what they came to see. Except it was a different sort of train wreck: VOD champ Netflix failing spectacularly to pull off a massive live event, with widespread and widely reported buffering and outages denying tens of thousands of subscribers their guaranteed ringside seat.
ICYMI: Streaming Media Connect November 2024
15 Nov 2024
Streaming Media presented its 15th Connect virtual conference November 12-14, 2024, with Media Industry Cartographer & CEO ESHAP Evan Shapiro and Streaming Media Editor-in-Chief Steve Nathans-Kelly as hosts and MCs, and featuring speakers from Microsoft, Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery, Vevo, Philo, and more, and session topics ranging from streaming monetization to FAST strategy to OTT bundling to cloud streaming OpEx and live streaming at scale.
Streaming Media Connect Highlight: Evan Shapiro Discusses DirecTV's New FAST Product With Matthew Van Houten
14 Nov 2024
At Streaming Media Connect, Media Cartographer Evan Shapiro interviewed Matt Van Houten, SVP of Advertising at DirecTV, about the company's new fast product, MyFree DirecTV, which integrates free ad-supported streaming channels into the DirecTV ecosystem.
Streaming Media Connect Highlight: Evan Shapiro Talks Advertising Data With Justin Evans of Samsung Ads
14 Nov 2024
At Streaming Media Connect, Media Cartographer Evan Shapiro sat down for virtual a fireside chat with Justin Evans, Head of Innovations & Insights, Samsung Ads to discuss the importance of data in advertising, the role of Samsung Ads in the streaming revolution, and the introduction of a new product called Optimal Reach.
Cloud Streaming Experts Talk Live Broadcast Workflow Challenges at Streaming Media Connect 2024
12 Nov 2024
On Tuesday, November 12, at Streaming Media Connect, streaming industry consultant Nadine Krefetz moderated the panel "Cloudsplitting: Tackling Common Cloud Live Broadcast Workflow Challenges." The group of experts from AWS, TV 2 Danmark, Alibaba Cloud, and Console Connect discussed actionable insights on refining and streamlining your scalable cloud live-streaming workflows and jumping and dodging the hurdles that threaten to break your stride.
UK Frames Policy to Continue Universal TV Access
12 Nov 2024
Public service access to TV is to remain at the heart of UK government policy as a new report warns that over a million viewers are at risk of being excluded in the longterm transition to streaming.
New Research from Hub: “Peak TV” Still Delivering an Abundance of Favorite TV to Watch
11 Nov 2024
New findings from Hub Research show that expanded content licensing is offsetting the decline in studio output.
Warner Bros. Discovery Announces 7.2m New Max Subscriptions in Q3 Report
08 Nov 2024
Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) has reported financial results for Q3, with highlights including 7.2m new Max subscriptions.
Making Your Streaming Gear Purchases Before Higher Tariffs Kick In
08 Nov 2024
Do you have a plan to purchase electronics and other gear in 2025? You may want to accelerate those purchases to the end of 2024 because President-Elect Trump demonstrated in his first term that he had no issue with dramatically increasing the cost of appliances for Americans with previous tariffs, so there's no reason to expect him not to do it again.