What Is SGAI and What Are the Benefits for Live and VOD?

Server-guided ad insertion (SGAI) has been called the "best of both worlds" in a streaming adtech world long split between client-side ad insertion (CSAI) and server-side ad insertion (SSAI), and of course it's more than squeezebacks and other frame-sharing ad formats with which it's commonly associated. But what is it exactly? And what does it offer for live and VOD streaming? Google's Sourya Roy, Paramount's Jarred Wilichinsky, Muxed's David Hassoun, and Reality Software's Nadine Krefetz discuss the answer to these questions in this clip from May's Streaming Media Connect.

How Does SGAI Differ From SSAI and CSAI for Live Streaming Monetization?

As the buzz around server-guided ad insertion (SGAI) grows in the adtech and streaming worlds, what sets it apart from the more familiar server-side ad insertion (SSAI) and client-side ad insertion (CSAI), and what specifically can it do that SSAI and CSAI can't, particularly for live sports streams without period ad breaks? IAB Tech Lab's Katie Stroud, Paramount's  Jarred Wilichinsky, RealEyes Media's David Hassoun, and Google's Sourya Roy debate the differences and the potential of SGAI to enhance ad experiences in this clip from a panel at May's Streaming Media Connect.

What Is Driving the Surge in WNBA Viewership and Fan Engagement?

2023 was the breakthrough year for women's basketball, with the explosion of viewer interest in the national championship game featuring Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, and that growth has carried over to the WNBA since the two stars went pro, according NBA Global Media Insights Team Leader Michelle Auguste. But a number of other factors are driving the exponential surge in fan engagement throughout the WNBA and in other women's sports, say Auguste, Team Whistle President Joe Caporoso, and Hub Entertainment Research Joe Giegengack in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2025.

What Drives Streaming Codec Choices at Meta and Norsk

As debates over codec choices in the streaming world range from H.264 to AV1 and HEVC and beyond, what drives decision-making when it comes to codec choices for solution and service providers helping creators and customers get video online for live and VOD consumption? According to Meta's Hassene Tmar and Norsk's Steve Strong, key factors include software and hardware support and compatibility, bitrate reductions, latency constraints, and more, as the two explain in this discussion with Alchemy Creations' Andy Beach from May's Streaming Media Connect.

How Norsk Approaches Emerging Streaming Codecs and Protocols

With its focus on helping customers build effective live-streaming workflows and meeting streamers where they are in terms of prevalent codecs and protocols—which, Norsk's Steve Strong acknowledged at the conference, usually still means H.264—how does it anticipate where users might be going when it comes to supporting new codecs like VVC, whatever the current or near-future playback challenges might be? Strong explains his company's considerations in conversation with Andy Beach in this clip from May's Streaming Media Connect.

How Biddable CTV Advertising Leverages AI and Boosts ROI

What are the key strategies, partnerships, and tech stack elements that make biddable advertising profitable in FAST and other ad-supported CTV platforms in 2025? Fremantle's Laura Florence, Future Today's Tim Ware, and Chris Pfaff Tech Media's Chris Pfaff break down how each of their companies approach biddable CTV sales in a conversation at the latest Streaming Media Connect 2025.

How Contextual Targeting Impacts Programmatic and Indirect Sales

The buzz around contextual targeting is ramping up in the online advertising world, with the promise that it will solve issues surrounding privacy, transparency, and more. But where is its impact registering in the ad-supported streaming ecosystem? TVREV's Alan Wolk, Fremantle's Laura Florence, Philo's Aulden Kaye Yi, Roku's Charlie Goodman, and Vevo's Melissa Sofo offer their perspectives in a clip from the latest Streaming Media Connect 2025.

Is Programmatic Still Problematic for Ad Addressability?

Historically, the prevailing assessment of programmatic advertising in the agency world has been that it doesn't provide the desired transparency in terms of where an ad ran or a clear picture of the audience the ad is addressing. Is this still a problem in the streaming ad ecosystem, or are these concerns overblown? Roku's Charlie Goodman, Philo's Aulden Kaye Yi, Vevo‘s Melissa Sofo, and TVREV's Alan Wolk discuss the answer to this question in a clip from the latest Streaming Media Connect.

Are Streaming RSNs and Local OTA Channels the Ticket for Local Sports Fans?

As live sports streaming rights continue to complicate the viewing experiences of fans who need to subscribe to more and more channels to watch the games they want to see, is making regional sports available through team-owned streaming networks and local OTA channels the best of both worlds? Or is this approach just another barrier to watching for out-of-region fans and a throwback to blackout rules? Tata Communications' Corey Smith, SVTA's Jason Thibeault, evision's Sunil Joy, and Omdia's Michael Frank debate the issue in a conversation from Streaming Media Connect 2025.

Are Premium Streaming Sports Rights Bets Paying Off?

Sports on TV and ads have always gone hand-in-hand. But what happens when streamers enter the picture and invest in premium sports rights? A half-decade ago, most premium streaming platforms thrived primarily on subscription revenue—but now, selling ads might be the only way to make sports streaming profitable, especially given the skyrocketing cost of premium sports licensing. DAZN's Joe Caporoso, SVTA's Jason Thibeault, Omdia's Michael Frank, and Tata Communications' Corey Smith weigh in during a winner-take-all debate from Streaming Media Connect 2025.

Implementing a New Codec in 2025: Key Factors to Consider

Transitioning to new codecs in the streaming industry is never an undertaking to be taken lightly, and bandwidth savings, encoding efficiency, and quality enhancements must be carefully considered and balanced against the challenges of ensuring playback capability for the broadest range of viewers who may be operating a motley assortment of legacy devices. Radiant Media Player's Arnaud Leyder and United Cloud's Boban Kasalovic offer their own deployment decision trees for implementing new codecs in this excerpt from a panel discussion with Streaming Learning Center's Jan Ozer at Streaming Media Connect 2025.

How Meta Deploys and Benchmarks AV1 on Android

In the benchmarking processes for Android platforms to assess their capabilities for decoding and playing streaming video codecs, the primary challenge is the fragmentation of Android specifications. Streaming Learning Center's Jan Ozer speaks to Meta's Hassene Tmar about his team's experience deploying, ramping up reach, and contending with device diversity when delivering AV1 video to its vast array of Android customers. Tmar explains the exhaustive benchmarking work the team members did to test compatibility and how they came to develop their own benchmarking solution in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2025.

Tech Challenges of AI-Driven Streaming Content Localization and Captioning

The buzz around AI for subbing and dubbing and localizing streaming content is that it makes it far easier than it's ever been before. But that doesn't mean it's without significant technical challenges-particularly for companies like Interra Systems who develop the enabling tech-as Interra Engineering Manager Sana Asfar explains as she enumerates the key challenges and how to overcome them in this conversation with IntelliVid's Steve Vonder Haar at Streaming Media Connect 2025.

How Google and Vevo Leverage AI-Enabled Localization for Saving Costs and Driving Revenue

The case for AI-based content localization is typically made in terms of how it streamlines localization initiatives and dramatically reduces costs, particularly for smaller publishers that might not be able to reach into other markets without it. In this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2025, execs from two larger operations, Google Cloud's Albert Lai and Vevo's Natasha Potashnik, share with IntelliVid's Steve Vonder Haar not only the cost savings opportunities but also how AI-enabled localization can drive new revenue opportunities as well.

Can Multicast Level Up Live Sports Streaming to Parity With Broadcast?

Is multicast the solution to all of live sports streaming at scale's problems that will help it reach the "it just works" level of broadcast TV? How broadly applicable is multicast across different streaming applications? And can it be secured? YouTube's Sean McCarthy, Akamai's Will Law, EZDRM's Olga Kornienko, TATA's Tom Buffolano, and SVTA's Jason Thibeault discuss in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2025.

Why Premium Sports Streaming Is Shifting to Watermarking at the Edge

For ad-supported streams, one of the many benefits of server-side ad insertion (SSAI) is the ability to protect the stream against piracy by encrypting it at the point of origin when the ad is already inserted in the bitstream. Bu for premium sports streams that are subject to what BuyDRM CEO Christopher Levy calls "high-value gate-crashing"—sophisticated piracy ring-level content theft—watermarking at the edge has become "the model that works the best," Levy says, as he enumerates the reasons for a growing shift to edge-side watermarking in this interview with Streaming Media's Tim Siglin at Streaming Media Connect 2025.

Direct vs. Programmatic for Improving FAST Fill Rates and CPMs

FAST and AVOD are struggling to fill inventory and CPMs are sagging in much of the CTV world. Is programmatic the problem or the solution? Is brand or direct advertising better equipped to turn the tide? Would a hybrid strategy work better? Fremantle's Laura Florence, Roku's Charlie Goodman, Philo's Aulden Kaye Yi, and Vevo's Melissa Sofo debate the best solutions to free streaming's fill and pricing problems in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2025.

How Sinclair's Tennis Channel International Puts AI Dubbing in Play for Sports Streaming

One of the first areas where Generative AI and AI/ML have made a visible, demonstrable, "on-air" impact on widely distributed streaming content is what is popularly known as "subbing and dubbing," or program localization through subtitles and dubbing into other languages. Sinclair VP Innovation Lab Rafi Mamalian explains how Sinclair been localizing Tennis Channel content since they began distributing it internationally.

AI Hallucinations and Training Your LLM Like a New Puppy

Generative AI hallucinations are real and cause for constant vigilance, but as media and AI strategist Andy Beach points out in this discussion with Ring Digital's Brian Ring at Streaming Media Connect, the large-language models that power Gen AI are only as good as their training, and they'll always try to give you what you want (just like a new puppy) rather than generating content that is accurate and ethically sound unless you train them properly in this early-days era of LLMs at work and in action.

Pros and Cons of Programmatic Advertising

In this clip from their spirited debate moderated by TVREV's Alan Wolk at Streaming Media Connect 2025, Philo's Aulden Kaye Yi makes the case for monetizing CTV content through programmatic advertising and launching effective advertising campaigns through programmatic platforms, and goes point-counterpoint with Vevo's Melissa Sofo and Fremantle's Laura Florence over brand safety concerns, content-matching, and more.