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.

Challenges of New Encoding Scenarios: Reflections on Measuring Perceived Quality

While VMAF has been a valuable tool for assessing video quality, its limitations highlight the need for complementary metrics or the development of new assessment methods. These new metrics should address VMAF's shortcomings, especially in the context of modern video encoding scenarios that incorporate AI and other advanced techniques. For the best outcomes, a combination of VMAF and other metrics, both full-reference and no-reference, might be necessary to achieve a comprehensive and accurate assessment of video quality in various applications.

The Quest for Greater Efficiency in Video Processing

Viewer demand for high-quality 4K video content has skyrocketed, and there is an expectation that 8K video will also surge in the coming years. However, with increased resolution comes much larger file sizes, which is challenging for media providers because of the increased storage and processing power needed. Naturally, media companies are seeking ways to process video more efficiently. Frank Schönberger of MainConcept explores how content providers and video services leverage technological developments in video compression and AI to improve efficiency at every stage of the broadcast workflow, from the point of capture to delivery to the end user.

Streaming Wars: End-to-End Quality Assurance and Video Analysis Gives Streaming Service Providers the Upper Hand

The battle for audience retention continues to intensify in the highly competitive streaming realm. Anupama Anantharaman of Interra Systems highlights the critical role that end-to-end quality assurance, media QC monitoring, and in-depth video analysis play in meeting the escalating demands of today's video consumers and why the role of these processes is becoming more crucial than ever.

Considerations for Providers Shifting from QAM to IP Video Delivery Networks

Traditional, controlled broadcast environments are being replaced by dynamic, complex ecosystems where multiple applications and services must coexist harmoniously. The challenge is to maintain the quality of a provider's main service, like linear TV with dynamically inserted ads, while accommodating the diverse requirements for and potential interference from third-party applications. Yoann Hinard of Witbe discusses the challenges faced throughout this process, including remote monitoring, dynamic ad insertion, and QC testing across devices.

How Open Caching is Enabling Broadcast-Scalable Streaming Success

Rachel Kahana Samet of Qwilt discusses how open caching enables broadcast-scalable streaming success, especially for live sports broadcasting.

Instant Replay: Streaming Media Connect November 2023

Streaming Media presented its 12th Connect virtual conference November 13 - 16, with media industry cartographer Evan Shapiro as host and MC. Shapiro kicked off the event with a dynamic keynote, digging deep into the Q3 earnings call data to hold the spin doctors accountable and giving an unvarnished view of the industry. Other highlights included The Future of Streaming with Shobana Radhakrishnan, Senior Director of Engineering at Google TV, and several panels covering topics such as Cloud Workflows for Streaming and CTV, Optimizing Live Streams at Scale, How Codec Patent Pools Will Impact Streaming in 2024, Making Live Streaming and VOD More Accessible, Live Streaming Technology Trends, and more.

The Future of CDN Technology: Unlocking the Next Frontier in Video Streaming

The video streaming market is booming, and as video streaming consumption continues to soar, content delivery network (CDN) technology needs to evolve rapidly to keep up. Damien Sterkers of Broadpeak discusses the current challenges with streaming and what measures to take to face them.

Codec Licensing and Web Video Streaming

John C. Simmons, Principal Engineer at John Simmons Consulting, LLC, discusses patent licensing for streaming, which is especially relevant now in light of the recent German court decision in the Broadcom v. Netflix case and Avanci's announced launch of a video streaming patent pool.

Instant Replay: Streaming Media Connect 2023

ICYMI--Streaming Media presented its 11th Connect virtual conference August 22-24, with Evan Shapiro as host and MC, a cracking keynote from NBCUniversal VP Quincy Olatunde, and 12 dynamic panel discussions featuring industry luminaries sharing their expertise on topics ranging from OTT to FAST to generative AI to emerging codecs to edge delivery to streaming at scale and more. The full archived conference is available right here!

Unlocking the Promise of 4K Streaming Through VVC Adoption

Tony Jones of MediaKind discusses the steady adoption rate of Versatile Video Coding (VVC) and its numerous benefits, such as significant cost savings and reduced energy consumption for streaming.

The Build vs. Buy Dilemma: Why Media Companies Are Changing Their Approach

Eric Black of Edgio discusses the "build vs. buy" tech dilemma for media companies launching new streaming platforms and why smaller companies need a good relationship with a trusted partner to take on the system integrator role for complete end-to-end solutions.

If Interoperability Is Worth Doing, it Is Worth Doing Well

By investing in better ways to handle and manage content delivery by IP, organisations can offer greater compatibility instead of locking customers into a proprietary and potentially limiting approach. In the interim, those with IP expertise have a responsibility to ensure interoperability is at the core of decisions that broadcasters are making.

Amazon To Talk Thursday Night Football at Streaming Media West

Streaming Media West returns to Huntington Beach November 15-16, with Streaming Media University Workshops on November 14. Registration is open now.

Blowing the Whistle on Bad Video Quality

The video experience experts at SSIMWAVE compared titles across eight top U.S. streaming services, and the differences in quality were shocking. But what was even more shocking was that none of the services are delivering video at the quality that both subscribers and creatives expect.

Intelligent Media Quality Assurance Strategies for Modern Streaming Workflows

As OTT overtakes traditional TV viewing, media companies can no longer afford to use the status quo as far as QC and monitoring are concerned. Aggressive strategies for delivering a great QoE are required to increase subscribers and boost monetization. Media companies should carefully choose the right strategies and tools to streamline processes for optimum video quality and viewer experience.

5 Great Reasons to Attend Streaming Media East

Jan Ozer will lead workshops, presentations, and panels covering advanced codecs, gear for remote productions, WebRTC, low latency, and reducing bandwidth and storage costs at Streaming Media East in Boston May 23-25.

Webcasting, Videoconferencing, and FFmpeg in the Spotlight at Streaming Media East

Robert Reinhardt's workshops will cover the latest tips and tricks for using FFmpeg and managing inputs and outputs for videoconferencing, while presentations and panel discussions will look at taking your webcasting and event streaming efforts to the next level.

Why HDR Provides the Quality OTT Providers Need to Excel

High dynamic range (HDR) adoption will accelerate significantly over the next two years, and consumers are getting savvier about the video quality that streaming services provide. Successful OTT services need to embrace HDR now.

Sustainability, Streaming, and the Data Attribution Challenge

"Sustainability" is perhaps the most important buzzword in the streaming industry, but most current efforts to define "green" or "net zero" streaming miss the target.