Q&A: Genius Sports CMO Tony Marlow Talks the ‘Moment Economy’ and the Future of Sports Streaming Monetization

Genius Sports CMO Tony Marlow describes the new in-game sports monetization landscape as the "live moment economy." In this Q&A, Marlow and I discussed how brands are approaching and increasingly embracing these opportunities, how emerging technologies like Genius Sports' GeniusIQ for analyzing game moments make it possible to optimize and seize these moments with targeted ad and branding placement, and how to measure the effectiveness of deploying these strategies in premium sports streams.

IBC2026: Broadcasters Warn of ‘Decisive Decade’ as AI and IP Upend the Media Value Chain

Across Europe, North America, and the UK, the transition from DTT to IP is already underway. But at the IBC Show in Amsterdam this week this is being framed as a fight for relevance, visibility, and trust in a world dominated by YouTube and consumption algorithms.

We Keep Blaming Fans for Problems the Sports Industry Created

Maybe the clip isn't always replacing the match because the fan doesn't have the attention span for the match. Maybe sometimes the clip is simply easier to find. That's an uncomfortable distinction because one explanation puts the responsibility on the fan. The other puts some of it back on us.

Instant Replay: Streaming Media Connect August 2026

Streaming Media Connect returned this week with six dynamic keynotes from NASA+, Google, TiVo, BallySports, Wowza, and TwelveLabs, and peak-form panels on refining your live streaming playbook, tuning latency, matching ads to content, scaling streaming architecture, curbing churn, leveraging AI in personalized content discovery, innovating streaming UX, optimizing QoS and QoE, and a timely dissection of Disney's 4K EU blackout.

NASA, Google, TiVo, Bally's, Wowza & TwelveLabs to Headline Streaming Media Connect with Must-See Series of Keynote Fireside Chats

On Tuesday, August 11, Streaming Media will launch 20th Streaming Media Connect virtual event with an exclusive fireside chat with NASA's GM & Head of NASA+ Rebecca Sirmons, back by popular demand! Each morning of the 3-day event will kick off at 11am ET/8am PT with back-to-back keynote fireside chats featuring a varied array of industry luminaries, including TwelveLabs' Simon Lecointe, Google's Shobana Radhakrishnan, Wowza's Krish Kumar, TiVo's Briana Larsen, and Bally's Media's Jon Lin.

Visualizing Verticalization at Scale: A Q&A with Ateliere's Flavius Goman on Ateliere Storyline

This Q&A with Ateliere president and COO Flavius Goman explores how Ateliere Storyline tackles high-volume content verticalization, including meeting the challenges of conscientious frame-cropping (especially for complex and high-action scenes), manual review, the story interpretation involved in compelling automated serialization, and how this technology might be used outside of a strictly entertainment context.

Elevating Content Verticalization With Emotion-Aware AI: A Q&A With Vionlabs' Arash Pendari

Vionlabs makes full content libraries "discoverable, engaging, and revenue-ready" using its "emotion-aware" AI. It's a company paying attention to the shift toward vertical and mobile-first viewing, including the micro-drama boom. Content creators that work with Vionlabs get the verticalization of long-form content into chapters and micro-episodes, preview clips for every title that can be used for social media and promotion, scene-level metadata that surfaces content to match viewers' moods, and non-intrusive ad breaks with contextual targeting. This Q&A with Vionlabs Founder Arash Pendari explores his thoughts on the use of AI in the streaming industry and how Vionlabs' platform works. 

ICYMI: Streaming Media Connect May 2026

Streaming Media Connect May 2026 was all about delivering and monetizing sports streaming featured exclusive keynote fireside chats with Matt Graham of the Tennis Channel and Maria Malinowitsch of Verimatrix and a slate of expert panels packed with speakers from DAZN, Globo, Fubo, OneFootball, FloSports, NESN, IAB Tech Lab, Telestream, Zixi, BuyDRM, ViewLift, CacheFly, Servers.com, Tiledmedia, Norsk, and more. Check out a playlist with Streaming Media Connect sessions on Streaming Media's YouTube channel to catch the sessions you missed and revel in the ones you want to relive through the magic of VOD.

Women-Centered, Artist-Owned: A Q&A With Chera TV

Streaming Media has been tracking the trend of vertical microdramas (aka vertical dramas), as multiple companies gain traction in the space. The subject of this Q&A, Chera TV, is hoping its unique approach of being what it calls "the first artist-owned vertical streaming platform" can entice viewers to give it a try as it introduces its dramas this spring.

Sneak Preview: Creating Lean-In Engagement With Personalized, Next-Gen Sports Streaming Experiences

On Wednesday, May 13, Chris Pfaff, CEO, Chris Pfaff Tech Media, will moderate the Streaming Media Connect panel "Fans Forward: Creating Lean-In Engagement With Personalized, Next-Gen Sports Streaming Experiences." This panel explores how next-gen platforms deliver individualized sports experiences: customizable commentary tracks, fan-selected camera angles, in-game ecommerce, personalized graphic overlays and statistics, and even AI-generated highlight reels tailored to individual interests.

Multiviews on Live Sports Streaming at NAB 2026

Perhaps the booths that cropped up on my NAB 2026 itinerary and the sessions I squeezed in between simply skewed this way, but it seems like everyone's favorite sport in streaming this year is, well, sports. Certainly, when it comes to live, the pinnacle of achievement appears to be seamless delivery of premium sports events at global scale, with an eye to "meeting fans exactly where they are"—crossing national, lingual, and cultural borders via localization, and transcending generations through autogenerated highlights and verticalized mobile delivery. And when it comes to traditional landscape sports video streamed to conventional CTV glass, multiview more than ever seems to be the name of the game in 2026.

New Research from Hub: Roku and Amazon TV Operating Systems Gain Influence as Consumers Explore New AI Integrations Across the Home

AI-powered home devices and smart TVs present new opportunities to improve home security, health, and entertainment experiences

H.264 Streaming Fees: What Changed, Who's Affected, and What It Means

Via's new AVC Streaming License Fee structure, which applies to new licenses beginning in 2026, replaces the old single-cap model with a tiered system that scales sharply with platform size.

Vertical Leap: Growing the Free Vertical Drama Business at Streaming Media Connect

On Thursday, February 26, at Streaming Media Connect, the panel "Vertical Leap: Growing the Free Vertical Drama Business at Streaming Media Connect" assembled expert practitioners from Celestine Pictures, Hudson Vertical, Stratagem Vertical, and GoodShort to explore the ways that vertical drama is exploding on free streaming platforms, driven by mobile-first viewing, bingeable formats, and a new generation of viewers and global creators.

ICYMI: Streaming Media Connect February 2026

Streaming Media Connect February 2026 was all about the business and tech of ad-supported streaming and featured exclusive keynote fireside chats with Michelle Auguste of the NBA, Michelle Munson of Eluvio, and Kimmy Li of GAMELOOP and a slate of expert panels panels packed with speakers from YouTube, Disney, DAZN, Fubo, Fremantle, FloSports, Fuse, LG, Philo, Bitmovin, CacheFly, Tavant, and more. Check out a playlist with Streaming Media Connect sessions on Streaming Media's YouTube channel to catch the sessions you missed and revel in the ones you want to relive through the magic of VOD.

Fox Sports to Deliver Vertical Coverage of FIFA World Cup with AWS Elemental Inference

AWS is the latest vendor to offer a solution to reformatting and syndicating vertical video for live sports as rights holders look to capitalize on the mobile first boom. Developed over 18 months with beta customers NBC Sports and Fox Sports, the ambition goes beyond reformatting highlights for vertical viewing but potentially live streaming whole games in the format.

Disney at CES 2026: House of Mouse Talks Verts, Dollars, and Sense

At this year's CES, Global Tech and Data Disney produced an event that offered insight into a few of their latest public tech strategies, including how they are funneling data intelligence through their environment to provide real ROI for advertisers. The event was designed to make the case to advertisers why buying placement with Disney is so compelling. However, it was also a chance to hear about how the company is thinking about what it means to run a modern media company in the world of data everywhere, AI, and changing consumer multi-screen behavior.

Sports in 2026 Will Be Smarter. Let’s Make Sure They're Still Human

With smart stadiums, distributed production, automation, and data-driven decision-making, we're seeing a sea change in the way sports streams are produced, delivered, and consumed. None of this is a bad thing. Much of it is necessary. But it is also worth pausing to remember what sports are actually built on. Not code. Not platforms. Not dashboards. But people, emotion, and shared experience.

Sports Media Predictions: Looking Ahead to 2026

The next phase of sports media will not be defined by breakthroughs alone. It will be defined by decisions. About focus. About balance. And about where value really sits.

When Stadiums Start Thinking for Themselves

There is something special about walking into a stadium. The noise, the anticipation, the energy you can feel in your chest. For all the things technology has transformed in sports, that moment has remained stubbornly human. But stadiums are changing. Slowly, quietly, and in ways most fans never see, the matchday venue is becoming one of the most technologically sophisticated environments in sports.