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.

NAB 2026: Things You Might Have Missed

An in-depth look some developments that may have flown under the radar at NAB 2026, from the rise of differentiated agentic media solutions and workflows and the demise of SaaS to advances in audio stem separations and the industry's better-late-than-never cult of content authenticity via C2PA.

Independent Report Compares Codec Royalty Costs Across Two Major Licensing Pools

Streaming services evaluating codec licensing face a difficult question: how do the royalty costs of Access Advance Video Distribution Patent Pool and the Avanci Video program actually compare? A new report from Streaming Learning Center's Jan Ozer answers that question with hard numbers.

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.

Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery Reshape Streaming’s Power Balance

The proposed merger of Paramount Skydance Global with Warner Bros. Discovery is being framed through the usual lenses—debt loads, political sensitivities, and regulatory scrutiny in the U.S. and Europe. But the real story is simpler and more strategic: this is a scale play built around intellectual property.

Avanci Video Signs First Licensee and Publishes Rates

The patent pool offers three billing options and aggressive discounts for platforms signing by July 5, with rates ranging from 1.6-2.0% of revenue or $0.12-$0.15 per user per month.

Rethink's Alex Davies Talks New Transcoding Report and Future of VVC, AV1, and LCEVC

Contributing Editor Jan Ozer recently spoke with Alex Davies, senior analyst at Rethink Technology Research, about Rethink's new report, "The Media and Entertainment Transcoding Workload and Device Royalty Forecast for 2020 to 2030," and what it says about the future of VVC, AV1, and LCEVC for streaming publishers.

AV2 Arriving: What We Know, and What We Don’t Know

According to AOMedia's announcement, AV2 is set for release at the end of 2025. The group highlights several improvements over AV1, including significantly better compression performance (with no specifics), enhanced support for AR/VR content, split-screen and multi-view delivery, improved handling of screen content, and operation across a broader visual quality range. Like AV1, AV2 will be offered under AOMedia's royalty-free patent policy, which means licensees can use it without paying royalties to AOMedia.

UK and US Media Voice Political Interference and Self-Censorship Concerns

The assault on press freedom on both sides of the Atlantic was a major debate topic at the Edinburgh TV Festival, the premier annual event for the UK TV industry. with key figures like "Have I Got News For You" host Roy Wood Jr. and ex-Hollywood Reporter editorial director Matthew Belloni and others weighing in during a panel on "Trump vs. the Media."

YouTube Self-Regulation Isn't Working

As deceptive ads, scams, and deepfakes flood YouTube's airwaves, Britain's Liberal Democratic Party argue that YouTube adverts should meet the same rigorous standards applied elsewhere in the ecosystem in which YouTube now operates. Industry bodies Clearcast and Radio Central vet the majority of ads broadcast on TV and radio before the air, while YouTube remains free to regulate itself.

Telestream vs. Encoding.com Lawsuit Goes Public with Reputations at Stake

Telestream, the veteran digital video software and workflow tech provider, is fighting a lawsuit brought by two former employees which may have salutary lessons for company owners planning a sale to private equity. The suit, brought by Greggory Heil and Jeffrey Malkin, co-founders of Encoding.com, against Telestream claims Unpaid acquisition consideration, wrongful termination, fraudulent transfer, and successor liability.

Access Advance Reveals Royalty Rates for Video Streaming Services

In this interview, Jan Ozer speaks with Peter Moller, CEO of Access Advance, and Dylan Zhou, Senior VP of Licensing, about the recently announced royalty structure and initial participants in Access Advance's Video Distribution Patent Pool. The conversation outlines the codecs covered (VP9, AV1, HEVC, VVC), the targeted use cases (video streaming and content distribution), and how the royalty structure is designed to balance fairness and industry adoption.

Addressing AI-Associated Authenticity Issues at Streaming Media Connect

On Thursday, May 22, at Streaming Media Connect, Nadine Krefetz, Consultant, Reality Software, moderated the panel "In AI We Trust? AI and Content Authenticity," which looked at how being assured of content validity is more important now than ever before in a world of AI-created synthetic content and deepfakes. The panelists were Andy Beach, Media & AI Strategist, Alchemy Creations, and Conference Chair, Streaming Media 2025; Renard Jenkins, President and CEO, I2A2 Technologies, Studios & Labs; Lindsay Stewart, CEO and Founder, Stringr; and Manny Ahmed, Founder and CEO, OpenOrigins. 

Sneak Preview: Origin to Edge: Video Caching and Content Delivery

On Tuesday, May 20, Mark de Jong, Chairman, CDN Alliance, will moderate the Streaming Media Connect May panel "Origin to Edge: Video Caching and Content Delivery," with an all-star lineup including Warner Bros. Discovery, Sky, and BuyDRM discussing the benefits of edge caching and distributed architecture for live sports, personalization, security, anti-piracy, and more.

NAB 2025: 3Play Chief Growth Officer Lily Bond Talks Accessibility, Localization, and Service Expansion

In this NAB 2025 interview with Streaming Media contributing editor Jan Ozer, Lily Bond, Chief Growth Officer at 3Play Media, discusses how the company has evolved from one of the earliest captioning providers into a full-service accessibility and localization partner. With 15 years in the business, 3Play now offers captioning, subtitling, audio description, and hybrid AI/human dubbing services for customers looking to comply with accessibility laws and expand into global markets.

Via LA HEVC Patent Pool Licensors Sue Microsoft Over HEVC Use in Germany

Three licensors of the Via LA HEVC Patent Pool (M&K Holdings, Gensquare, and Tagivan II) have filed a patent infringement suit against Microsoft in the Landgericht Duesseldorf court in Germany, alleging unlicensed use of High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) technology in several Microsoft products.

Patent Attorney Gottfried Schüll Talks Via LA HEVC Patent Pool vs. Microsoft Infringement Suit

Three licensors of the Via LA HEVC Patent Pool (M&K Holdings, Gensquare, and Tagivan II) have filed a patent infringement suit against Microsoft in the Landgericht Duesseldorf court in Germany, alleging unlicensed use of High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) technology in several Microsoft products. In this interview with Streaming Learning Center's Jan Ozer, patent attorney Gottfried Schull, who is representing Via LA HEVC, discusses what's at issue in the lawsuit.

AI and Entertainment: A Q&A With Hub Research's Jon Giegengack

AI is rapidly changing the way people interact with entertainment, and companies are embracing AI to streamline operations and improve efficiencies in producing, marketing, and distributing content. Hub Entertainment Research released its first study on AI in Entertainment, revealing that while most consumers have heard of generative AI, very few understand how it works or what it's for. Jon Giegengack of Hub Research discusses the report's findings and implications in this Q&A with Streaming Media's Tyler Nesler.

G&L CEO Alexander Leschinsky Talks C2PA and Today's Digital Content Landscape

Provenance and authenticity of content have become critical issues as Generative AI-derived content and disinformation flood the digital world. The Coalition from Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA) has formed to cryptographically prove content authenticity in today's digital landscape, with an eye to combatting fake content and restoring trust in media. In this interview with Streaming Media's Steve Nathans-Kelly, G&L Systemhaus CEO Alexander Leschinsky discusses the challenges and limitations of C2PA--particularly with live content--and G&L's role in helping broadcasters and media companies implement C2PA standards.

Why the DAZN and NFL Game Pass Partnership is Thriving - a Q&A With Zander Berlinski

The NFL has shared its pleasure with the existing ten-year DAZN Partnership for NFL Game Pass. DAZN's global footprint gives the NFL a much wider reach, which is hugely important as it continues to expand worldwide. In this Q&A with Zander Berlinski, Senior Vice President, Strategy and Business Development at DAZN, he highlights the factors that make this partnership a success, such as improved live streaming quality, expanding device distribution, investing in proprietary tech stacks, enhancing user experience with features like the "Home of NFL" section, and much more.