Games On! Programmatic Ads Compete for Eyeballs at the Olympics

FreeWheel is ready to support a streaming marathon for this summer's Paris Olympics, enabling programmatic buying for the first time for targeted ad-serving. Here's what this means for FreeWheel, NBCUniversal, advertisers, and premium sports streaming.

All Options on the Table as WBD Seeks to Prevent Total Breakup

Perhaps it was always too big to swallow, but now CEO David Zaslav appears to have made plans to restructure, downsize, or sell off parts of the WarnerBros. Discovery (WBD) media powerhouse.

Is Live Streaming Stagnating? Give Us Your Feedback!

A new survey takes a critical look at the live-streaming ecosystem

SMNYC Highlight: Fireside Chat With Roku President Charlie Collier and Media Cartographer Evan Shapiro

On Wednesday, May 22, 2024, at Streaming Media NYC, media cartographer Evan Shapiro sat down with Charlie Collier, President of Roku Media and former President of AMC, for a deep dive discussion about the development and current dominance of Roku, the #1 streaming TV platform in America. They talked about how Roku's UI brings "simplicity and delight" to their EPG, the ways that Roku collaborates with other platforms and publishers, and the need for a new media ecosystem to support creative risk-taking in the streaming era.

Olympics Rush to Streaming but Sports SVODs Need to Team Up to Compete

The Olympics will have a seismic impact on the U.S. streaming market this summer with over a quarter of all SVOD subscribers signing up to a new streaming service just to watch the Games from Paris, according to new research.

Tubi and DAZN Announce Partnership for FAST Channel Launch in North America

Tubi Becomes First Partner to Launch DAZN Women's Football FAST Channel in North America

NAB 2024: Top New Tech for a Disruption-Ready Streaming Industry

Exciting new and (mostly) AI-driven tools and services from NAB 2024 that very specific problems, from shooting great iPhone footage to automatically creating short clips to providing live low-latency translation and captioning to creating customized radio programming to building purpose-driven social communities.

Bitmovin Live Encoder-Akamai Connected Cloud Integration Promises Lower Egress Costs and OpEx Reductions up to 90%

On March 27, Bitmovin announced the availability of its Live Encoder running on Akamai Connected Cloud, promising increased efficiencies for large-scale streams and substantial reductions in data transfer out (DTO) costs that may translate to as much as 90 percent lowered operation costs overall. 

Streaming Media NYC Sneak Preview: The Subscription Prescription with Philo, Bango, Lightswitch, and Hub Entertainment Research

On Tuesday, May 21 at Streaming Media NYC, Lightswitch Co-Founder & CEO of Monica Villar will moderate an all-star panel exploring the ever-shifting landscape of subscription streaming television. Confirmed panelists include Philo Head of Business Development and Partnerships Adam Salmons, Bango VP Marketing Giles Tongue, and Hub Entertainment Senior Consultant Mark Loughney.

The Struggle for Brand Identity Across Multiplatform Streaming Apps

A new study from Hub Entertainment Research reveals that viewers are still chasing shows rather than specific streaming brands, which poses challenges for programming providers looking to create a consistent brand identity across various platforms. James Lauzun of MagellanTV and Tom Hurlbutt of Crunchyroll also weighed in on this issue during a recent Streaming Media Connect 2024 session.

MWC24: Operators Struggle to Make 5G Pay Off

While AI was the future buzz at Mobile World Congress, operators debated how to recoup money from the millions of dollars poured into 5G networks, with repeated better regulation, wider cooperation, and promises not to repeat the mistakes of 5G.

Instant Replay: Streaming Media Connect 2024

Streaming Media presented its 13th Connect virtual conference February 19 - 22, 2024, with media industry cartographer Evan Shapiro as host and MC. Shapiro kicked off the event with a dynamic keynote, digging deep into the Q4 earnings call data to hold the spin doctors accountable and giving an unvarnished view of the industry. Other highlights included a keynote by Dana McGraw of Disney, titled Disney Advertising, Understanding Audiences: How Disney Advertising Leverages Data Science and Insights to Empower Advertisers, plus several panels covering topics such as app streaming UX design, scaling CTV advertising, measuring FAST success, and AI.

For Loss-Making Paramount+ and Peacock, a Merger Makes Sense—but not Necessarily with Each Other

After courting WarnerBros. Discovery and AppleTV, Paramount is now eyeing up Comcast for a potential union of its streamer Paramount+, in this case with Peacock. Or it could be the other way around: Paramount Global has some hot properties making it attractive to rival streamers in a bid to compete better with Disney and Netflix.

The ESPN/Fox/WBD Mega-Bundle and the Vegas-ization of Live Sports Streaming

In Super Bowl week, when interest in sports in the U.S couldn't be higher--and when the clash between the Chiefs and the 49ers is likely the biggest single-game betting event in US history--old media titans Disney, Fox, and WarnerBros. Discovery are having one last throw of the dice.

New Report Shows Only 13% of Consumers are Opposed to Ad Tiers in Streaming

A new report from CX platform DISQO examines in detail how consumers are currently feeling about ad-supported streaming tiers. Their findings offer an insightful backdrop for the unexpected growth of Netflix subscriptions in tandem with Amazon Prime's limited advertising launch. David Grabert, DISQO's VP of Brand and Communications, answers questions by Streaming Media's Tyler Nesler about the specifics of the report and what it says about today's competitive CTV advertising market.

Best of CES 2024

Streaming Media's Nadine Krefetz recounts media tech highlights from CES 2024

Live-Streaming Technology Trends 2023 Survey Brief Launches

New survey results show shift in codec, latency, and bandwidth trends

State of Streaming Autumn 2023 Survey Report Launches

Newest version of twice-annual report expands on "pain points" and growth patterns, available for download now.

Evan Shapiro Holds the Spin Doctors Accountable in the M&E Third Quarter Earnings Reports

Evan Shapiro pulled no punches in his opening keynote for Streaming Media Connect 2023, digging deep into the Q3 earnings call data to hold the spin doctors accountable and providing an unvarnished view of the industry you won't see anywhere else. Read Part Two of our highlights from his presentation.

UX Evolution in Live Sports Streams

On a panel at the recent NAB NY show, Rick Allen from ViewLift, Scott Morris from Agilis Quantum, and Lawrence Chan of LiveLike discussed the state of UI and UX for live sports and engagement, with a focus on the importance of low latency and reliability in streaming services, the need for high-quality streams, dynamic content, and personalized experiences for fans.