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.

IAB Tech Lab Unveils Agentic Roadmap for Digital Advertising

Roadmap Details How Open, Interoperable Standards Are Being Extended With Modern Protocols to Power Agentic Systems at Scale

New TV Advertising Research from Hub: The ad experience is getting better, and viewers are more receptive to ads

In unsettled economic times, young viewers are especially willing to accept advertising to save money on subscriptions.

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.

Roundup: Streaming Industry Predictions for 2026

The predictions game is a fascinating one, and one that's hard not to play at year's end, whether we're talking about what's to come in the next year or three, or what's just as likely to be gone. In the last few weeks, my own editorial inbox has filled to bursting with unsolicited but much-welcomed season's greetings from a disparate array of industry experts and thought leaders ringing in "End-of-Year Prediction Season" with all manner of educated guesses and promising bets about what's going to happen in 2026.

Instant Replay: Streaming Media Connect December

Streaming Media Connect December was all about live and featured exclusive keynote fireside chats with Rebecca Sirmons of NASA+ and Neal Roberts of WarnerBros. Discovery and a slate of live streaming panels packed with speakers from Peacock TV, Paramount+, Google, Globo, EZDRM, nanocosmos, CommScope, Starz, Professional Fighters League, LG, and more. Check out a playlist with Streaming Media Connect December 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.

SMPTE Releases Updated Engineering Report on Artificial Intelligence and the Media

SMPTE®, the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, in conjuncture with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the Entertainment Technology Center (ETC), have released a comprehensive document on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its affect on the media. The document was the result of a task force on AI standards in Media that began in 2020 and is an updated version of the Engineering Report released in 2023.

Automation Fatigue: Finding the Balance

The more we automate, the less we notice when creativity starts to fade. You can feel it in production teams that stop questioning. You can hear it when the director's voice is replaced by a workflow alert. When efficiency becomes the loudest voice in the room, the human instinct that makes sport so compelling starts to fade.

YES Network – America’s pre-eminent Regional Sports Network and the exclusive regional home of the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Nets – and CAMB.AI enter into an agreement to explore strategic AI initiatives

Partnership comes as CAMB.AI continues to break down language barriers between sports and fans, including recent live multilingual broadcasts with MLS and NASCAR

Does IRIS.TV’s Tagging Partnership With Tubi Signal a Moneyball Moment for Longtail CTV Content?

IRIS.TV recently partnered with Tubi so IRIS.TV could provide advertisers with the appropriate level of AVOD addressability, contextual targeting, and measurement. To learn more about IRIS.TV's tagging strategy and collaboration with Tubi, I spoke with Rohan Castelino, CMO of IRIS.TV.

Nokia, Ericsson, Fraunhofer HHI Join Forces to Drive 6G-Era Video Coding Standardization

In this exclusive interview, Streaming Media's Jan Ozer speaks with Ville-Veikko Mattila, Head of Multimedia Technologies at Nokia, about Nokia's collaboration with Ericsson and Fraunhofer Institute on a new codec development and its implications for the next decade of video compression.

AWNY: Streaming's Strategic Advantage

Marketers are reconsidering how to capture attention and provide significant outcomes as consumers shift to streaming platforms. At this year's Advertising Week New York, Reed Kiely, Director, Data Insights & Trends, VAB, moderated the panel "Streaming's Strategic Advantage: Precision. Scale. Results" with panelists from Seedtag, Affinity Solutions, Premion, and Digitas.

AI Helps InterDigital Reach Beyond VVC in Race to Develop Next-Gen Codec

Candidates for H.267 already significantly outperform VVC as the hunt for a new video compression standard gets underway

ICYMI: Streaming Media 2025's VOD Archive is Live

Streaming Media 2025, which rolled into sunny Santa Monica last week, featured speakers from Netflix, Roku, Paramount, BET, Google, Warner Bros. Discovery, Televisa Univision, and many more. Check out a playlist featuring the complete Streaming Media 25 program 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.

When Live Sports Aren’t Live

Low latency is not a nice-to-have. It's the difference between being in the moment and watching it on delay. In sports, the moment is the product.

Q&A: Vevo Relies on Data Science for Optimized Ad Experiences

Independent streaming platform and leading music video network Vevo has been collaborating with data science company Domino to leverage AI, with the goal of enhancing both its ad performance and the viewer experience. I spoke to Natasha Potashnik, head of data, research, and measurement at Vevo, and Thomas Robinson, COO of Domino, to dig deeper into the use case and to discuss the role of AI in Vevo's business strategy. 

Monetizing Sports on FAST: A Q&A With Free Live Sports' Cathy Rasenberger and Amagi's Srinivasan KA

In this Q&A with Free Live Sports Co-Founder Cathy Rasenberger and Amagi President Srinivasan KA, we discuss a new partnership that makes Amagi the exclusive monetization partner for Free Live Sports' entire FAST inventory, and what the deal reveals about the state of sports on FAST and how FAST monetization continues to evolve.

Video entertainment resilient to economic distress

Price inflation and wage squeeze are not putting a dampener on "TV" as consumers ratchet up their spend and their time spent on home video entertainment, according to the latest 2025 Video Trends Report from TiVo. The average number of services used by consumers is up too with the average number of FAST channels watched by viewers almost doubling year on year but SVOD churn has increased.