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.

CTV Is Defining the Future of Streaming Ads

While advertising has long been a unidirectional experience, there have been forays into making it bidirectional for a long time. The value proposition is pretty clear. If people are watching a show and an advertisement comes on showcasing a product that interests them, wouldn't it be great if they could grab the remote, push a couple of buttons, and have it delivered to their doorstep?

FOX 12 Plus Will Become The Home of the Portland Fire and Portland Thorns With New Focus On Women’s Sports

Portland Fire Announces Partnership With Kiswe To Power Fan-Focused Streaming Platform

What Live Sports Still Do Better Than Anything Else

Over the past decade, the streaming industry has worked hard to make sports more flexible. Cloud production, remote workflows, personalized streams, highlights on demand, clips everywhere. All of this has been important and largely positive. It has expanded access and reach. It has lowered barriers and opened new audiences. But in doing so, it has sometimes overlooked the one thing sports have always done better than anything else. It creates shared moments, in real time, that pull people into the same emotional space.

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.

Silverpush and Epitaph Release Attention Study with Lumen Research to Prove Performance of YouTube and Context

Silverpush, the contextual intelligence company, today released a first-ever attention study on the impact of contextual intelligence for YouTube advertising with agency partner Epitaph. By working with Lumen, the global attention measurement company, Silverpush and Epitaph analyzed more than 60 million impressions across 30+ campaigns to see the effect of contextual video advertising on YouTube

Fuse Media and Complex introduce Complex TV

Fuse Media, a leading minority-owned media company, today announced a partnership with Complex, the definitive platform for global youth culture and music lifestyle, to launch Complex TV, a new FAST channel that brings one of the most influential brands in global youth culture to audiences across major streaming platforms.

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

Vertical drama is exploding on free streaming platforms, driven by mobile-first viewing, bingeable formats, and a new generation of viewers and global creators. Tune in on February 26 at Streaming Media Connect as experts from Celestine Pictures, Hudson Vertical, Stratagem Vertical, and GoodShort break down the business models, distribution strategies, and monetization tactics driving the vertical drama boom—and explain how to scale it effectively.

Sneak Preview: Finder’s Feat: Optimizing Search & Discovery With Metadata & Machine Learning at Streaming Media Connect

In this era of constant content proliferation and channel saturation, discovery is critical to content monetization. Join an expert panel at Streaming Media Connect on February 26 to explore how structured metadata and machine learning-powered discovery tools bring great content to light, improving relevance, boosting engagement, and driving measurable revenue impact.

Private 5G in Live Sports Production Across Land, Sea, and Air

Private 5G does not reinvent live sports. It gives production teams greater control over environments they already operate in, and the agility to take the network with them wherever the story goes.

Sky "Super Bundle" Moves Pay TV from Linear to Streaming

UK pay TV service Sky's announcement of a "world-first" grouping of streamers under one belt could fire the starting gun on further super bundles - though this particular union does not embrace either Apple TV or Amazon.

Sneak Preview: Leveraging AI for Contextual CTV Advertising at Streaming Media Connect

On Thursday, February 26, join content monetization pros from Roku, Philo, DAZN, Tavant, Intersection, and the SVTA for the Streaming Media Connect panel "All About Context: Leveraging AI for Contextual CTV Advertising." Learn how AI-powered audience data, metrics analysis, and real-time decisioning propel tailored, targeted CTV ad experiences that boost relevance, heighten engagement, and grow revenue.

Sneak Preview: Peak Performance: Handling Traffic Spikes for Global Live Sports Streams

On Wednesday, February 25, MTech Sport's Matt Stagg will moderate the Streaming Media Connect panel "Peak Performance: Handling Traffic Spikes for Global Live Sports Streams" with panelists from DAZN, BT Group, and TATA. When the biggest moments in live sports hit, traffic surges coming from unexpected directions can stymie even the most mature streaming stacks. This panel of live streaming and content delivery pros breaks down how top platforms prepare to manage peak demand—using smart load-balancing, real-time monitoring, and advanced failover strategies to maximize uptimes when streams scale globally.

Sneak Preview: Forging FAST’s Middle Mile: Building Live Linear Streaming Infrastructure

On Tuesday, February 24, Nadine Krefetz, Consultant, Reality Software, will moderate the Streaming Media Connect panel "Forging FAST's Middle Mile: Building Live Linear Streaming Infrastructure." Live linear FAST lives or dies in the middle mile, where ingest, encoding, packaging, and routing determine whether channels can contend with increased traffic as audiences scale. This session explores how to forge resilient, flexible infrastructure that keeps FAST channels humming, costs controlled, and viewers engaged.

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.

Cracking Cloud Gaming With the CTV Model: A Q&A With GAMELOOP CEO Kimmy Li

With the immediacy of TV Guide + Twitch, GAMELOOP's "watch and play" model lets players unlock hosted games on their TV using their mobile device or remote. The platform recently launched on Samsung Gaming Hub as the first ad-supported alternative to subscription-based cloud gaming. In this interview, Gameloop CEO Kimmy Li dives into the details of GAMELOOP's offerings, her years of professional experience in the gaming industry, and how that experience has positioned her to scale freemium models.

The Super Bowl 2026 Effect: Vevo’s Rob Velez Discusses Shifts in Multicultural Mass-Reach Moments

In this interview, Rob Velez, VP of Inclusive Network & LATAM Sales at Vevo, discusses how user engagement for the Super Bowl has now far transcended the game itself, Vevo's capabilities that give it distinct insights into post-game day viewing metrics, the shift in the ways that marketers are thinking about mass-reach moments, and how multilingual and international artists challenge conventional notions about the market.

Sneak Preview: Best Content Bets: Programming Decisions That Maximize Fill, Yield, & Scale

On Thursday, February 26, Rebecca Avery, owner and principal of Integration Therapy, will moderate the Streaming Media Connect panel "Best Content Bets: Programming Decisions That Maximize Fill, Yield, & Scale." Curating the right content mix is the foundation of scalable streaming channel monetization. This session breaks down the art and science of building a content library that draws and engages viewers and shows how data-driven programming decisions impact ad fill rates and cultivate sustainable growth across platforms.

Sneak Preview: Match & Measure: Evaluating CTV Ad Effectiveness at Streaming Media Connect 2026

On Tuesday, February 24, Erin Firneno, EVP of business intelligence at Advertiser Perceptions, will moderate the Streaming Media Connect panel "Match & Measure: Evaluating CTV Ad Effectiveness." As more advertising budget trends toward CTV, proving performance across fragmented platforms is critical to the success of the brands that invest in it. This panel of measurement and metrics experts from the ad-supported streaming ecosystem breaks down how marketers and publishers are reaching responsive audiences, moving from exposure to engagement to measurable outcomes, and identifying what truly moves the needle in CTV advertising.

Performance TV Becomes Advertising’s #1 Investment Channel as Marketers Navigate AI Disruption, Rising Costs, and the Fight for Attention

tvScientific's 2026 State of Performance TV Report finds the category now leads media investment, ties social as the most effective channel, and drives both revenue and brand growth