The 2020 Streaming Media Readers' Choice Winners
There's no shortage of awards in the online video industry, but the Streaming Media Readers' Choice Awards is still the only one where the winners are chosen by the people who matter most—the end users who use these products and services every day.
This year, more than 2,200 voters cast more than 25,000 votes in 26 categories that run the gamut from analytics to webcasting and everything in between. After discarding votes from obviously phony email addresses—as well as votes by employees casting ballots for their own companies' products—we identified the winners and two runners-up in each category. Many of the names are familiar, even expected, but you'll find more than a few surprises in the list that follows. And if you're surprised that a company isn't represented, well, all we can say is that it either wasn't nominated or didn't get enough votes.
"Streaming Media takes the pulse of the online video industry a few ways every year, including research reports and our expert-filled conferences, but our Readers' Choice Awards give us the best insight into which products and services have found favor with the people who matter most—the technologists and engineers in the trenches," says Streaming Media editor in chief and vice-president Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen. "If you want to know who's leading the way from a technology standpoint, there's no better indicator than these awards. Congratulations to the winners and finalists, the companies that are leading the way with technical innovation and a passion for making streaming video the best it can be."
"The Streaming Media Readers' Choice Awards is the first and still the only awards program where the winners are chosen by the people who matter most—the end-users who use these products and services every day," says Streaming Media vice president and publisher Joel Unickow. "This is not a pay-to-play awards program, like so many others are. This is the most honest view of the industry, with no committee or panel of judges. It's a testament to Streaming Media's 20+ year mission of creating transparency in an industry of smoke and mirrors. More than 2,200 real people cast more than 25,000 votes in 26 categories. There is no better sounding board than Streaming Media's passionate and responsive readership, which is an attestation to our independent editorial and business practices. Congratulations are in order as well as a heartfelt "thank you" to all that made their vote matter."
If you'd like to see what companies took home the Streaming Media Readers' Choice Award in 2019, look to our list of winners.
Congratulations to our finalists, and a big thank you to our sponsors, PTZOptics and BuyDRM.
Analytics/Quality of Experience Platform
Winner: Akamai Technologies - Broadcast Operations Control Center
Runners-Up:
Qligent Corp – Vision Dymos
Telestream – IQ Solutions
Analytics/Quality of Service Platform
Winner: Telestream - Cloud Live ABR Monitor
Runners-Up:
Bitmovin – Video Analytics
Verizon Media - Smartplay Stream Routing
Cellular Bonding Solution
Winner: LiveU - LU800 Multi-Camera Production-Level Field Unit
Runners-Up:
Teradek – Bond
TVU Networks – TVU Anywhere
Closed Captioning Solution
Winner: Telestream – Caption Maker
Runners-Up:
Epiphan Video - Epiphan LiveScrypt
IBM Watson Media - IBM Video Streaming
Cloud Encoding/Transcoding Service
Winner: Amazon Web Services – AWS Elemental MediaLive
Runners-Up:
Telestream – Telestream Cloud Services
Wowza Media Systems - Wowza Streaming Cloud
Content Delivery Network
Winner: Amazon Web Services - Amazon CloudFront
Runners-Up:
Akamai - Intelligent Edge Platform
Verizon Media - Verizon Media Platform
DRM/Access Control Service Provider
Winner: Verimatrix - Verimatrix Multi-DRM
Runners-Up:
BuyDRM - KeyOS Multi-DRM Platform
EZDRM - Universal DRM
Education Video Platform
Winner: Kaltura - Kaltura Education Video Cloud
Runners-Up:
Discover Video - DEVOS Streaming Platform
Sonic Foundry – Mediasite
Encoding Software
Winner: Telestream - Vantage Transcode Pro
Runners-Up:
Haivision – KB Series
Harmonic - EyeQ Content-Aware Encoding
Enterprise Video Platform
Winner: Kaltura - Kaltura Enterprise Video Platform
Runners-Up:
Brightcove – Brightcove Enterprise Video Suite
Haivision – Haivision Media Platform
Hardware ABR Encoders
Winner: Haivision - KB Series
Runners-Up:
Amazon Web Services - AWS Elemental Live
Telestream - Lightspeed Live Stream
Hardware Input Devices for Live Production
Winner: Magewell – Pro Convert 4K/60 NDI Encoders
Runners-Up:
Amazon Web Services – AWS Elemental Link
BirdDog – Flex 4K Family
Live Streaming Software
Winner: Wowza Media Systems - Wowza Media Systems
Runners-Up:
Amazon Web Services – Amazon Interactive Video Service
Zixi – Zixi Software-Defined Platform
OTT Video Platform
Winner: Telestream – Vantage
Runners-Up:
Akamai – Adaptive Media Delivery
Harmonic - VOS360 Live Streaming Platform
Per-Title Encoding Solution
Winner: Amazon Web Services – AWS Elemental MediaConvert
Runners-Up:
Bitmovin – Bitmovin Per-Title Encoding
Brightcove – Context Aware Encoding
Portable Multicam Streaming Solution (Less than $1,500)
Winner: Blackmagic Design – ATEM Mini Pro ISO
Runners-Up:
StudioCoast Pty Ltd – vMix Live Production & Streaming Software
Telestream – Wirecast
Portable Multicam Streaming Solution (More than $1,500)
Winner: NewTek – TriCaster TC1
Runners-Up:
LiveU – LU800 Multi-Camera Production-Level Field Unit
Telestream – Wirecast Gear
PTZ or Network-Controlled Camera
Winner: PTZOptics – 30X-SDI
Runners-Up:
BirdDog – P200
Sony – BRC-X400
Quality Control/Monitoring Platform
Winner: Telestream – IQ Solutions
Runners-Up:
LTN Global – LTN Monitor & Control
Zixi – ZEN Master
Server-Side Ad Insertion Solution
Winner: Amazon Web Services – AWS Elemental MediaTailor
Runners-Up:
Brightcove – Brightcove SSAI
Wurl – AdSPring
Single or Dual-Stream Encoding Appliances
Winner: Haivision – Makito X4 Encoder
Runners-Up:
Magewell – Ultra Stream
Teradek – Vidiu Go
Small/Medium-Sized Business Video Platform
Winner: Brightcove – Video Cloud
Runners-Up:
Dacast – Dacast Video Platform
Discover Video – DV Express All-in-One Streaming Platform
Video Player Solution/SDK
Winner: Akamai – Akamai Adaptive Media Player
Runners-Up:
Bitmovin – Bitmovin Video Player
Telestream – GLIM
Video Quality Metrics Solution
Winner: Telestream – PRISM
Runners-Up:
Elecard – Video Quality Estimator
Video Clarity – Clearview
Webcasting/Presentation Solution (Cloud)
Winner: Sonic Foundry – Mediasite
Runners-Up:
Brightcove – Brightcove Virtual Event Experiences
Discover Video – DEVOS Cloud All-in-One Streaming Platform
Webcasting/Presentation Solution (On-Prem)
Winner: Telestream – Wirecast
Runners-Up:
Matrox Video - Matrox Monarch LCS Multi-Source Streaming and Recording Appliance
Sonic Foundry – Medisite
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