How Meta Transcodes Video in the Cloud

When it comes to transcoding video at an operation like what Meta offers, given scale and the complex array of different targets and scenarios, there's no simple answer to how Meta approaches cloud transcoding. But Meta Technical Program Manager Hassene Tmar guides viewers through the Meta video journey and decisions made around software, hardware, compression efficiency, codecs, and more in this conversation with Streaming Media 2025 Conference Chair Andy Beach at the latest Streaming Media Connect.

Is VAST Past Its Prime in Streaming Adtech?

VAST (video ad serving template) is an XML-based standard developed by the IAB Tech Lab that defines how video players and ad servers communicate to deliver video ads. It is designed to allow for the consistent and dynamic delivery of video ads across different platforms and devices. But in the ever-shifting and fast-evolving world of adtech, has VAST grown long in the tooth? Ring Digital's Brian Ring, SVTA's David Hassoun, Eventually a Castle's Andrew Baritz, and IAB Tech Lab‘s Raymond Holton discuss the issue in this clip from May's Streaming Media Connect.

How to Manage CTV Advertising’s Shifting Power Dynamics

Are the mediation layers between publishers and advertisers in the CTV space dropping off with the increasing emergence of new ad exchanges and the like? And how can platforms adapt? Eventually A Castle's Andrew Baritz discusses the market's shifting tectonics and what platforms like Cineverse and C360 Technologies, Inc. are doing to bring buyers closer to publishers in this discussion with Ring Digital's Brian Ring at the latest Streaming Media Connect.

How Smaller CTV Publishers Can Leverage Innovative Ad Formats

As more innovative and integrated ad formats continue to transform CTV advertising and monetization, are smaller publishers without dedicated ad sales teams in danger of being left behind? What creative strategies can they deploy to seize these opportunities? Fan Serv's C.J. Leonard and Eventually A Castle's Andrew Baritz offer practical, strategic recommendations in this discussion with Ring Digital's Brian Ring at the latest Streaming Media Connect.

QUIC vs. Web Transport vs. Media Over QUIC

With emerging and still-developing streaming technologies and protocols like Media over QUIC (MoQ) and web transport, some basic definitions are in order to differentiate them from one another and to ensure that they aren't used interchangeably. Akamai's Will Law, an expert on all things QUIC, provides a cogent and crucial breakdown of QUIC and associated terminology in this discussion with Help Me Stream Research Foundation's Timothy Fore-Siglin from the latest Streaming Media Connect.

Interoperability and Media Over QUIC

Interoperability is always a critical issue with emerging streaming protocols, and—no different from any other protocol still in development—for Media over QUIC (MoQ), interop remains a work in progress. Help Me Stream Research Foundation's Tim Fore-Siglin, Akamai's Will Law, and nanocosmos' Oliver Lietz discuss the ongoing challenges and likely outcomes in this clip from May's Streaming Media Connect.

SGAI, Live Sports Streaming, Scale, and Standardization

Server-guided ad insertion (SGAI), and the variety of squeeze-back and picture-in-picture (PiP) ad options it enables, creates great opportunities for brands to innovate and engage audiences in new ways, particularly for live sports events. But it's still early days for SGAI implementation, and scale and standardization still pose significant challenges that old solutions and approaches won't solve, as Ring Digital's Brian Ring, SVTA's David Hassoun, Fan Serv's C.J. Leonard, and Eventually A Castle's Andrew Baritz discuss in this clip from May's Streaming Media Connect.

How to Balance Performance and QoE Metrics for Livestreams

When it comes to monitoring live streams, teams often divide metrics into technical categories related to streaming performance like bitrate and latency and buffering, and more subjective metrics related to quality of experience for end users. But according to Warner Bros.' Subhrendu Sarkar and NBCUniversal's Seb Emin, the two are really inseparable, as delivering satisfying experiences to viewers whether they're watching on 65" smart TVs or on a "mobile device on a train going through a tunnel" is always the end goal, and they explain how to strike that critical balance while always keeping QoE front of mind in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2025.

New Strategies for Reaching Gen Z Fans with Niche Sports on FAST

Fubo's Pamela Duckworth and Swerve Sports' Christy Tanner say it's time to throw out the old playbook and experiment with new niche sports and new engagement and programming strategies for reaching younger fans—and it all starts on social—as they recount their experience testing and measuring combat sports engagement on their FAST channels in this discussion with Ashling Digital's Michael Nagle from May's Streaming Media Connect.

Analysis Paralysis: How to Manage the Streaming Data Deluge

When it comes to live stream monitoring and analytics, the problem is usually having too much data rather than not enough, along with identifying the key data points to pinpoint problems and optimize streams. NBCUniversal's Seb Emin and Warner Bros. Discovery's Subhrendu Sarkar explain how two major content providers keep analysis paralysis at bay in this discussion with Dillon Media Ventures' Rob Dillon at May's Streaming Media Connect.

How to Market FAST Sports Content to New Audiences

Whether it's a lesser-known niche sport or a new FAST channel at risk of getting lost in a saturated market, getting attention is an uphill climb for FAST content providers trying to make a splash with sports, as HRM International Media's Robert Muzac and Swerve Sports' Christy Tanner affirm to moderator Michael Nagle in this clip from May's Streaming Media Connect. They suggest some sound content and marketing strategies for reaching new viewers and getting them to engage.

What Engages Younger Gamers and Sports Fans and How to Measure It

When it comes to engaging fans and bringing them closer to players and into the games, sports leagues like the NBA have more touchpoints than ever. But as fan engagement is distributed over more and more social platforms, it becomes harder and harder to measure. iGaming, by contrast, is uniquely measurable. What can leagues learn from sim racing and other gaming platforms that integrate with live sports action when it comes to measurement, and are gaming levels of measurement really attainable? Hub Entertainment Research's Jon Giegengack, WTFast's Darcy Lorincz, and the NBA's Michelle Auguste discuss the opportunities and challenges of increasing and tracking diversified fan engagement from sports to esports in this clip from May's Streaming Media Connect.

How to Solve Common Challenges of Streaming Cloud Migration

One of the common pitfalls of streaming cloud migration involves moving to cloud encoders when streaming to multiple endpoints. LiveX's Corey Behnke, Cerberus Tech's Chris Clarke, and TV2 Denmark's Loke Dupont discuss how to address and solve this and other issues that arise in the course of lift-and-shift migration when transitioning live streaming workflows from on-prem to cloud in this clip from May's Streaming Media Connect.

Searching for Synergies Between CTV and Social

Leveraging social to drive CTV engagement, enhance experience, and draw attention to their key media properties is all about finding synergies, as Zeam Media's Jack Perry, Fremantle's Laura Florence, and Estrella MediaCo's Christina Chung discuss in this clip from May's Streaming Media Connect with moderator Chris Pfaff Tech Media's Chris Pfaff. Is there a secret social synergy sauce for CTV, and if so, what is it?

What Is SGAI and What Are the Benefits for Live and VOD?

Server-guided ad insertion (SGAI) has been called the "best of both worlds" in a streaming adtech world long split between client-side ad insertion (CSAI) and server-side ad insertion (SSAI), and of course it's more than squeezebacks and other frame-sharing ad formats with which it's commonly associated. But what is it exactly? And what does it offer for live and VOD streaming? Google's Sourya Roy, Paramount's Jarred Wilichinsky, Muxed's David Hassoun, and Reality Software's Nadine Krefetz discuss the answer to these questions in this clip from May's Streaming Media Connect.

How Does SGAI Differ From SSAI and CSAI for Live Streaming Monetization?

As the buzz around server-guided ad insertion (SGAI) grows in the adtech and streaming worlds, what sets it apart from the more familiar server-side ad insertion (SSAI) and client-side ad insertion (CSAI), and what specifically can it do that SSAI and CSAI can't, particularly for live sports streams without period ad breaks? IAB Tech Lab's Katie Stroud, Paramount's  Jarred Wilichinsky, RealEyes Media's David Hassoun, and Google's Sourya Roy debate the differences and the potential of SGAI to enhance ad experiences in this clip from a panel at May's Streaming Media Connect.

What Is Driving the Surge in WNBA Viewership and Fan Engagement?

2023 was the breakthrough year for women's basketball, with the explosion of viewer interest in the national championship game featuring Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, and that growth has carried over to the WNBA since the two stars went pro, according NBA Global Media Insights Team Leader Michelle Auguste. But a number of other factors are driving the exponential surge in fan engagement throughout the WNBA and in other women's sports, say Auguste, Team Whistle President Joe Caporoso, and Hub Entertainment Research Joe Giegengack in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2025.

What Drives Streaming Codec Choices at Meta and Norsk

As debates over codec choices in the streaming world range from H.264 to AV1 and HEVC and beyond, what drives decision-making when it comes to codec choices for solution and service providers helping creators and customers get video online for live and VOD consumption? According to Meta's Hassene Tmar and Norsk's Steve Strong, key factors include software and hardware support and compatibility, bitrate reductions, latency constraints, and more, as the two explain in this discussion with Alchemy Creations' Andy Beach from May's Streaming Media Connect.

How Norsk Approaches Emerging Streaming Codecs and Protocols

With its focus on helping customers build effective live-streaming workflows and meeting streamers where they are in terms of prevalent codecs and protocols—which, Norsk's Steve Strong acknowledged at the conference, usually still means H.264—how does it anticipate where users might be going when it comes to supporting new codecs like VVC, whatever the current or near-future playback challenges might be? Strong explains his company's considerations in conversation with Andy Beach in this clip from May's Streaming Media Connect.

How Biddable CTV Advertising Leverages AI and Boosts ROI

What are the key strategies, partnerships, and tech stack elements that make biddable advertising profitable in FAST and other ad-supported CTV platforms in 2025? Fremantle's Laura Florence, Future Today's Tim Ware, and Chris Pfaff Tech Media's Chris Pfaff break down how each of their companies approach biddable CTV sales in a conversation at the latest Streaming Media Connect 2025.