Streaming Platforms and CDNs: Time for Disruption

CDNs are clearly strategic partners for content streamers, yet content delivery is often viewed as a commodity service. This has resulted in massive turmoil within the CDN industry. Several CDNs have already collapsed under the pressure or simply left the market. Other CDNs, to remain viable, have diversified into areas such as security and edge computing. That might be a great business strategy for the CDNs—but it means they're no longer solely focused on the needs of streaming video platforms.

AI-Driven Audience Segmentation Is Reshaping Ad-Supported Streaming and Unlocking New Revenue Opportunities

Audience segmentation is the process of dividing viewers into groups based on shared characteristics, such as demographics, location, interests, and viewing behaviors. Video service providers use their own data (i.e., first-party data) to create precise audience segments, allowing for targeted advertising, personalized content recommendations, and tailored marketing strategies. This approach not only increases the relevance and effectiveness of ads for viewers and advertisers, it also helps reduce viewer resistance, generate higher acceptance, boost engagement, reduce churn, deliver more valuable advertising opportunities, and unlock new revenue streams.

Beyond Broadcast: How Streaming is Reinventing the Live Sports Experience

Success today isn't defined by simple reliability. It's about delivering live sports at broadcast-level speed, enhancing it with personalized viewing options, and orchestrating a broader digital ecosystem that keeps fans connected before, during, and after the game. Streaming isn't a replacement for TV - it's a complete redefinition of what sports media can be.

Predictive Analytics Is the Next Frontier for Media Company Growth

The move to predictive analytics is critical for growth. With increased competition from every angle, media companies need to take advantage of these new innovations to move faster and make more informed strategic decisions. However, the foundation of great analytics is access to the right data and technology, which requires media companies to prioritize elements of their business that might not be as obvious as audience growth or content development - but are just as important for future growth.

Should Data Be a Piece of the Upfront Equation?

Upfronts offer a forum for the sell side to showcase content, and the buy side to begin their pre-planning for advertising commitment. Now that we're entering the streaming-first upfront era, the ad industry has yet to elevate the importance of data into the upfronts. If meaningful advertising outcomes is the goal, data should have a place on the stage, as a critical piece of the equation.

Beyond One-Size-Fits-All: The Rise of Hybrid Streaming Architectures

As the demand for high-quality, scalable and cost-efficient video streaming services continues to grow, the industry is undergoing a fundamental shift in video workflow architectures. The notion of a "one-size-fits-all" streaming solution no longer holds up against the pressures of rising audience expectations, live event peaks and a rapidly evolving ecosystem. A hybrid streaming approach—combining on-premises and cloud infrastructure strategies—is the most flexible and future-ready path forward.

Pause to Progress: Sports Innovation Five Years After COVID

The COVID-19 pandemic marked a turning point in how sports are produced, distributed, and experienced. From remote production to virtual competitions and direct-to-consumer (D2C) streaming, many of the solutions quickly put in place during lockdowns have become core components of a new, more interactive and fan-focused era of sports.

Why CTV Is a Bright Spot for Sports Advertising

If the past six months have shown us anything, it's that streaming isn't just a major player in sports—it's rewriting the playbook. Netflix broadcast NFL Christmas games for the first time, Amazon retained Thursday Night Football, and the NBA inked an unprecedented 11-year media rights agreement with streaming giants Disney and ESPN+, NBC and Peacock, and Amazon Prime Video, leaving behind its long-standing linear partner TNT. The message is clear: Connected TV (CTV) is no longer just an alternative for sports viewing—it's becoming the primary stage.

Powering the New Streaming Superstore in the Age of Subscriber Choice

The age of unprecedented subscriber growth in streaming is morphing into a new phase. Today, the video subscription market is more mature, complex, and nuanced than it ever has been, with providers increasingly focusing on strategic partnerships alongside pure direct-to-consumer growth. While content exclusivity remains the most compelling hook for any premium service, Vijay Sajja, CEO and Founder of Evergent, writes that a flurry of aggregation and bundling activity means that the biggest services will live and die by their ability to offer superior experiences and value-added personalization.

Addressable TV Is No Longer “Optional” – It’s Table Stakes

Going into 2025, advertiser conversations around addressable TV are different than they have been in past years. Considered an "add-on" by many just a few years ago, addressable TV is now considered a "must-buy" among the majority of advertisers today. Sona Pehlivanian of New York Interconnect writes that this shift represents a new level of maturity in how the advertising industry views addressable and how it is an important milestone in bringing TV advertising in line with shifts in consumer viewing behaviors.

Three CDN Strategies To Lower Live Streaming Latency

Akhil Ramachandran addresses some key challenges he faced when he added low latency streaming support for MediaStore, leveraging the state-of-the-art Chunked Transfer Encoding, and the strategies adopted to solve them.

Digging into CTV’s 3 Biggest Challenges in 2025

CTV advertising will dominate most brands' media plans in the next 2-3 years, yet major challenges persist. Suvadip Choudhury of Alliant talks about achieving scale, precision targeting, and the lack of overall education holding buyers back, but he also argues that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Sailing the Seven “Cs” of CTV 2.0

Eric Hoffert, Chief Technology Officer of Kargo, lays out seven elements of CTV 2.0, which is coming up fast - but many brands and media companies aren't prepared. While CTV 1.0 was about targeting audiences using linear creative, CTV 2.0 is about leaning into the varied capabilities of a digital screen within the context of a multichannel campaign. Hoffert has "Seven C's" that brands and media companies must consider for CTV 2.0 to take off.

The Perfect Storm: How to Weather Media & Entertainment’s Resource Gap

Recent industry layoffs underscore the urgency for media organizations to become more efficient, find new revenue opportunities, and modernize their technology. While many businesses have been discussing doing this for years, those who don't find a way will not be one of the few left standing. Donna Thomas, EVP of Studios at Vubiquity, dives deep into how businesses can find partners ready to help overcome these challenges and start seeing results fast.

The Streaming Wars Are Over — So What Happens Next?

The streaming wars as we know it are over. Once fierce competitors are now collaborating on turf that's increasingly not even owned by them. The industry is moving away from a Subscription Economy and towards a more complex, and more lucrative, Bundle Economy — but what does this mean for subscription providers? Anil Malhotra, co-founder and CMO at subscription platform, Bango, discusses how this shift will affect the future of streaming, and how subscription-based businesses of all sizes can succeed in this new landscape.

Out of Home, On the Money: Live Event Streaming is Winning Outside the Living Room

Streamers are facing intense competition over limited household wallet share, engagement time, and the rights deals that keep viewers signed up. Today, folks are looking for creative ways to expand their audience beyond the confines of direct-to-consumer and streaming platforms while slicing and dicing rights agreements in tailored ways. Immersive shared experiences, such as live sports events, that take audiences outside of their living rooms are growing in popularity - and helping engage viewers with hyper-targeted, localized experiences.

Live Sports Is Driving Innovation in Ad-Tech

If 2024 was the year of live-streaming sports, Dave Dembowski of Operative writes that 2025 is the year of live-streaming ad innovation. With massive audiences that continue to steal from traditional TV, advertisers are looking for new opportunities to reach massive live audiences digitally. Media companies are working hard to offer the TV advertising experience of the future. That future will include new forms of targeting, interactivity, creative ad formats, and much more.

Adopting IPv6 Will Improve CTV Advertising

IPv4 is the current IP address protocol and it's very limiting for advertisers. It bundles many devices into a single address. IPv6 has existed for years, but has not caught on because there wasn't any business pressure to switch over to it. With advertisers looking for more precision, now is the right time to make the switch. TrueData's VP of products David Berman explains why IPv6 is a meaningful improvement and what it can do for the advertising industry.

Why Your Desire for Free TV Could Cost You

As more users turn to unauthorized streaming sites to bypass subscription paywalls, cybercriminals are exploiting this demand through deceptive tactics. From malware-laden downloads disguised as media players to fake CAPTCHA verifications that silently execute malicious scripts, these attacks turn unsuspecting viewers into easy targets. This article, written by lead cybersecurity analyst Josh Taylor at Fortra, breaks down how these schemes work, their impact on users and the streaming industry, and steps media companies can take to protect their platforms and viewers from evolving threats.

The CTV Honeymoon Isn’t Over: A Path to Renewed Growth

Connected TV advertising has been the darling of the ad industry in recent years. However, recent forecasts indicate a slowdown in spending growth. By 2028, year-over-year spending growth will move into the single-digit territory. But the honeymoon doesn't have to be over. Nicole Scaglione of PubMatic looks at the current headwinds facing CTV advertising and several key areas where realignment could jumpstart growth again.