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With live sport streaming, control the platform, control the game

Streaming platforms, tech giants, and traditional broadcasters are all fighting to become the destination for live sport viewers. And in the middle of it all are the fans, facing rising costs, fractured access, and a growing sense of fatigue. The rights war has become a platform war. And no one's sitting on the sidelines.

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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.

Single-Cloud vs. Multi-Cloud for Streaming Workflow Migration

Choosing between single-cloud and multi-cloud strategies is critical when migrating streaming workflows because each offers distinct trade-offs in control, scalability, and vendor dependence. LiveX's Corey Behnke, Cerberus Tech's Chris Clarke, and TV2 Denmark's Loke Dupont make the case for choosing (and limiting yourself to) a single cloud provider when crossing to the cloud side while emphasizing the importance of leveraging specific strengths and services offered by each provider in this clip from May's Streaming Media Connect.

How Norsk Factors Sustainability into Codec Deployment

A number of factors impact codec deployment strategies and decision-making for live streaming, and particularly for a company like Norsk that has been involved with the Greening of Streaming organization from its inception, sustainability and power consumption are key considerations. Norsk's Steve Strong explains how to encode both on-prem and in the cloud with sustainability front of mind while balancing that with cost and other ever-present concerns in this discussion with Streaming Media 2025 conference chair Andy Beach in this clip from 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.

Streaming Media Columns

The Long and Short of It: Measuring YouTube on TV

YouTube makes short-form viewing in­creasingly commonplace, measurable, and monetised on CTV, and other channels inevita­bly rush to adopt and repeat the formula, time will tell when "YouTube is the new television" gives way to "Television is the new YouTube."

Talking Localisation

Today, localisation remains a critical budgetary line item for content owners delivering shows to diverse and transnational audiences, and it is probably one whose typical costs have not, until recently, changed considerably in quite some time. The increasingly prevalent use of AI in content localisation, subtitling, and translation promises to change all of that—particularly through the controversial and ethically fraught use of imitative synthetic voices.

Post-Peak Performance in the M&E Universe

The recent Subscription Wars report commissioned by U.K.-based digital payments tech company Bango points to consumer dissatisfaction with the fractured state of subscription services in general and the increasing appeal of indirect subscription options and super-bundles of aggregated services sold through telcos like Optus in Australia. Perhaps it's another sign of less-than-inspiring times that the best thing consumers say streaming services can do for them is to stop standing out from the crowd and start disappearing into it.

Is 2024 the Year of WebRTC?

With large sports-streaming operators, WebRTC provides a real opportunity for ultra-low-latency streaming. But those same operators, which spend billions on licensing rights, can't afford to just swap the ability to stream content in real time for basic OTT functionality like SSAI and DRM.