Biographical Information

Articles for Brandi Scardilli

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 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.

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.

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.

Solving 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.

Q&A: Celebrating Pride Month With Quickplay’s Paul Pastor 

Quickplay Co-Founder Paul Pastor has been using his platform as an out gay executive to advocate for more authentic and positive LGBTQ+ representation and inclusion in the tech world. In this Q&A, Pastor shares how he feels about the progress that's been made in LBTQ+ inclusion, why it's important to be your authentic self at work, what streaming media can do to engage in allyship, and how Quickplay is showing up for LGBTQ+ people, and more.

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 does SGAI differ from SSAI and CSAI for live streaming monetisation?

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.

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.

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.

Addressing AI-Associated Authenticity Issues at Streaming Media Connect

On Thursday, May 22, at Streaming Media Connect, Nadine Krefetz, Consultant, Reality Software, moderated the panel "In AI We Trust? AI and Content Authenticity," which looked at how being assured of content validity is more important now than ever before in a world of AI-created synthetic content and deepfakes. The panelists were Andy Beach, Media & AI Strategist, Alchemy Creations, and Conference Chair, Streaming Media 2025; Renard Jenkins, President and CEO, I2A2 Technologies, Studios & Labs; Lindsay Stewart, CEO and Founder, Stringr; and Manny Ahmed, Founder and CEO, OpenOrigins. 

Sneak Preview: origin to edge: video caching and content delivery

On Tuesday, May 20, Mark de Jong, Chairman, CDN Alliance, will moderate the Streaming Media Connect May panel "Origin to Edge: Video Caching and Content Delivery," with an all-star lineup including Warner Bros. Discovery, Sky, and BuyDRM discussing the benefits of edge caching and distributed architecture for live sports, personalisation, security, anti-piracy, and more.

Sneak Preview: In AI We Trust? AI and Content Authenticity

On Thursday, May 22, Nadine Krefetz will moderate the Streaming Media Connect May panel "In AI We Trust? AI and Content Authenticity," featuring Think Alchemy's Andy Beach, I2A's Renard Jenkins, and Stringr's Lindsay Stewart. As generative AI is finding its way into streaming in many ways, this panel looks at two popular use cases: deep fakes and captioning. We'll discuss initiatives like C2PA to address emerging content authenticity issues and evaluate the current state of the art and tech.

Sneak Preview: Highlights First: Gen AI, GenZ, and Next-Gen Sports Streaming

On Thursday, May 22, the NBA's Michelle Auguste, DAZN's Joe Caporoso, MTech's Matt Stagg, and WTFast's Darcy Lorincz will join Hub's Jon Giegengack for the Streaming Media Connect May panel "Highlights First: Gen AI, Gen Z, and Next-Generation Sports Streaming." As a new generation of highlights-first fans moves into the sports fandom mainstream, sports broadcasters need the agility and tech-savviness to produce and monetize personalized, short-form sports content at scale that meets the experiential demands of Millennial and Gen Z fans. If you're a sports rightsholder and you're not gaming out how to bring a personalized SportsCenter to every viewer, you're looking at where the puck was and not where it's going.

Implementing a New Codec in 2025: Key Factors to Consider

Transitioning to new codecs in the streaming industry is never an undertaking to be taken lightly, and bandwidth savings, encoding efficiency, and quality enhancements must be carefully considered and balanced against the challenges of ensuring playback capability for the broadest range of viewers who may be operating a motley assortment of legacy devices. Radiant Media Player's Arnaud Leyder and United Cloud's Boban Kasalovic offer their own deployment decision trees for implementing new codecs in this excerpt from a panel discussion with Streaming Learning Center's Jan Ozer at Streaming Media Connect 2025.