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Multiviews on Live Sports Streaming at NAB 2026

Perhaps the booths that cropped up on my NAB 2026 itinerary and the sessions I squeezed in between simply skewed this way, but it seems like everyone's favorite sport in streaming this year is, well, sports. Certainly, when it comes to live, the pinnacle of achievement appears to be seamless delivery of premium sports events at global scale, with an eye to "meeting fans exactly where they are"—crossing national, lingual, and cultural borders via localization, and transcending generations through autogenerated highlights and verticalized mobile delivery. And when it comes to traditional landscape sports video streamed to conventional CTV glass, multiview more than ever seems to be the name of the game in 2026.

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Best Practices for Seamless Live Streaming Failover

When a CDN fails during high-stakes, large-scale live streams, is seamless failover to an alternate CDN the standard expectation in 2026? Are there no excuses left for anything but blip-free CDN switches in the current streaming climate? BT Group's Ian Parr, TATA's Corey Smith, DAZN's James Pearce, and MTech Sport's Matt Stagg weigh in on the current state of play for live CDN switching and how to ensure failover success in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2026.

Server-Guided Ad Insertion (SGAI) and the Future of Streaming

What is server-guided ad insertion (SGAI) from a technology standpoint; how does it differ from client-side ad insertion (CSAI) and server-side ad insertion (SSAI); how does it impact or change existing streaming workflows, infrastructure, and delivery; and what benefits does it provide to streaming publishers, advertisers, and viewers? Bitmovin's James Varndell and Ring Digital's Brian Ring break down SGAI, its advantages, and a key emerging use case in this discussion from Streaming Media Connect 2026.

Overlay Ads and the Streaming Ad Tech State of Play

IAB Tech Lab's Jill Wittkopp reviews the state of streaming ad tech innovation and emerging ad formats and discusses evolving definitions and standards for squeezebacks, side-by-sides, double boxes, and other types of overlay ads in this discussion with Ring Digital, LLC's Brian Ring at Streaming Media Connect 2026.

How to Monitor Live Streams for Optimal Ad Server Performance

From an observability standpoint and eyes on glass, what are the key metrics to watch to determine if ad insertion is going smoothly during a live stream? Altitude TV's Dave Zur, Sargeway LLC's Sarge Sargent, Qualabs' David Hassoun, and FanServ's C.J. Leonard discuss challenges and best practices for monitoring live streaming ad performance in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2026.

Streaming Media Columns

The Fine Print

Opening our blog to a never-ending stream of guest contributors yields some of the coolest stuff we publish, with topics that would never occur to me. Though I rarely know when these pieces will arrive or where they'll come from, it is often heady, provocative stuff that I'm proud to publish.

CTV Is Defining the Future of Streaming Ads

While advertising has long been a unidirectional experience, there have been forays into making it bidirectional for a long time. The value proposition is pretty clear. If people are watching a show and an advertisement comes on showcasing a product that interests them, wouldn't it be great if they could grab the remote, push a couple of buttons, and have it delivered to their doorstep?

Content Creation Consolidation: Bending Spoons Strikes Again

There are a few tools that many streaming pros have used through the years, from WeTransfer to Brightcove to Vimeo. Some are essential to content creation, OTT delivery, and live streaming. All of these tools have one important thing in common now: their recent acquisition by the Italian company Bending Spoons.

Farm to Table

One of the overarching themes of Streaming Media 2025, which took place October 6-8 in Santa Monica, Calif., was the rise of the creator economy. Discussions centered around the changing economics of content creation, delivery, distribution, and curation (with AI playing an ever-larger role in leveling the playing field to varying degrees at all stages); evolving business models for creators looking to leverage and grow their brands and survive and thrive; and the ongoing, unignorable convergence of creator channels and "traditional" streaming platforms. The last topic seems like a particularly noteworthy sign of the times—how many conversations carried on just down the 405 in Huntington Beach in the heyday of Streaming Media West concerned the convergence (or divergence) of streaming upstarts and traditional linear broadcast?

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