2015 Streaming Media Readers' Choice Awards: Make Your Nominations Now

Today we begin accepting nominations for the 2015 Streaming Media Readers' Choice Awards. It's the only awards program in which the winners are decided by the people who matter most—you, the end users.

This year we're featuring 32 categories, as detailed below, including a new category for OTT Platform for MSO and MVPD. Anyone, including vendors themselves, can make nominations, and only one nomination is necessary for a given product or service. We will only accept one nomination per company per category. Our editorial team will evaluate all the nominations and then announce the final nominations when voting begins.

Nominations open today, June 15, and run until July 31. Once we've had a chance to sort through your recommendations we'll open award voting on (or around) August 10. In a change from previous years, companies will not be able to solicit their employees to vote for their nominees; we don't want this contest to be decided based on the number of employees a company has. Voting will conclude on October 1. On October 15, we'll announce the finalists—the top three vote-getters in each category.

Click here for nomination form

The winners will be announced November 18 at Streaming Media West, which once again is being held at the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort and Spa in Huntington Beach, California. This year's awards are sponsored by Ephiphan Systems, Elemental Technologies, and Teradek. Winners will be featured in an article in Streaming Media magazine and StreamingMedia.com, as well as our Streaming Media Xtra newsletter.

If you'd like to see what companies took home the Streaming Media Readers' Choice Award in 2014, look to our list of winners. Last year we received more than 30,000 votes.

We can't do this without you, so please think about what companies are doing outstanding work and make your nominations. The categories below are listed in alphabetical order.

Audio Mixer

Pro audio mixers have become indispensable tools for live producers, especially for live streams, where audiences are likely to be much more forgiving of subpar video than a muddy audio mix.

Capture Card

Today's capture cards are more robust and powerful than ever before. Which one is offers the most bang for the buck?

Cellular Bonding Solution

Presenting a useful way to broadcast from the field, cellular bonding solutions have taken off for live or on-demand coverage.

Closed Captioning Solution

Closed captioning isn't just a good idea; in many cases, it's the law. Making it simple and accurate is crucial.

Cloud Encoding/Transcoding Service

Who's got the best SaaS for encoding and transcoding video, in terms of quality, turnaround time, and service?

Content Delivery Network

CDNs get one category this year, as we erase the distinction between telco and non-telco.

Desktop Video Editing Software

What's the best software for editing video on the desktop, in terms of power, speed, options, and user interface?

DRM/Access Control Solution

As premium content owners try to reach more devices, they need more nuanced approaches to digital rights management and access control. Which solution offers the best experience for the content owner and the consumer?

Education Video Platform

Educational institutions have unique requirements and face distinct challenges when it comes to publishing video. Which video platform works best for schools and universities?

Encoding Software

We're combining the desktop and enterprise-class encoding categories this year, as we search for the best overall encoding software.

Enterprise Video Platform

When large organizations look to create their own internal YouTube or other company-wide video solution, this is the platform they should look to first.

Field Monitor

Whether you’re shooting in bright, outdoor sunlight or trying to match images from different cameras, portable HD or 4K field monitors can be critical for reliably delivering quality shots.

Field Recorder

Field recorders, camera-attached or otherwise, play a critical role in video production when you need to archive a high-quality feed for editing and on-demand delivery.

Gimbal

No flight control system is complete for video use without a gimbal to stabilize it.

Hardware Encoder (On-Demand)

What's the best hardware designed for on-demand (non-live) encoding?

Hardware Encoder (Live)

This category is for hardware encoders specifically designed for live encoding.

Live Video Platform

Which live video platform leads the way in terms of features, functionality, and usability?

Media & Entertainment Video Platform

Which online video platform allows studios and other publishers to best manage and distribute their video programming? (Note that this year we've added a separate category for "OTT Platform for MSO and MVPD.")

Media Server

Recognizing the best hardware or software solution for delivering audio and video files to listeners and viewers, regardless of delivery protocol.

Multi-Language Solution

The audience is global, so choose a solution that can remove the barrier of language.

OTT Platform for MSO and MVPD

As MSOs and MVPDs deliver more over-the-top content, they're looking to more robust and functional solutions than traditional media and entertainment video platforms can offer. 

Portable Live Streaming Appliance

These hardware solutions enable webcasting from virtually anywhere.

Reporting & Analytics Platform

These solutions deliver video viewership and/or quality of service reporting and analytics, whether standalone or as part of a larger offering.

Search & Discovery Platform

These solutions use metadata, speech and facial recognition, or other methods to help users easily find the video they're looking for or to discover recommendations based on their personal information.

Transparent Video Caching Solution

Who offers the best solution for transparent caching of video content on a delivery network?

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)

Whether it’s quadcopters, hexacopters, or octocopters, unmanned aerial vehicles or remote-controlled flight systems (aka drones) are among the hottest video rigs going these days, when paired with DSLRs or GoPros or other POV capture devices.

Video Advertising Solution

This is what pays the bills: these platforms and tools offer ad insertion and offer pre-built placement options and success tracking, or help brands execute video campaigns via online publishers.

Video Camera (Less than $2500)

Video Camera (More than $2500)

It all starts with the camera, and this year we're including them in the Readers' Choice Awards, broken into two categories by price.

Video Switcher/Mixer

Viewers demand broadcast quality in live online video events, and these appliances make it possible.

Webcasting/Presentation Solution (On-Premises)

These in-house solutions capture video and audio, combine it with slides and images, and deliver it to online viewers in an interactive environment with Q&A, surveys, and more.

Webcasting/Presentation Solution (Cloud)

Webcasting and presentations are a big area this year, so we've broken the category into local and cloud solutions.