AI and Entertainment: A Q&A With Hub Research's Jon Giegengack

AI is rapidly changing the way people interact with entertainment, and companies are embracing AI to streamline operations and improve efficiencies in producing, marketing, and distributing content. Hub Entertainment Research released its first study on AI in Entertainment, revealing that while most consumers have heard of generative AI, very few understand how it works or what it's for. Jon Giegengack of Hub Research discusses the report's findings and implications in this Q&A with Streaming Media's Tyler Nesler.

Why Ads Are Good for Streaming

The streaming business model must change. Services that rely solely on subscriptions are going to plateau. They will have to continually return to their subscriber base and "milk" them for additional revenue via fee hikes. But by taking the plunge and embracing advertising as the primary part of creating and supporting quality television, streaming services will meet the ultimate need of their viewers: getting to see the content they want.

2025 Predictions for Ad-Supported Streaming

The start of a new year is nothing without everyone making predictions, so here are a few that apply to the advertising industry. Advertising in streaming is doing pretty well when we compare it to following ad dollars that have left linear.

Access Advance LLC CEO Pete Moller Talks Video Distribution Patent (VDP) Pool Launch

Today, Access Advance announced the launch of its Video Distribution Patent (VDP) Pool, a comprehensive licensing program for streaming content encoded with HEVC, VVC, AV1, and VP9 codecs. The pool aims to simplify licensing for content distributors while addressing industry challenges around codec adoption, royalty costs, and patent litigation. Jan Ozer interviewed CEO Pete Moller to discuss the motivation behind the pool, its structure, and the expected impact on the industry.

Leaning Into CTV Advertising: What the Latest Data Says

We've reported any number of times on the growth of CTV advertising as it continues to steal marketshare from traditional linear, but is CTV still the golden child? Mediaocean's 2025 Advertising Outlook Report suggests the balance is shifting, as 68% of 688 marketing professionals surveyed say they expect to increase their spend on social in the first half of 2025, compared to 67% for digital video/digital display and only 55% for CTV.

The Rise of Automated Translation in the Localization Industry: A Q&A With Maria Castañeda of Lokalise

Lokalise, a cloud-based localization and translation management system, has observed a fascinating shift in how content is being translated and has some intriguing data on the rise of automated translations versus human translations. Their findings illustrate a significant increase in automated translations in 2024. Maria Castañeda, Lead Product Marketing Manager at Localise, answers some questions about these new insights.

CES 2025: Disney Talks Ad Tech, Ad Targeting, and Ad Buying

One of the ongoing complaints about the ad industry is a lack of transparency about where you're buying and how it's measured. At CES 2025, Disney discussed their new global ad tech stack and how they're attempting to solve this problem and bring an easier and more understandable approach to ad buying.

Best of CES 2025

CES can be incredibly overwhelming. There are thousands of products on display, which makes finding the good stuff especially hard, so we went with the opinion of a jury of experts for the CES Innovation Awards where they have vetted products. Here I'll summarize the ones that are closest related to streaming.

G&L CEO Alexander Leschinsky Talks C2PA and Today's Digital Content Landscape

Provenance and authenticity of content have become critical issues as Generative AI-derived content and disinformation flood the digital world. The Coalition from Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA) has formed to cryptographically prove content authenticity in today's digital landscape, with an eye to combatting fake content and restoring trust in media. In this interview with Streaming Media's Steve Nathans-Kelly, G&L Systemhaus CEO Alexander Leschinsky discusses the challenges and limitations of C2PA--particularly with live content--and G&L's role in helping broadcasters and media companies implement C2PA standards.

Warner Bros. Discovery the Big Loser in Disney’s Fubo Sports Move

The agreement to merge Disney's Hulu + Live TV with Fubo will not only see Fubo dropping its anti-trust lawsuit against Venu but appears to cast Venu's other main partner, Warner Bros Discovery, out in the cold.

Fubo Debuts Four New Interactive CTV Ad Formats Including Transactional and Gamified Ads

FuboTV, the leading sports-first live TV streaming platform, announced the availability of four new interactive CTV ad formats to further drive audience ad engagement. The personalized and dynamic experiences, including transactional and gamified ad formats, are part of Fubo's ongoing commitment to ad innovation and overall strategy to connect, interact with and convert premium audiences.

Altman Solon Global Sports Survey - A Q&A With David Dellea

Altman Solon's David Dellea discusses the findings from their 2024 Global Sports Survey, with topics including the impact of younger generations' changing consumption habits on live sports, the role of AI in enhancing viewing experiences, the challenges of content fragmentation, and more.

Lost in the Stream: Survey Finds Americans Waste Nearly Five Days a Year Just Deciding What to Watch

In a new survey commissioned by UserTesting, 2,000 American streaming service subscribers revealed that the average person spends 110 hours per year scrolling through streaming services, struggling to find something worth watching — a stark reminder of the "too much content, too little time" dilemma. Bobby Meixner, Senior Director of Industry Solutions at UserTesting, provides insights into these findings and ways providers can help alleviate the frustration and subscription fatigue that plagues many viewers.

Zype Streaming Platform Partners with NPAW to Add Full Analytics Suite

Zype, an all-in-one video management and distribution platform, and NPAW, a leading provider of AI-driven video analytics solutions, have partnered to offer streaming businesses an all-in-one solution for optimizing content delivery, increasing user engagement, measuring quality of experience (QoE) and ultimately, driving revenue and customer satisfaction.

Navigating the Shifting Streaming Landscape: Insights from Kantar’s Dominic Sunnebo

In a recent interview I did with Dominic Sunnebo, Global Insight Director at Kantar, Sunnebo shared findings from Kantar's latest Entertainment on Demand (EoD) data, revealing distinct trends in the UK market and their broader implications. The conversation highlighted not only Kantar's insights but also Sunnebo's expertise in interpreting key trends shaping the global streaming market, from the dominance of top-tier services to the rise of ad-supported models and the challenges faced by niche platforms.

Roundup: Streaming Industry Predictions for 2025

In the last few weeks, my own editorial inbox has filled to bursting with unsolicited but much-welcomed season's greetings from a disparate array of industry experts and thought leaders ringing in "End-of-Year Prediction Season" with all manner of prognostications about what's to come in 2025. Here's a quick roundup of the most intriguing, thoughtful, and surprising ones, organized into some rough categories.

WBD Admits That Scale Did Not Create Value as it Separates Cable Assets

Warner Bros. Discovery is the latest media titan to consign linear to the bench. In a move reminiscent of Comcast's divisional spinoff last month, WBD will split its lucrative but declining cable networks business from its lucrative and growing streaming and studios businesses.

Why the DAZN and NFL Game Pass Partnership is Thriving - a Q&A With Zander Berlinski

The NFL has shared its pleasure with the existing ten-year DAZN Partnership for NFL Game Pass. DAZN's global footprint gives the NFL a much wider reach, which is hugely important as it continues to expand worldwide. In this Q&A with Zander Berlinski, Senior Vice President, Strategy and Business Development at DAZN, he highlights the factors that make this partnership a success, such as improved live streaming quality, expanding device distribution, investing in proprietary tech stacks, enhancing user experience with features like the "Home of NFL" section, and much more.

Global Streaming Subs Set to Reach 2bn by 2029, Ampere Reports

The global video streaming market is poised to generate $190bn annually from 2bn paid subscriptions by 2029, according to new analysis from Ampere. Key strategic developments, like Netflix's account-sharing crackdown and cheaper ad tier offer, and rivals Disney+ and Max's aggressive approach to bundling, are driving revenue growth in saturated streaming markets. Maria Dunleavey, Research Manager, provides some additional insight into these findings.

Ultra-Low Latency Interactive Live Streaming Survey Report Launches

This report expands on live presentations from a recent Streaming Connect keynote.