Nominate Now for the 2020 Streaming Media Readers' Choice Awards
Today we begin accepting nominations for the 2020 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 27 categories, as detailed below, including new categories for hardware input devices for live production, hardware ABR encoders, per-title encoding, and quality control/monitoring platforms. Anyone, including vendors themselves, can make nominations, and only one nomination is necessary for a given product or service. We will accept nominations from the same company in multiple categories, but we will not accept more than one nomination per company per category; in some cases, it may make more sense to nominate a product line than a single product. Our editorial team will evaluate all the nominations and then announce the final nominations when voting begins.
Nominations open today, and run until August 27. After we've had a chance to sort through your recommendations, we'll open award voting September 1. 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 8, and later that month we'll announce the finalists—the top three vote-getters in each category.
CLICK HERE TO MAKE YOUR NOMINATIONS
The winners will be announced November 6 on StreamingMedia.com and be featured in the November/December issue of Streaming Media magazine.
If you'd like to see which companies took home the Streaming Media Readers' Choice Award in 2019, look to our list of winners. Last year we received more than 28,000 votes from more than 2,700 voters.
We can't do this without you, so please think about what companies are doing outstanding work and make your nominations. Vendors in our space can also nominate themselves. The categories below are listed in alphabetical order.
Analytics/Quality of Experience Platform
Quality of experience (QoE) platforms have a “beacon” in the player that checks for stats like buffering, time to video playback, playback interruptions, all to assess the video playback experience.
Analytics/Quality of Service Platform
Quality of service (QoS) platforms monitor the delivery infrastructure’s ability to deliver the packets, usually via "sniffers" placed at various points in the network, in order to determine if CDNs are doing their job getting the video to its endpoint.
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
This category covers both telco and traditional content delivery networks.
DRM/Access Control Service Provider
It's more important than ever for premium content owners to protect their content on every possible device, necessitating a multi-DRM approach. Which DRM service provider 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 on-prem 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.
Hardware ABR Encoders
These are hardware encoders that input a video signal and convert the incoming stream into multistream packaged output for pushing to an origin server or CDN.
Live Streaming Software
These programs enable computers to mix incoming video streams, add titles, transitions, and other effects, and encode and transmit that stream to a streaming server.
Media Server
Recognizing the best hardware or software solution for delivering audio and video files to listeners and viewers, regardless of delivery protocol.
OTT Video Platform
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.
Per-Title Encoding Solution
These are products, processes, or services that encode each video differently according to the underlying complexity of the content.
Portable Multicam Streaming Solution (Less than $1,500)
Portable Multicam Streaming Solution (More than $1,500)
These portable streaming solutions do it all—switch, mix, title/overlay, and stream—from virtually anywhere; this year, we've broken the category in two based on price. (Note that these categories used to focus on "appliances;" now they cover both hardware and software solutions.)
PTZ or Network-Controlled Camera
More and more video productions are using PTZ and network-controlled cameras in their multi-camera shoots. Which one leads the pack?
Quality Control/Monitoring Programs/Platforms
These programs or platforms insure the integrity of the underlying video and audio (black frame detection, audio loudness) and the integrity of the encoding and packaging.
Server-Side Ad Insertion Solution
Want to provide seamless ad delivery on the mobile web and stop ad blockers? These are the solutions that help you do it.
Single or Dual-Stream Encoding Appliances
These are standalone external appliances that accept video input and transmit to a streaming service.
Small/Medium Business Video Platform
When a business needs a video platform with functionality beyond YouTube, but isn't looking for a full enterprise or OTT solution, these are the platforms they turn to.
Video Player Solution/SDK
When it comes to winning and maintaining viewers. a quality video player is every bit as important as quality content. These are the companies that help content owners make sure they're giving their viewers a great viewing experience.
Video Quality Metrics Solution
These programs or platforms measure video quality using metrics like PSNR, SSIM, DMOS, VMAF, and others. Which one does it best?
Video Switcher/Mixer
Viewers demand broadcast quality in live online video events, and these units make it possible, handling switching, mixing, overlaying, and keying (but not streaming).
Webcasting/Presentation Solution (Cloud)
Webcasting and presentations are a big area this year, so we've broken the category into local and cloud solutions.
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.
Related Articles
More than 2,200 readers voted in 26 categories. We'll announce the winners later this month, but here's a tease—the top three vote-getters in each category. And you just might be surprised at the names you see.
30 Oct 2020
The people have spoken. These are their choices for the best products and services in 28 categories from analytics to webcasting and everything in between.
20 Nov 2019
The winners were announced today at Streaming Media West in Huntington Beach, California. Click through to see who took home this year's prizes.
14 Nov 2018