Choosing Streaming Codecs for QoE and Perceptual Quality

The cynics in the streaming pundit class often liked to say that transcoding video for streaming delivery is about taking good video and making it worse. The challenge, of course, is to make whatever quality degradation results from compression as imperceptible as possible. Choosing the right codecs for live or on-demand streaming requires balancing multiple considerations, from player and playback compatibility to conserving bit and preserving quality, and in this clip from Streaming Media Connect, perceptual quality expert and IMAX CPO Abdul Rehman discusses the key decisions that go into choosing a streaming codec when trying to deliver the best QoE to end viewers.

How Sports Broadcast Rights Impact At-Home and In-Arena Streaming Experiences

Many innovative sports streamers are looking to expand opportunities for interactive sports experiences, including those that connect viewers in the venue with those watching at home. Often the creativity is there and so is the tech, but in leagues like the NHL, NBA, NASCAR, broadcast rights are the roadblock, as Next League SVP Strategic Solutions Tim Brady explains in this discussion with VideoRx's Robert Reinhardt at Streaming Media Connect.

Key Live Sports Streaming Ad Tech Trends for 2025

How will ad tech and ad experiences evolve for large-scale live sports streams in 2025? Is current architecture up to the challenge? Expert opinions vary dramatically, as we learn in this heated debate Streaming Media Connect featuring Paramount's Jarred Wilichinsky, Victory+'s Narendra Nag, Index Exchange's Rob Hazan, and FanServ's C.J. Leonard.

How YouTube and Paramount Maximize QoS and QoE in Live Streaming Workflows

Although quality of service (QoS) and quality of experience (QoE) are critical to successful VOD and live streaming delivery, the metrics used and the workflow challenges are different for live. YouTube's Sean McCarthy and Paramount's Nishant Sirohi enumerate the differences and the key strategies for succeeding with live when the stakes are high in this conversation with PADEM Media Group's Allan McLennan at Streaming Media Connect.

Streamers Take Measure of Nielsen's Integration of First-Party Data

In November, the Media Rating Council approved Nielsen's integration of first-party live streaming data into its national panel-based TV measurement, an approach first deployed with Amazon's Thursday Night Football with the promise of "persons-level granularity" for live stream ratings. As it moves beyond Amazon, how will the rest of the streaming world and its advertisers react? Warner Bros. Discovery's Dan Trotta, Vevo's Natasha Potashnik, and Revry's Damian Pelliccione share their thoughts with Advertiser Perceptions' Erin Firneno in this timely clip from Streaming Media Connect 2024.

How Post-Peak TV Has Changed Streaming Consumer Behavior

How have streaming viewer consumption habits changed with respect to premium TV in the post-peak TV entertainment landscape? Media universe cartographer Evan Shapiro, Deltatre's Alex Gruber, and Hub Entertainment Research Jon Giegengack discuss changes in brand loyalty and awareness, churn patterns, the impact of premium sports, and more in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2024

Privacy and Consent Concerns for CTV Ad-Targeting

Leveraging viewer data to identify and target users is the sine qua non of CTV advertising, and the closer channels can bring advertisers to the viewers, the more revenue they can bring to their platform. But it's always a balancing act when it comes to protecting the privacy of their audience, as Revry CEO/Co-Founder Damian Pelliccione and Warner Bros. Discovery Product Manager Dan Trotta explain in this candid conversation from Streaming Media Connect with Advertiser Perceptions' Erin Firneno, although the privacy and consent issues and strategies for addressing them differ dramatically between indie networks like Revry and behemoths like WBD.

Will Native 4K Live Sports Streaming Arrive in 2025?

When it comes to 4K for live sports streaming, much of today's content delivery arguably operates in a kind of limbo where the 4K viewers see may well be up-rez'd 1080p. The landscape is even murkier when it comes to ATSC 3.0/Next-Gen OTA TV in the U.S., according to Your Media Transformation Managing Director Thierry Fautier, due to the current regulatory environment. SVTA CEO Jason Thibeault, Media Technology Director Corey Smith, and Faultline's Tommy Flanagan discuss the current impediments and future prospects for native 4K sports streaming delivery in this raucous debate from Streaming Media Connect 2024.

Leveraging Gen AI to Improve Discovery and Streaming Engagement

The applications of Generative AI in streaming are seemingly endless, but what are specific ways that AI can make streaming content more discoverable, more personalized, more engaging, interactive, and more effective for advertisers in leveraging targeted content to reach the right customers? Microsoft's Andy Beach, Vecima's Paul Strickland, mireality's Maria Ingold, Alvarez & Marsal's Ethan Dreilinger, and Reality Software's Nadine Krefetz explore the possibilities in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2024.

What’s Next for Interactive Live Streaming in 2025

"Everyone's trying to figure out new revenue streams and where that goes," says Play Anywhere CSO Pete Scott, who expects to see more niche sports leagues and betting, and creator economy content driving growth for targeted audiences in 2025, while Fox TV Stations' Stephen Brown sees sweepstakes betting, second-screen experiences among other areas primed for explosive growth as they reveal all this and more in conversation with Ring Digital's Brian Ring at Streaming Media Connect 2024.

Don’t Interrupt My Show! and Other Consumer Concerns with Interactive Streaming

Interactive streaming sounds great on the face of it—lean-forward experiences offer levels of engagement that passive viewing can't compete with. But according to Parks Associates' Jennifer Kent, survey data reveals that consumers have privacy concerns, don't want their shows interrupted, and voice other likes and dislikes when it comes to interactive streams. Meanwhile Bulldog DM's John Petrocelli discusses what is working with interactive live streams and predicts new revenue opportunities will ignite much more activity in the interactive streaming space in this discussion with Ring Digital's Brian Ring at Streaming Media Connect 2024.

QoE vs. QoS in Live and On-Demand Streaming

How do you define Quality of Experience (QoE) and Quality of Service (QoS) in live and on-demand streaming, and what are the key metrics for measuring them? IMAX's Abdul Rehman, YouTube's Sean McCarthy, SVTA's Jason Thibeault, and PADEM Media Group's Allan McLennan discuss these topics in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2024.

Are Premium Sports Events Worth What Streamers Pay to License Them?

Every few weeks we hear about the next extraordinary sum a streaming platform has paid for exclusive rights to stream a premium sports event. But as Media Universe Cartographer Evan Shapiro says, "Everybody has an NFL game now," so is it worth it? Are streamers really gaining or retaining enough subscriptions by licensing these events to justify what they're paying for them? Shapiro and Hub Entertainment Research Principal Jon Giegengack debate the value of sports vs. scripted content and other subscriber plays in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2024.

Best Practices for Turning Streaming Viewers Into Participants

From concerts to sports and other tentpole live events, from leveraging influencers to social interactions to gamification, delivering fully optimized interactive entertainment experiences is the name of the game for engaging audiences and serving brands with large-scale live streams. Bulldog DM's John Petrocelli, who has been delivering some of the biggest events in the business for more than a decade, discusses best practices for high-engagement live streams in this conversation with Ring Digital's Brian Ring at Streaming Media Connect 2024.

What Kind of Audience Data Are CTV Advertisers Looking For?

Content is king, but when it comes to monetizing CTV advertising campaigns and maximizing their effectiveness, it's secondary to the data and metrics that guarantee that their marketing efforts are connecting with the right audiences. In this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2024, Warner Bros. Discovery's Daniel Trotta, Revry's Damian Pelliccione, and Advertising Perceptions' Erin Firneno discuss real-world examples of how CTV content providers and aggregators can provide specific analytics and metrics that deliver real value to their advertising partners.

Survey Says: What Kinds of Interactive Streaming Experiences Do Viewers Want?

What kinds of interactive, lean-forward streaming experiences can help drive engagement that attracts fans and holds their attention? What are the top things viewers are demanding from streaming interactivity? Jennifer Kent, VP Research, Parks Associates, shares the latest insights from Parks's research in this discussion with Ring Digital's Brian Ring at Streaming Media Connect 2024.

What Drives Up Cloud Streaming Costs?

What are the predictable and unpredictable factors that drive up the cost of cloud streaming workflows as complications arise and projects scale? AWS' John Barber, IMAX's Abdul Rehman, Zixi's Eric Bolten, and SVTA's Jason Thibeault offer practical tips for keeping cloud costs in check in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2024.

Bundle or Bust? Benefits of Bundling Streaming Services in a Crowded Content Market

How can bundling or aggregating their offerings help streaming services contend with the myriad challenges of today's saturated streaming content market, from improving recommendations to user acquisition, content consumption, performance, marketing efficiencies, and confronting the seasonality of certain types of content? Plex Head of Partner Management Josh Rosenblatt, Fubo EVP/Head of Marketing Yale Wang, and industry analysts Paul Erickson and Jon Giegengack discuss the potential benefits, pitfalls, and strategic intricacies of the bundling boom in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2024. 

Why Advertisers Like Contextual Targeting

One of the arguments in favor of contextual advertising is that it makes it easier to match the tone and sentiment of the content it accompanies instead of thoughtlessly throwing an ad for a dating app into the middle of a tragic news report. What are its other advantages that draw advertisers to it? How does the current state of contextual ads deliver on its promise and where does it fall short? TVREV's Alan Wolk, Vevo's Julie Triolo, Estrella MediaCo's Christina Chung, and Advertiser Perceptions' Erin Firneno discuss in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2024.

What Is Contextual Advertising and How Is it Changing TV?

"Contextual advertising is a really hot topic in TV advertising right now," declared TVREV's Alan Wolk at Streaming Media Connect 2024. But what exactly is it, and how is its growing presence in CTV and streaming changing the TV experience and particularly the way advertisers buy media? Wolk, Estrella MediaCo's Christina Chung, and Mad Leo Consulting's C.J. Leonard explore these issues in this clip from their panel at Streaming Media Connect.