Biographical Information

Articles for Jason Thibeault

Why You Should Embrace Sustainability (But Not For The Reason You May Think)

To really make an impact, we have to put sustainability within a context we can understand. It's hard, whether as individuals or businesses, sometimes to grasp the very huge concept of climate change and then commit to "sustainability efforts" as a way to have an impact. But when there is context, sustainability efforts can be achieved without actually trying to focus on them in particular. Within the streaming industry, that context is power.

Is 2024 the Year of WebRTC?

With large sports-streaming operators, WebRTC provides a real opportunity for ultra-low-latency streaming. But those same operators, which spend billions on licensing rights, can't afford to just swap the ability to stream content in real time for basic OTT functionality like SSAI and DRM.

Personalization Is More Than What You Think It Can Be

With advances with generative AI, just-intime transcoding, SSAI stitching, and other streaming video tech stack components, companies like Infuse Video are demonstrating that the true vision of video personalization—changing the video content itself—is finally at hand.

I’ve Seen The Future of The Streaming Video Tech Stack

The evolution of the evolution of TV is coming soon, hinted at by services like Norsk. I for one can't wait.

What the Growth of FAST Really Tells Us About Viewers

The popularity and growth of FAST show us that viewing behavior, despite the rise of streaming, hasn't really changed much at all. People want choice, but they want it in a way that meets their needs. FAST doesn't scrap the broadcast experience with which so many are familiar; it is evolving it in a way that broadcast could never do to improve upon the viewer experience.

What's the Point of Streaming?

You might think it's crazy of me, as the executive director of the world's largest streaming technical association, to ask the question in this column's title. But I think it's actually important that we do a gut check every once in a while.

Does Streaming's Future Success Depend On Discoverability?

The future of streaming is about unification built on top of a single open standard of content metadata. Right now, it's a matter of seeing the forest for the trees.

Long Live (A Different) DRM!

A blockchain-based, ledger-and-wallet approach promises a digital rights management that's just as effective as anything we have now, with the benefit of being more consumer-friendly.

What Is Streaming Video 'Delivery?'

'Delivery' is one of the most commonly used words in our business? But what does it actually mean? If we think it's just about protocols and bytes, we're never going to catch up to traditional TV.

The Evolution of the Movie Theater is at Hand

With OTT services like HBO Max streaming first-run movies on release day, movie theaters need to think beyond comfy chairs and draft beer to keep selling tickets.

Key CDN Challenges

Streaming Video Alliance Executive Director Jason Thibeault discusses what the Alliance sees as the most pressing challenges currently facing CDNs and how they are working to address them in this clip from his keynote at Content Delivery Summit.

What Is Open Caching?

Streaming Video Alliance Executive Director Jason Thibeault explains what open caching is, how it plays in with CDNs, and how it relates to CDN technologies in this clip from Content Delivery Summit.

As Streaming Grows, the CDN Must Evolve

Streaming is still only a fraction of total video watched, even post-COVID lockdown. What happens when it's the de facto method for delivering video content? Will the existing CDN approaches be enough to handle the next phase of streaming growth?

What Has the Pandemic Taught Us About Streaming?

The increased streaming we've seen during the COVID-19 pandemic didn't break the internet. But it did give us a vision of the future, and the opportunity to be proactive rather than reactive.

Encoding Best Practices to Reduce Latency

How can streaming professionals fine-tune their processes to prioritize low latency at the encoding stage? Streaming Video Alliance's Jason Thibeault, GigCasters' Casey Charvet, and Haivision's Marc Cymontowski discuss strategies for reducing latency in this clip from Streaming Media East Connect.

Build Streaming Solutions for Tomorrow, Today

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and stay-at-home orders, streaming has gone through the roof. The strategies you implement today will set the stage for the future.

Who Will Define 'TV'?

The age of the broadcaster is over. With OTT platforms built on microservices and previously unheard-of data collection capabilities, it's the age of the viewer now.

Not All Content (or Devices) Are Created Equal

The one-size-fits-all approach employed in broadcast and cable is no good when it comes to streaming and OTT.

TV 2.0: The Future Isn't About Delivery, It's About Experience

The industry sees video as linear or OTT, but that's not the real distinction. What matters isn't how people get their video, but how they experience it.

Taming the Many-Headed Problem of Video Content Discovery

Sure, today's OTT video platforms could share data and create comprehensive video recommendation systems, but they don't want to. Here's why they should care.

OTT Falls Into the Same Trap as Cable

Viewers turned away from cable because it offered them too many choices. OTT recreates the same problem, but on steroids. So what is the industry going to do about it?

Rampant Piracy Is the Elephant in the Live-Streaming Room

Tokens? Watermarking? DRM? Content owners try them all, but as of today there's no foolproof solution. Perhaps the way forward isn't with higher walls, but new experiences.

Can AI Make the Streaming Video Experience Even Better Than TV?

Look for artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve content delivery, video compression, and viewer personalization, strengthening the entire workflow.

Virtual Reality Development Is Moving in the Wrong Direction

VR faces huge production and consumer challenges and is still evolving at a rapid rate. So why is the industry already talking about standardization?

Hey, European Mobile Operators: What About Streaming Video?

Barcelona's Mobile World Congress is full of hype about 5G and VR, but doesn't care about video. Why the blind spot over small-screen viewing?

The Enterprise Embraces Streaming Innovation Behind the Firewall

Microsoft, Kaltura, Brightcove, and others are putting streaming video to use at work, creating cutting-edge features that any viewer would enjoy.

The Four Problems Facing OTT Services—and How to Solve Them

When will over-the-top video services finally get more viewing time than broadcast channels? When they finally overcome these four main problems.

The Reality of Virtual Reality: Despite the Hype, VR Isn't Viable

VR video gets a lot of attention, even though not many people are watching it. The requirements for consumers are still way too high.

The Interoperability Challenge: Is OTT Ready for Standards?

OTT companies innovate to differentiate their products from their competitors' products, but for the industry to reach its potential, they'll have to cooperate.

Latency: The Final Frontier for Streaming Video Entertainment?

Delays of up to two minutes can really destroy the live sports experience. Walled garden solutions aren't working, so it's up to CDNs to provide relief.

How Much of a Role Will Mobile Phones Play in the Future of TV?

While older viewers prefer streaming to a living room television, Millennial and Gen Z viewers agree: The small screen is big! Now where's the 4K?

IPTV Is Dead and OTT Killed It. Will it Do the Same to Broadcast?

Broadcast television may well go away, with consumers and providers embracing over-the-top delivery. But several issues need to be solved first.

Mobile Phone Hang-Ups: Viewers Wary of Using Up Their Data

People would stream a lot more video to mobile devices if not for restrictive data caps. But thanks to Netflix and Amazon, things are starting to change.

The Great OTT Myth: The Reality of Cord Cutting Isn’t So Real

The days of traditional TV are over as consumers rush to cut the cord, right? Not so fast: We're seeing a migration, but the product and players haven't changed.

Collaboration Is Critical to Reduce Latency in Online Video

Ensuring broadcast quality for viewers is about more than just reducing buffering. Publishers need to improve the efficiency of back-end operations, as well.

When it Comes to Streaming Video, We Are Only At the Beginning

We're coming up on the third decade of streaming video, but we've only begun to tap into its potential, and its data-based nature gives it an advantage over broadcast in the long run.

Forget the Hype: The Future of Television Isn’t What You Think

Over-the-air broadcast isn't going away, cord-cutters will remain a minority, and millennials subscribe to pay TV services just as much as any other group does. But here's what will change.

Making the Case for Government-Mandated Online Video Standards

Will there ever be one ring to rule them all? it's time for the online video industry to take a page from TV and create interoperable standards.

How Do You Spell Over-the-Top Streaming Success?
Q-U-A-L-I-T-Y

Where are all the cord-cutters? Without more attention to quality of experience from a user perspective, OTT will never truly compete with broadcast.

Online Video vs. TV: Have We Finally Reached the Tipping Point?

While many in the industry are declaring traditional pay TV dead, the statistics tell a different story. Here's what needs to change before online takes over.

Why Apple, Microsoft, or Amazon Will Win the the Living Room

Google and Sony are dark horse candidates, while Roku and TiVo don't stand a chance. And as for Plex, it had better pray that it gets acquired.

What Esports Can Teach Video Creators About Attracting Viewers

Through a series of smart moves, esports organizations have built a global audience of millions of enthusiastic fans. Here are three takeaways for savvy content creators.

When Viewers Turn to YouTube for Brand Video, Brands Lose Out

There's a vast amount of user-generated brand-related original video on YouTube, but the brands themselves don't get any part of the action.

Welcome to the Broadcasting Revolution, Open to All Creators

The internet is liberating broadcasting, turning anyone with a camera and an online connection into a creator capable of reaching a mass audience.

What Happened to the Future of Interactive, Immersive Video?

People used to imagine an online video world that was engaging and interactive. But, instead of achieving that, we've settled for duplicating TV.

Faster Is Better, but There Is Better than Faster

In the context of the cross-platform digital experience, a holistic approach to performance using PACE will keep customers sticking with your content and coming back for more

2013 Online Video Executive Prediction: Limelight Networks

Jason Thibeault, Senior Director of Solutions Marking (Digital Media) & Product Manager, Limelight Networks, says workflow consolidation will be huge in 2013.