October 2018

Magazine Features

A Times Square Augmented-Reality Project Makes the Real Surreal

Microsoft and artist Mel Chin collaborated on an art installation that was part physical, part virtual, and completely essential.

The 2018 Streaming Media 50: The 50 Companies That Matter Most in Online Video in 2018

Our industry-defining list takes a slightly new format for 2018. Here are the 50 most important companies in the online video industry, the ones leading us into the future. Making it onto the list is now even more of a challenge, as it should be.

The List of the 50 Companies That Matter Most in Online Video in 2018

Presenting our 2018 list of the 50 companies doing the most interesting and innovative work in streaming video. We're shining a spotlight on the companies that enable the creation and delivery of today's video revolution.

How to Choose a Video AI Platform and Evaluate its Results

Meet the big four players in the video artificial intelligence space, then learn how they can speed up time-consuming tasks like generating metadata or creating transcriptions.

Streaming Video Services Attempt to Solve the Monetization Puzzle

How are cutting-edge content services finding ways to make money in a crowded field? Read on for advice from Ellation, Xumo, FandangoNow, and others.

25 Years of Internet Radio, Part 2

Back when online video was the size of a postage stamp, audio companies were changing the way the world heard radio. Here are reminiscences from RealNetworks and other pioneers.

Review: Subjectify.us, a Site for Subjective Video Comparisons

Moscow State University makes subjective comparisons less time-consuming with an online service that enlists other people to watch and rank videos.

Review: NewBlueFX Titler Live 4 Complete

Titler Live Complete 4 is a very powerful on-air graphics solution that is surprisingly affordable, easy to use, and easy to connect with several video switchers and data sources.

The Industry

Make Those Dollars: How Online Video Stars Pay the Bills

YouTube pre-roll ads are just the beginning. Successful online video stars take a broad approach to monetizing their followers. Options include merch, modeling, and even books.

Spotlights

Celebrating 10 Years Migrating Complex VOD Pipelines to the Cloud

When Encoding.com launched in October 2008, no one in the video space was even using the word "cloud" let alone deploying large-scale content operations on cloud infrastructure.

It’s Time to Stop Accepting Problems With Streaming Video

While cord-cutting is on the rise, traditional broadcast still has some advantages over streaming. First and foremost: it ... works.

OTT Streaming - It’s All About the Viewer Experience For Digital Video Content

When video content became available for streaming on a variety of devices, viewers were simply excited to have access and to consume programming even if the quality was lower than traditional broadcast.

Reimagining Content Distribution via the Cloud

It's no secret that the growing complexity of the global media and entertainment industry has made it harder to deliver content in the traditional way and maintain direct control over rights negotiation, quality levels and delivery formats.

Successful Multi-Platform Publishing Requires a Solid Media Management System

Another exciting year in the most exciting industry of all. At Lightcast.com we simply love what we do, and still, nothing excites us more than the media projects of our clients. 

The Topic Of Security Can Seem To Be Complicated

To some extent, the security technologists have muddied the waters with generations of product that demanded proprietary formats, esoteric interfaces and a tendency to hide topics in a veil of secrecy that obscures the key logic and principles.

The Viewer Is in Control

Today's video consumers want it all. High-quality content on their preferred devices. Watch-on-your-own-time functionality. Access so easy they don't have to think twice. Content personalized just for them.

Unleash OTT: SeaChange Advocates For Open, Multi-Vendor Solutions

Today's OTT content delivery ecosystem has changed the industry drastically, perhaps most significantly by presenting broader opportunities to build powerful and lasting relationships with viewers.

What is Consumer DRM?

As 2018 nears to a close and with the largest IBC ever just wrapped last week, three key movements in the Digital Rights Management market have come to light. In the first scenario we see a massive movement towards standardized containers like FMP4 in HLS and CMAF for the deployment of "Consumer DRM" including Apple FairPlay, Google Widevine and Microsoft PlayReady.

What Is the ‘Streamverse’?

Heroes of the ‘streamverse' on our elite 2018 Streaming Media 50 list share their insights in the annual VIEW FROM THE TOP.

Why Streaming Viewers Hold All The Cards

Streaming viewers expect to access content at any time, in any place and on any platform. At the same time, research indicates that consumers do not have much more incremental time that they can spend watching video. There is a battle raging where the prize is the attention of consumers.

Why Test and Measurement Must Move Into The Spotlight

Consistently streaming superior video quality over the internet is hard. Hard for on-demand titles and even harder for low latency live. A big enough problem for the industry's biggest players to pre-pay a group of Emmy Award researchers to build a platform that didn't exist 22 months ago. Today, it is affecting the streams of tens of millions of US subscribers.

The Producer's View

New Codecs Are Coming; Here's How to Evaluate Codec Evaluations

When comparing the video quality created by different codecs, consider the companies running the comparisons and the metrics they're offering.

Class Act

Interactive Tools Make Classroom Video More Active Than Passive

New offerings from both young and established companies let educators create elaborate personalized videos, and students learn in a more natural way.