Platform strategy now spans four business models at once: OTT, SVOD, AVOD, and FAST. This category covers recommendation engines, content discovery, CTV app experience, player SDKs, and the subscriber engagement data that tells you whether a feature actually worked.
Digital Rebellion has released Kollaborate Server 2026.2.1 B3 beta, introducing support for VP8, VP9, HEVC, and AV1 video sources. The update also includes significant player page changes, accessibility improvements, and various bug fixes. This beta version seeks feedback on the major player page overhaul for streaming professionals.
A new market research report from Market Research Corridor analyzes the video streaming software market through 2032, highlighting key players like AWS, Comcast Technology Solutions, Kaltura, Edgio, and IBM. The study evaluates significant industry trends such as AI-driven adaptive bitrate encoding, server-side ad insertion (SSAI), and blockchain-enabled DRM. It also provides insights into market segmentation by solution architecture, streaming modality, deployment environment, and end-user vertical, offering a roadmap for industry professionals.
Free smart TV apps, including a Roku app called Petflix, are embedding the Bright Data SDK to turn user devices into web-scraping proxy network nodes for AI data collection. This practice can consume up to 200GB of bandwidth monthly per device, raising concerns about device security and user consent for streaming professionals. Researchers at Inside Security highlighted this issue, noting that some CTV-focused entities are monetizing user devices this way.
Apple is hosting its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC26), where it will preview next-generation operating systems for various devices, including tvOS and visionOS. Streaming industry professionals should monitor potential updates to these platforms, as they can impact content consumption and distribution technologies.
VdoCipher highlights that many virtual event platforms lack robust video protection and delivery features, especially for premium or private events. The company advocates for integrating a dedicated secure video layer alongside standard event platforms to ensure content security, controlled access, and reliable delivery for video-heavy online events. VdoCipher positions its own service as this supplementary secure video layer.
Peacock will stream Telemundo's FIFA World Cup 2026 Spanish-language coverage in Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, and Dolby AC-4, marking the first commercial deployment of Dolby AC-4 by a video streamer. This implementation, a result of joint engineering between Dolby Laboratories and NBCUniversal, aims to deliver enhanced visual and audio experiences for all 104 matches, leveraging AC-4's efficiency and personalization features. The platform also introduces new interactive features and a Spanish-language World Cup Hub.
The Miami Heat finalized a dual linear-streaming deal with WPLG Local 10, Warren Buffett’s Miami station, for the 2026-27 NBA season, becoming the seventh NBA team to opt for over-the-air broadcasts. As part of this deal, WPLG is creating a coinciding DTC app, Local 10 Plus Platinum, which will stream Heat games for free, with Zype by Backlight as its tech partner. This marks a strategic move by the Heat to prioritize reach and business results amidst the shifting local sports rights landscape, including Fubo's withdrawal.
Cyera researchers uncovered six vulnerabilities, including a remote code execution flaw, in protobuf.js, a widely used JavaScript implementation of Google's Protocol Buffers. These vulnerabilities can allow attacker-controlled schema data to become executable code, impacting downstream software supply chains and systems that exchange schemas and configurations, particularly in data and AI ecosystems. Patches are available for protobuf.js versions 7.5.6 and 8.0.2 to address these issues.
Rakuten's report, "The FAST Advantage," presented at SXSW London, indicates that 73.7% of Europeans watch FAST channels weekly, with 80.1% considering it a primary viewing method. The study, involving 750 European consumers across five markets, highlights FAST's maturity as a mainstream option and a strategic opportunity for content owners to monetize content and grow audiences in Europe. Rakuten TV Enterprise leverages this trend by connecting content owners with platforms and monetization opportunities.
Former USMNT star Landon Donovan suggests that Major League Soccer (MLS) is not yet mature enough to fully abandon broadcast television, despite its 10-year, $2.5 billion streaming deal with Apple TV+. The original Apple deal was reportedly re-negotiated to end three years early, indicating challenges with a streaming-exclusive approach for sports leagues.
Telemundo Station Group, part of NBCUniversal Local, has launched Noticias Telemundo Suroeste, a new 24/7 Spanish-language FAST channel focusing on local content for the Southwest US. This expands NBCUniversal Local's streaming portfolio, making the channel available on participating Telemundo stations' digital platforms and Amazon Fire TV Channels, with more FAST platforms to follow. The launch aims to serve Spanish-speaking communities with accessible local news and information.
Eurovision Sport, the free streaming service from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), expanded its distribution to UK FAST platforms including Plex and Samsung TV Plus. This marks its first deployment on free ad-supported streaming television services, aiming to broaden access to live sports. The service also incorporates AI-powered multilingual commentary and automated live subtitling, reflecting its role as a testbed for new technologies.
Sportradar's Eduardo Lobato discusses the challenges and solutions for delivering real-time sports data and synchronized audiovisual content for micro-betting at the FIFA World Cup 2026. He emphasizes the critical role of low latency, infrastructure scalability, and AI in managing risk and enhancing user engagement for betting operators. The event is expected to push sportsbook technology limits with unprecedented volumes of in-play and micro betting across 104 matches.
NBCUniversal Local's Telemundo Station Group has launched Noticias Telemundo Suroeste, a free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel for Spanish-language local news in the Southwest US. This expands Telemundo's FAST presence, making local content available on participating stations' digital platforms and Amazon Fire TV Channels, with plans for additional platforms. All Telemundo Station Group properties with news operations are now on a FAST platform.
Spotify is reportedly negotiating rights to stream live video of music festivals and has launched a "Reserved" feature to offer superfans priority access to concert tickets through a multi-year deal with Live Nation. These initiatives represent Spotify's strategy to increase user engagement, expand its video offerings, and strengthen its ad business and premium services. The company's push into live video and ticketing aligns with its broader efforts to diversify beyond audio and capture more advertising revenue, following the example of platforms like YouTube.
FOX One launched "The FIFA World Cup Comes First" campaign with agency Anomaly to promote its direct-to-consumer streaming service for the 2026 World Cup. The service will offer all 104 matches live in 4K with multiview options for $19.99/month, positioning FOX One as a dedicated sports streaming destination. The campaign utilizes 30-second films and a 360-degree media rollout to highlight the platform's features and fan-first approach.
Nollywood actors are increasingly leveraging YouTube for global content distribution, moving away from traditional methods. Companies like Yoola provide comprehensive technical and financial support, including channel management, intellectual property protection against piracy, and flexible monetization options, enabling creators to build sustainable digital media businesses on the platform. This ecosystem empowers creators with tools for algorithm optimization, rights management, and financial logistics.
Samsung is planning to develop an open Tizen OS ecosystem for its smart TVs to become a central hub for K-content and allow content providers to easily create and distribute Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV (FAST) channels. This initiative aims to solidify Samsung's position in the FAST market and differentiate its TV offerings through enhanced content integration, with a focus on metadata standardization.
Wowza published an article differentiating passthrough, transcoding, and full streaming workflows, and how each impacts server capacity for Wowza Streaming Engine deployments. It details how varying hardware component engagement (CPU, GPU, RAM) and streaming variables lead to different stream counts per server. The article concludes by emphasizing the importance of matching the server to the workflow and load testing for accurate capacity estimates.
Ateme, Broadcasting Center Europe (BCE), and Scaleway have formed a partnership to develop a sovereign, cloud-based media supply chain in Europe. This initiative aims to provide European broadcasters and content owners with an end-to-end solution for content ingest through monetized streaming, offering an alternative to non-European hyperscalers. The collaboration covers processing, encoding, packaging, distribution, streaming, and advanced monetization through dynamic ad insertion, with a focus on European data protection requirements and AI-driven services.
Amazon Fire TV is introducing a dedicated FIFA World Cup 2026 experience in the U.S., powered by FOX One, providing Fire TV users streamlined access to all 104 matches. This integration highlights the platform's capabilities for managing major live events, offering quick access to live games, highlights, and replays via navigation, sports tabs, and Alexa+ voice commands. Similar experiences are also rolling out in other key international markets.
Mozilla Firefox 153 is set to introduce Vulkan Video support, enabling hardware-accelerated video decoding on Linux, particularly benefiting NVIDIA GPU users. This technical development aims to reduce CPU usage and improve video playback efficiency within the browser. The feature is currently behind a preference flag, indicating it may not be universally enabled upon release.
IPTV-Org maintains a publicly available collection of IPTV channels via M3U playlists, providing crucial data like EPG, API access, and a channel database to streaming professionals. This open-source project acts as a resource for those interested in global free-to-air channel data and how to integrate it into their streaming applications. The project does not host video files but aggregates links to publicly available streams, emphasizing its role as a data provider.
WWE Monday Night RAW will be exclusively streamed live on Netflix worldwide, starting with its June 8, 2026 event. This follows a landmark 10-year deal between WWE and Netflix, which commenced in January 2025, impacting global content distribution for the wrestling program.
Rogers Xfinity has enhanced its Multiview feature in Canada, enabling sports fans to watch up to four live events simultaneously on one screen. This technology, recognized with a 2026 NAB Product of the Year Award, is part of Rogers' partnership with Comcast to integrate Xfinity products into its Canadian offering. Multiview usage has increased significantly since its April launch, distinguishing Rogers Xfinity's entertainment platform.
Comcast's Xfinity has launched enhanced soccer tournament streaming experiences, including RealTime4K picture quality, Multiview, Fan View, and AI highlights on its X1 platform, along with FOX One on the Xfinity Xumo Stream Box. These features aim to provide a faster, higher quality, and more interactive viewing experience for customers. The enhancements leverage Xfinity's network and technologies like smart-boost WiFi and distribution capabilities from Comcast Technology Solutions.
Canal RCN has partnered with YouTube to stream 35 matches of the FIFA World Cup 2026, including all Colombia national team games and the final, offering a mix of live and delayed coverage. This move highlights a fragmented rights distribution strategy across free-to-air, digital streaming, and premium pay-TV platforms in Colombia for a major global sporting event. DirecTV's DSports/DGO will also broadcast all 104 matches of the tournament in the region.
The article discusses the growing convergence of streaming, gaming, and real-time interactive experiences, leading to a structural shift in content creation and consumption. This trend is driven by technological advancements like low-latency streaming and the increasing demand for participatory media from audiences. Platforms and regulators are responding to these changes, with the UK undertaking an inquiry into immersive technologies.
Naver will exclusively broadcast the 2026 North America World Cup online via its streaming platform Chijijik, offering full HD access paywalled behind Naver Plus Membership or Cheatkey subscriptions. This strategy aims to boost Naver's subscription ecosystem and attract users to its AI services rather than solely recovering rights fees. Free users can watch South Korea's matches in standard definition, with other matches limited to highlights.
Samsung Ads' "Behind the Screens 2026" report, based on data from over 70 million Samsung smart TVs in Europe, highlights increasing CTV fragmentation, with households using an average of five apps and an 8% rise in total app launches in 2025. The report identifies the smart TV home screen as a critical content discovery point for reaching diverse audiences in this saturated environment. It provides insights into evolving viewing habits, user loyalty tied to content over platforms, and opportunities for advertisers.
Sky has enabled 'Ultra HDR' for live sports viewing on its Sky Glass and Sky Stream devices, coinciding with the World Cup. This update allows subscribers with specific UHD or Ultimate TV packs to watch live sports in HDR, improving picture quality. The feature is currently exclusive to Sky Glass and Sky Stream users, excluding Sky Q.
Tubi is expanding its content strategy by exclusively adding YouTube series like Donut Media's "HiLow," alongside new video podcasts and creator-led programming. This move positions Tubi to differentiate its FAST platform by investing in creators with established audiences, moving beyond solely traditional licensed content. The platform aims to grow its audience by offering content not found on other free streaming services.
Amazon Prime Video will exclusively stream the 2026 NASCAR FireKeepers Casino 400, marking a significant shift of live sports content from national cable television to a streaming platform. This decision means fans can only watch the race via Prime Video, with no traditional TV broadcast available. The move highlights the growing trend of major sports properties adopting digital-first distribution strategies.
Roku has launched a new 'Soccer Zone' portal on its smart TVs and streaming devices, aggregating FIFA World Cup content from Fox One and Peacock, along with real-time stats and team following. This initiative aims to simplify sports viewing by centralizing content from various streaming services. Roku is also partnering with Fox to offer a bundled package for a Roku Streaming Stick and one month of Fox One access.
Bell Media has announced it will broadcast all 104 FIFA World Cup 2026 matches in Canada across its platforms including TSN, CTV, Crave, and Noovo, starting June 11. TSN+ will feature exclusive multi-language feeds, ensuring comprehensive coverage for Canadian viewers. This outlines Bell Media's strategy for distributing a major sports event across its diverse streaming and broadcast outlets.
Sucura Networks has launched new Ashburn VPS and virtual machines starting at $7.50/month, featuring KVM virtualization, NVMe storage, and 10Gbps ports. These enterprise-grade offerings include SucuraGuard DDoS protection with 120 Gbps scrubbing and BGP support, targeting streaming professionals needing low-latency infrastructure in the Northern Virginia data center hub.
Zee5 has secured the exclusive digital rights for the FIFA World Cup 2026 in India, offering live streaming via various subscription plans including a new 'All Access + Sports' plan. Additionally, Zee has launched dedicated Unite8 Sports TV channels for traditional broadcast viewing of the tournament. This highlights regional strategies for combining OTT and traditional linear monetization for major sports events.
Tennis TV serves as the official live streaming service for the ATP Tour, providing live and on-demand matches across various platforms. The service highlights the growing direct-to-consumer strategy of sports leagues for content distribution to fans on PC, Mac, mobile, tablet, and smart TV devices.
The global Telecom API market is projected to grow at a 14.2% CAGR until 2035, driven by 5G, cloud-native architectures, and enterprise digital transformation. This expansion is expected to open new opportunities for integrating advanced communication functions into streaming platforms and services. The report by IndexBox highlights various demand drivers including 5G, IoT, and CPaaS platforms, and categorizes demand by end-use industries such as MNOs, enterprise communication & CPaaS, fintech, IoT, and web & mobile app developers.
YouTube Shorts now registers 2 billion monthly viewing hours on television screens, prompting YouTube to roll out new features including a dedicated TV player with remote control, 4K thumbnail support, and a 'TV Companion' second-screen feature. YouTube's product team is also considering a 'lean-back' autoplay node to further enhance continuous TV viewership for the short-form format. This expansion into CTV creates new opportunities for advertisers and influences content creation for the platform.
Microsoft Teams has rolled out immersive events in 3D spaces for PC, Mac, and Meta Quest 3 users. Attendees can join virtual collaboration sessions, customize avatars, utilize spatial audio, and interact through chat and reactions. This feature supports engaging training, product showcases, and company events within the Teams platform.
The article discusses the significant environmental costs of always-on software, driven by constant energy consumption from data centers, networks, and AI systems. It highlights the need for the streaming industry to prioritize sustainable software design and infrastructure choices. The piece emphasizes computational efficiency, dynamic resource management, and environmentally responsible infrastructure to reduce the digital world's carbon footprint.
Apache has released Tomcat 9.0.119, a development version with numerous fixes across its components, including Catalina, Coyote, Jasper, and WebSocket. The update addresses security, stability, and performance issues, notably improving HTTP/2 handling and session management. This update is relevant for streaming professionals using Tomcat as part of their backend infrastructure.
Brightcove has released documentation detailing how users can create and manage up to 30 custom metadata fields within its Video Cloud Studio. This functionality allows for enhanced video cataloging and organization within the Media module, with options for text or list-based fields and programmatic access via Brightcove APIs.
Nintendo Technology Development is seeking a Senior Multimedia Engineer to develop new features for its gaming console, requiring expertise in C++, embedded design, multi-core SOCs, and audio/video processing. The role specifically mentions experience with streaming technologies like MSE, HLS, MPEG DASH, and codecs such as AVC, AV1, VP9, AAC, and OPUS, along with DRM schemes. This indicates a focus on low-level media technology development for Nintendo's platform.
Brightcove has published a quick start guide detailing how to use its Live module in conjunction with Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) Studio to broadcast live events. This guide provides step-by-step instructions for streaming professionals to configure encoders, manage live streams, and save recorded events as video-on-demand assets within the Brightcove platform. It highlights Brightcove's support for RTMP/SRT streams and showcases its capabilities for live event creation, publishing, and clipping.
Vimeo OTT has announced integrations with over 731 applications, enabling automated no-code workflows. These automations leverage various customer-specific triggers, such as account creation, subscription cancellations, and failed charges, to enhance operational efficiency for streaming service providers. FlowMattic facilitates these integrations, allowing users to build workflows like sending Slack alerts for cancellations or adding new customers to email lists.
A detailed system design outlines a video streaming platform, covering control, data, and delivery planes, including encoding pipelines and API specifications. The design highlights potential bottlenecks such as origin egress, cache misses, and watch history write-heavy loads for optimizing performance. It also details data models for video, renditions, manifests, and watch events, alongside core API functionalities.
Castr's blog published a comprehensive guide for churches looking to live stream services, detailing essential equipment, software, and platforms needed. The article promotes Castr's own live streaming service, highlighting its multi-CDN network, multistreaming capabilities, embeddable player, and monetization options for church clients. It provides step-by-step setup instructions and best practices for creating a polished and engaging online worship experience.
Agora officially launched its Signaling SDK, designed for low-latency, real-time metadata synchronization and event notifications, supporting up to 1 billion concurrent users. The SDK aims to provide reliable data distribution and channel management for global streaming services across multiple platforms. Agora also highlights its broader media services including recording, media push/pull, transcoding, and various AI-powered features for real-time communication.
