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.
Belgacom has upgraded its 24/7 promotional channel, ZOOM, by merging four previous channels into one. The new channel, built using wTVision's ChannelMaker, features automatic playlist imports, graphic secondary event assignment, and full integration with Belgacom's interactive Set-Top Box platform. This enables direct rental access for users from trailers via the red button.
Agora's case study highlights how ARUtility uses its real-time voice, video, and messaging platform, along with Unity SDKs, to create an augmented reality app for locating underground utilities. This collaboration enhances safety and efficiency for industrial workers by providing 3D visualizations of buried infrastructure on job sites. ARUtility chose Agora for its robust, scalable, low-latency network and ease of Unity integration.
Agora offers real-time audio, video, messaging, and chat solutions for social applications, enabling features like live streaming, co-listening, and online karaoke. The platform enhances these experiences with multimodal AI capabilities, including pre-integrated LLMs, real-time speech-to-text, and text-to-speech. Agora positions itself as a building block provider for interactive social engagement across various verticals, including entertainment, education, and healthcare.
wTVision partnered with Imagina US to launch SOI TV, a Social TV service for Hispanic households in the US, utilizing wTVision's ChannelMaker and Studio CG solutions. This new service enables real-time viewer interaction and graphics insertion, showcasing wTVision as a key technology provider. The platform leverages various broadcast hardware and software to achieve its interactive capabilities.
Agora offers real-time communication tools for virtual classrooms, including video, audio, messaging, and collaboration features. The company also extends its solutions to metaverse, virtual care, and entertainment platforms, emphasizing scalable interactive audio and video streaming. Additionally, the platform highlights capabilities for building multimodal AI experiences, integrating with LLMs, and real-time speech-to-text and text-to-speech for AI agents.
Agora has launched an Interactive Whiteboard SDK designed for custom-branded education and business collaboration applications. The new SDK features real-time tools, multimedia playback, annotation labels, and file management, alongside compliance with HIPAA, GDPR, and CCPA standards. The SDK integrates with Agora's broader real-time communication platform, including voice and video calling, and leverages AI for noise suppression and speech-to-text.
Agora Analytics is a product designed to monitor, measure, and improve the quality of experience (QoE) for Agora's real-time voice, video, and live streaming SDKs. It provides insights into usage, quality, and performance, featuring real-time monitoring, alert notifications, data insights, Datadog integration, and a RESTful API. The platform aims to help developers quickly identify and diagnose issues to deliver an optimal streaming experience.
Agora has launched a new 3D spatial audio API designed to provide immersive, high-fidelity, and low-latency audio for real-time experiences. This API integrates with Agora’s existing video, voice, and streaming products, supporting various platforms including mobile and desktop. The technology aims to enhance user engagement by simulating natural listening environments for use cases like livecasting, meetings, and music streaming.
wTVision implemented the new global brand image for beIN Sports' US channels following Al Jazeera Sport network's transition to beIN Sports. This effort utilized wTVision's ChannelMaker and Studio CG technologies for real-time graphics and automation workflows. The implementation standardized branding across beIN Sports' worldwide channels.
wTVision's FootballStats CG, a graphics playout and data collection solution, has expanded into the Bolivian football league, marking its first solution for a Spanish-speaking Latin American league. The premium software, which includes official league graphics designed by wTVision, is managed by the client's operators trained by wTVision staff. This solution also includes SportStats Center for real-time data storage and a web service for viewers to access updated league statistics.
wTVision discusses the integration of interactive features into live election and referendum broadcasts, acknowledging the challenges of mixing formal and informal data without confusing audiences. The company suggests integrating social media and using AI to analyze political trends to enhance engagement while maintaining journalistic integrity. This approach aims to change the status quo of electoral coverage without sacrificing seriousness.
wTVision has partnered with the World Surf League (WSL) to provide real-time graphics for the Big Waves World Tour using its SurfStats CG solution, extending a previous collaboration. For 2015, wTVision is scheduled to cover 45 surf events with WSL. Operators use SurfStats CG to import official data and manage graphics for the events.
Agora is offering a free e-book to assist developers and strategists in enabling in-game chat to enhance player connection and engagement. This resource highlights Agora's real-time engagement solutions for interactive streaming and gaming.
FIFA+ has launched exclusively on DAZN, creating a unified global destination for FIFA-related live events, archive content, and original programming. This move expands on a previous partnership and aims to deliver approximately 8,500 live football events annually in selected territories. The collaboration integrates FIFA+'s extensive content library directly into DAZN's platform to broaden reach and fan engagement.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and European Athletics have extended their media rights partnership through 2031, guaranteeing free-to-air coverage of major athletics events across Europe. This agreement ensures continued distribution through EBU members' networks and its Eurovision Sport streaming platform. The EBU and its production partner, Actua Sport, will also serve as host broadcaster for many events.
Executives from Banijay Rights, Rakuten TV, Samsung TV Plus, and UKTV will speak at Content London to discuss the growth and opportunities in the Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV (FAST) sector. They will address content strategy, distribution, channel development, monetization, and platform partnerships within the FAST ecosystem, which is projected to reach US$12.2 billion by 2026. The discussions aim to provide insights into how content owners, platforms, and broadcasters are adapting their FAST strategies.
Cloudinary has published a comprehensive guide outlining various options for migrating media assets to its platform. The guide details methods such as lazy migration with auto-upload, direct migration via CLI, Media Library, or custom scripts, and important considerations for pre-migration, customization, and post-migration optimization. This documentation helps streaming professionals efficiently manage and transfer large media libraries to Cloudinary's cloud-based media management service.
AzurePlayer has announced updates to its player software, which aim to enhance video playback capabilities. These improvements are intended to optimize content delivery and user experience specifically for professionals in the streaming industry.
Amazon Data Services Inc. is seeking certification from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management for a new data center campus in St. Joseph County, Indiana. The project, a resubmittal of a prior application, involves permanent and temporary impacts to wetlands and streams for the construction of the data center, utility infrastructure, and roads. A public hearing is scheduled to discuss the water quality impacts of the proposed work.
DVEO and StreamVX have formed a strategic partnership to simplify the deployment of next-generation video delivery platforms for broadcasters and video service providers. This collaboration integrates DVEO's hardware, including encoders and playout servers, with StreamVX's software solutions, encompassing transcoding, OTT delivery, DRM, and dynamic ad insertion. The combined offering aims to provide a unified technology stack for the entire video workflow, reducing complexity and accelerating deployment times for use cases like turnkey OTT headends and FAST channel monetisation.
Researchers from Wuhan University have developed a new security framework for end-to-end real-time group communication protocols, aiming to address vulnerabilities in services like Zoom and Microsoft Teams. The framework provides security guarantees with state-compromise resilience against malicious servers, formalizing a continuous group key distribution protocol and introducing a related security model. This work includes a novel multi-recipient authenticated key encapsulation mechanism as a building block for their generic construction.
Google has launched Search profiles for eligible U.S. publishers and creators, enabling them to unify their content from various platforms into a dedicated Google Search presence. This feature aims to enhance content discoverability and allow creators to manage their digital footprint by showcasing articles, videos, and social media posts on a shareable profile. The rollout is currently limited to the United States but plans to expand and introduce more functionalities in the future.
IBM Video Streaming has integrated with Microsoft Teams, Webex, and Zoom, allowing users to live stream meetings to IBM's platform for expanded audience reach and automated archiving. The platform also details its 4K streaming capabilities, including recommended encoding settings and adaptive bitrate streaming for optimal delivery. AI-driven captioning and search are now available for archived content.
Synamedia highlights how its Gravity platform creates open ecosystems for internet service providers (ISPs), enabling them to manage diverse customer premise equipment (CPE) fleets and introduce new devices faster. The platform's agentless, standards-based design (TR-069, TR-369, OpenSync) helps reduce operational overhead and accelerate deployment for streaming professionals by streamlining device management and improving network efficiency for content delivery. Key partnerships with OEMs and resellers further aid in modernization and efficient scaling for broadband providers.
Local TV station groups like Fox, CBS, and Gray Media are reorienting their duopoly operations from distinct stations to unified local media brands, leveraging local news and sports content across multiple platforms. This strategic shift aims to create a single local identity for viewers in a post-channel world, optimizing the second station for content distribution rather than a separate brand. The approach allows operators to maintain scale while adapting to viewer consumption migrating toward streaming apps and digital platforms.
AMC Global Media is launching a free, ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel for its 'The Walking Dead' franchise in the United Kingdom, marking its sixth FAST channel in the region. This expansion reflects AMC's shift towards being a streaming-first company, with streaming products driving revenue growth. The article also mentions the company's Q1 2026 earnings, detailing revenue from streaming products and subscription services.
Bell Media has discontinued its CTV streaming app, migrating all its content, including 'Love Island USA', to its subscription service Crave in Canada. This move eliminates free streaming options for viewers, pushing them towards a paid subscription model. The shift reflects a broader industry trend among broadcasters to transition content from free-to-access platforms to subscription-based services.
The Connected TV (CTV) market is projected to reach $290.45 billion by 2032, driven by smart TV adoption, streaming content, and AI integration. The report highlights how CTVs are evolving into platform-driven digital entertainment ecosystems for both viewers and advertisers. Key players like Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Google Chromecast, Apple TV, and Samsung Smart TVs are leading the market with advancements in AI-powered features and advertising solutions.
Amazon has refreshed its Fire TV experience and expanded Alexa+ functionalities, unifying them into an Alexa for Shopping agent with the aim of driving retail conversions. These updates include new Fire TV hardware and interface changes, along with broader availability and integration of Alexa for Shopping across Amazon's ecosystem. Competitors Roku and Google are also advancing initiatives in connected-TV commerce and AI-driven content discovery.
Recent reports from TiVo, Bango, and Parks Associates highlight a paradox in streaming: despite record engagement and revenue, user frustration with content discovery due to fragmentation is increasing. This growing 'fragmentation fatigue' signifies that effective content curation and aggregation are now critical for subscriber retention in the streaming industry. The industry is shifting towards aggregation strategies, with bundles and ad-supported tiers gaining traction as solutions to viewer choice overload.
Bell Media's TSN and RDS will exclusively broadcast all 104 FIFA World Cup 2026 matches in Canada, including HDR content across various platforms like CTV, Noovo, and Crave. The coverage will feature multi-language feeds powered by Spalk and extensive digital and radio programming. This represents Bell Media's largest World Cup coverage to date.
Ateme has partnered with Broadcasting Center Europe (BCE) and cloud provider Scaleway to launch a sovereign European cloud-based media supply chain. This platform leverages Ateme's video processing, delivery, and monetization tools, creating a cloud-native solution operated entirely within Europe.
NRJ Group is migrating its mobile and web streaming services to Akamai Adaptive Media Player 2 (AMP2), marking them as the first net-new customer to deploy the solution. AMP2 is powered by Bitmovin’s Player, Observability, and Stream Lab technologies, combining playback, analytics, testing, and CDN infrastructure into a managed end-to-end solution. This collaboration aims to provide optimized high-quality streaming delivery at scale, with enhanced visibility into playback performance for NRJ Group.
Samsung, LG, and major Korean broadcasters convened a meeting led by the Broadcasting, Media and Communications Commission to strategize global expansion of Korean-style FAST services, specifically targeting the North American market. The initiative aims to enhance content competitiveness and leverage smart TV distribution for growth in the projected $47 trillion FAST market by 2030. Discussions included leveraging AI for content localization and the need for investment in K-FAST exclusive content.
A new report from Rakuten TV Enterprise, presented at SXSW London, indicates that FAST channels have become mainstream in Europe, with 73.7% of viewers watching daily or several times a week. The study of 750 European consumers found high acceptance of advertising (82.3%) and that FAST is evolving into a significant strategic opportunity for content owners and IP monetization.
Sky CEO Dana Strong highlighted the company's shift from satellite to IP products and its expansion in sports content, emphasizing a digital revamp to enhance customer value through "symphonic engagement." She cited "Saturday Night Live U.K." as a key example of integrating digital and social media with traditional video to reach audiences through various platforms. The discussion also touched upon the benefits of being part of Comcast and potential acquisition talks with ITV.
Lenovo, as FIFA's Official Technology Partner, is deploying an AI-powered infrastructure platform for the FIFA World Cup 2026, featuring ultra-low-latency IPTV video distribution and intelligent content delivery. This extensive deployment includes servers at the International Broadcast Center and over 17,000 devices across venues, enhancing operational control and fan experiences.
IPL founder Lalit Modi predicts the cricket league will double in size within three years, driven by a significant shift of viewers from traditional television to OTT platforms. He specifically highlights the critical need for improved audience measurement systems for streaming services to accurately track viewer behavior and engagement, contrasting it with traditional TV metrics.
Samsung Ads' annual 'Behind the Screens' report indicates that fragmented Connected TV (CTV) viewing is now the norm, with households using an average of five apps in 2025 and total app launches increasing 8% year-over-year. The report, based on data from over 70 million Samsung smart TVs in Europe, highlights the CTV home screen as a critical discovery point for content amidst fluid viewing habits. It also notes that gamers represent a receptive yet underserved audience for advertising, being more likely to follow home screen recommendations and product lookups from TV ads.
24i will exhibit its Video Cloud platform at StreamTV Europe 2026, showcasing features for ad monetization, personalization, and streamlined operations. The company's CEO, Sebastian Braun, will also moderate a panel on broadcasters' transformation to digital platforms during the event. This serves as a promotion for their presence at the industry conference.
Adobe details various opt-out mechanisms for its streaming media SDKs, including Web SDK, mobile SDKs for iOS, Android, and Roku, and its Media Edge API. The documentation provides implementation guidance for respecting user consent regarding data collection across different Adobe platforms and APIs. It also covers legacy implementation types for Analytics-only use cases.
Mux has rolled out per-environment rate limits and token priority controls for its API requests. This enhancement allows for better isolation of development, staging, and production environments, and enables users to prioritize API calls to prevent background jobs from affecting user-facing operations. Standard X-RateLimit headers have also been added for monitoring.
Vantiva VP Giovanni Tumino discusses the challenges of market fragmentation in Europe's telecom sector, advocating for both tailored solutions and standardized platforms to navigate varying regulations and technological landscapes. The company emphasizes flexibility, long-term partnerships, and compliance with evolving EU standards like the Digital Networks Act, CSRD, and increased focus on digital sovereignty and ESG. Vantiva supports industry initiatives like RDK, prpl, OpenWrt, and Android to aid operators in cross-country standardization and innovation.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has introduced three new execution blocks within its Application Recovery Controller (ARC) Region switch for Amazon Aurora and Amazon Neptune databases. These new capabilities automate database scaling and failover for multi-Region workloads, significantly reducing recovery times for platform operators. Specifically, they automate right-sizing secondary clusters for Aurora and streamline failover decisions for Neptune.
Snowflake announced the general availability of Adaptive Compute, featuring Adaptive Warehouses that dynamically adjust resources for data analytics and engineering workloads. This aims to enhance throughput by up to 2.2x and accelerate time to insight, freeing engineers from manual compute management. The system is workload-aware and offers significant performance gains for various data operations, including mixed analytics, data loading, and AI experimentation.
Fox is adapting "Farmer Wants a Wife" Season 3 into 101 vertical, 2-minute microdrama episodes for Holywater's My Drama app. This initiative explores new mobile-first consumption models for unscripted content and expands Fox's presence in vertical video, leveraging its equity investment in Holywater. The microdrama will be promoted with a QR code during the S4 finale, offering in-app currency for viewing, alongside free ad-supported availability on Tubi and Hulu.
AWS Compute Optimizer now supports a 32-day lookback period for Amazon EBS volume and Amazon ECS rightsizing recommendations, extending this period from 14 days at no additional cost. This enhancement helps account for monthly utilization patterns, enabling more accurate cost and performance optimization for workloads. The feature is available in most AWS Regions, allowing organizations to set lookback periods at various levels.
Dolby Laboratories' Cloud Solutions group is seeking a Staff Technical Account Manager in Sydney, Australia, to manage technical relationships for strategic video accounts. The role focuses on video streaming and ad-tech implementation, ensuring optimal integration and long-term technical support for customers. Responsibilities include strategic technical implementation, joint success planning with Customer Success Managers, proactive technical health monitoring, and advocating for customer engineering needs.
Google has expanded YouTube Shorts to the living room by introducing a dedicated user interface for smart TVs and gaming consoles. This move aims to integrate vertical short-form content into the connected TV viewing experience, indicating a strategic shift in content consumption patterns on larger screens.
Walmart has launched new Onn 4K streaming devices for 2026, including a streaming stick and a Pro model, both featuring Google TV, AV1 decoding, and Wi-Fi 6. These budget-friendly devices also offer Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, and in the Pro model, an Ethernet port and USB port. The article compares these new offerings to other streaming devices like the Xiaomi TV Box S third generation and the Google TV Streamer 4K, highlighting features and target users for each.
