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.
AWS has expanded Lambda Managed Instances (LMI) to nearly all commercial AWS Regions, excluding Israel, Middle East (Bahrain/UAE), and Asia Pacific (Auckland). LMI allows users to run Lambda functions on managed Amazon EC2 instances, offering specialized compute configurations and EC2 pricing advantages while maintaining Lambda's operational simplicity. This expansion enables streaming professionals to optimize costs and utilize specialized hardware for steady-state workloads.
AWS has enhanced its Savings Plans Purchase Analyzer with new target coverage analysis. This feature allows users to specify a percentage of their On-Demand spend to be covered by Savings Plans, with the Analyzer recommending purchase amounts to meet that target based on historical usage. Companies can now optimize cloud cost management by setting and comparing cost, coverage, utilization, and savings across different coverage targets.
AWS Compute Optimizer has expanded its support for idle resource recommendations to include six additional resource types, such as Amazon DynamoDB, ElastiCache, and WorkSpaces. This enhancement enables streaming professionals to identify and reduce cloud infrastructure costs by detecting unused resources across a broader range of AWS services. The optimizer analyzes utilization metrics to pinpoint idle resources and provides estimated savings.
Irdeto is set to showcase its video entertainment capabilities at IBC 2026, focusing on unified and scalable platform approaches for operators. The company plans to highlight content protection, monetization strategies, and operational simplification through tailored discussions for broadcasters, pay-TV operators, OTT/streaming platform providers, and content owners. They aim to demonstrate how operators can achieve seamless user experiences, integrate multiple services, and evolve monetization strategies without increasing system cost and complexity.
Samsung TV Plus will exclusively stream Serena Williams' matches at the Queen’s Club Championships in the UK via the Tennis Channel. This move highlights Samsung TV Plus' strategy to expand its live sports offerings on its free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) platform. The exclusive content aims to strengthen Samsung TV Plus' position as a leading subscription-free destination for sports content.
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.
Fox has secured a multi-year deal to broadcast NFL games in Mexico starting with the 2026 season. The content will be distributed across linear TV channels FOX and FOX+, its FOX One streaming service, and select programming on FOX on Tubi, a free streaming platform. This move highlights ongoing strategies by media companies to utilize live events for viewership and subscriber growth in the competitive streaming market.
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.
AgileTV developed a modular, vendor-agnostic OTT platform for Mediaset España, managing the entire media workflow from ingest to delivery. This flexible architecture ensures continuous evolution without disruptive migrations, allowing adaptation to future media landscape changes. The partnership focuses on ongoing optimization and innovation for Mediaset España's robust OTT ecosystem.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
ITVX achieved its best May performance on record, with total streams increasing by 19% year-on-year, driven primarily by drama, soaps, and "Britain's Got Talent." The platform is preparing to stream the FIFA World Cup 2026 with an enhanced viewer experience which includes friction-less social sign-in, themed content rails, and a mobile app fan zone with live commentary and match insights powered by Google Gemini.
TON Corporation announced the global launch of TonTV, a short-drama platform operating as a Telegram Mini App starting in September 2026. This model aims to bypass traditional app stores to reduce user acquisition costs and leverage Telegram's user base for distribution. TonTV plans to use a dual monetization strategy with both ad-supported and premium subscription tiers for its short-form content.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Live streaming is increasingly preferred by sports fans over traditional TV, driven by mobile access and flexible viewing habits. This shift is highlighted as transforming how audiences consume sports and enabling personalized viewing experiences. The article also addresses challenges for streaming professionals, such as distribution, security, latency, content rights fragmentation, and device compatibility.
Synology showcased its next-generation DiskStation Manager (DSM), ActiveProtect, and an expanded video surveillance ecosystem at COMPUTEX 2026. The new offerings focus on AI-powered data management, backup, and private cloud solutions, including AI inference and governance, hybrid cloud protection, and advanced video analytics for surveillance. Synology also introduced new access control solutions and expanded its Office Suite and Bee Series for private cloud.
Qvest has released two new open-source projects, mxl-k8s and go-mxl, designed to improve the scalability and integration of the Media eXchange Layer (MXL) in modern broadcast and media architectures. These tools simplify multi-application stream access and enable automated cross-node transport of MXL within clusters, making the technology more accessible to developers.
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.
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.
Apple announced macOS 27 'Golden Gate' at WWDC 2026, introducing spatial computing and AI optimization features, and ending support for Intel Macs. This update includes enhanced continuity features enabling Mac display mirroring to Apple TV and Vision Pro with low latency, boosting functionality for streaming professionals. New features like Spatial Finder and Neural Engine Priority are designed to improve performance for video editors and researchers.
DAZN has entered a multi-year partnership with Extreme Fighting Championship (EFC) to broadcast African MMA events free-to-view worldwide, excluding Sub-Saharan Africa and Poland. This deal expands DAZN's global combat sports portfolio and aims to introduce African MMA to a broader international audience. The partnership will kick off with EFC 134 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Redge Technologies has been selected by Latvian Public Service Media (LPSM) as its technology partner to develop a new unified audio and video streaming platform. The three-and-a-half-year partnership is valued at €2.6 million and aims to make public media content more accessible across various devices.
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.
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.
TNT Sports, owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, has secured the UK broadcast rights for the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, ending the BBC's 72-year coverage. TNT Sports plans extensive live coverage across its linear channels and the HBO Max streaming platform, alongside a partnership with Channel 5 for daily free-to-air highlights. This marks a shift in major sports broadcasting rights to a subscription streaming and linear offering, with technology implications for content delivery and platform usage.
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.
Google details its Compute Engine, which provides virtual machines (VMs) for running workloads. It emphasizes that this secure and performant infrastructure can be used for streaming applications. This aims to position Google Cloud as a backend solution for streaming services.
Agora has launched recording solutions that capture audio, video, and web streams to cloud or on-premise storage, offering features like multi-stream recording, customizable layouts, and broad compatibility with major cloud providers. The service emphasizes flexibility, ease of use through RESTful APIs, security, and integration with AI-powered features for content review and processing. These recording options are designed for various use cases including customer service, education, and live events, aligning with Agora's broader platform for real-time engagement.
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.
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.
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.
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.
