OTT, SVOD, AVOD & FAST Streaming Platform News

Xperi announced updates to its TiVo OS platform at IFA 2026, including the AI-powered Agent TiVo discovery tool and new DVB-I support for hybrid broadcast-broadband delivery. The company also reported platform optimizations for lower-cost hardware and appointed Tal Bone as the new senior vice president and general manager of TiVo OS.

Lithuanian broadcaster LNK Group has migrated playout and media management for five national networks to Grass Valley’s AMPP Media Operating System. The transition utilizes a software-defined, cloud-hybrid architecture with SMPTE ST 2110, AWS, and Wasabi storage to replace dedicated hardware.

SpaceX COO Gwynne Shotwell announced plans to launch AI compute satellites next year to address high demand for orbital processing power. The company is also deploying Version 3 Starlink satellites featuring significantly increased uplink and downlink capacity and high-capacity space lasers.

The Saudi Pro League has partnered with Recast to implement a new distribution model that enables clubs, players, and creators to stream live matches directly to fans. The infrastructure supports pay-per-view and sponsored access across 16 markets while allowing the league to capture first-party data and supplement existing broadcast rights.

Accenture research highlights that 86 percent of consumers prefer a unified streaming platform, while live TV viewing has declined to 45 percent. The report suggests broadcasters must transition to modular, cloud-native architectures and integrate generative AI to remain competitive against tech-native ecosystems.

Prime Video has launched its fifth season of Thursday Night Football, featuring new AI-powered Rapid Recap highlights and a FanDuel-integrated bet-tracking tool. The broadcasts continue to utilize AWS-driven ultra-low latency infrastructure and Next Gen Stats to support interactive viewer experiences.

The Media eXchange Layer (MXL) project, an open-source initiative hosted by the Linux Foundation, won the IBC2026 Innovation Award for Content Creation. The project provides a shared-memory framework to enable low-latency interoperability between software-based media functions in cloud-native and distributed production environments.

The Fiber Broadband Association is expanding its annual Fiber Connect conference to include dedicated pavilions for AI and quantum infrastructure. This initiative aims to help fiber operators adapt their capacity planning and business models to support the continuous network traffic demands of agentic AI.

United Group has launched the third generation of its EON cloud-based TV platform across Southeast Europe, featuring an AI-driven recommendation engine and a redesigned electronic programme guide. The platform enables operators like Vivacom and Telemach to deliver a full set-top box experience via smart TV apps, reducing the need for physical hardware installations.

The Charlotte Hornets have launched a direct-to-consumer streaming app powered by DAZN for the 2026-27 season, marking the 10th NBA team to partner with the platform. The service offers multiple subscription tiers and includes production support from the NBA's in-house broadcast arm, complementing the team's existing linear broadcast deal with Cox Media Group.

Major U.S. broadcasters, including Sinclair and Nexstar, are signaling that advancements in ATSC 3.0 allow core television services to operate on as little as 2 MHz of a 6 MHz channel. This shift suggests a potential industry-wide pivot toward repurposing the remaining spectrum for datacasting and other wireless infrastructure applications, raising significant questions regarding the future of public-interest broadcast licensing.

Spotify reports that AI-assisted development has doubled its monthly code changes to 17,000 while maintaining stable rework rates. The company is implementing enhanced monitoring, capacity planning, and automated safeguards to manage the increased velocity and prevent regressions in its content processing and mobile application infrastructure.

The Television Academy is in advanced negotiations to move the annual Emmy Awards broadcast to Amazon Prime Video, potentially ending a 75-year tradition of airing on broadcast television. The shift would allow for the integration of streaming-specific technical features such as multi-view and on-demand highlights.

Amazon has launched a new five-service streaming bundle on Prime Video US, aggregating AMC+, BritBox, MGM+, PBS Masterpiece, and Starz for $29.99 per month. The offering represents a strategic move toward super-aggregation within the Prime Video Channels ecosystem, providing a 39% discount compared to individual subscriptions.

JustWatch is expanding its business model by launching JustWatch TV, a streaming service offering AVOD, TVOD, and SVOD options across 12 international markets. The platform will utilize the company's extensive first-party search and demand data to inform content acquisition strategies while maintaining its existing role as a streaming discovery guide.

Novisign has launched Studio AI in beta, a tool integrated into its CMS that uses OpenAI's GPT models to generate and edit digital signage layouts, copy, and imagery. The feature allows operators to create and modify content directly within the platform, which currently supports over 70,000 screens globally.

Roblox announced 'Roblox Everywhere,' a new initiative allowing developers to publish games as standalone applications on mobile, PC, and consoles while leveraging the platform's backend infrastructure. The announcement coincides with a 50% increase in creator payouts to $1.7 billion, though the platform faces ongoing scrutiny regarding child safety and creator income disparity.

Salesforce and Google Cloud have expanded their partnership to run Salesforce natively on Google Cloud infrastructure via Hyperforce. The integration enables cross-platform agent reasoning between Gemini Enterprise and Agentforce using the Model Context Protocol and introduces native shoppable checkout capabilities for Google Search and Gemini.

Astera Labs has expanded its Leo Smart Memory Controller portfolio with the X-Series, E-Series, and P-Series to address memory bottlenecks in agentic AI and cloud infrastructure. The new controllers utilize CXL 3.2 and PCIe 6 to enable memory expansion, pooling, and fabric-attached GPU memory for data-intensive workloads.

Delos Data has raised over $100 million to develop infrastructure technology aimed at reducing networking bottlenecks in agentic AI inference. The company is launching the Nonstop AI platform, which includes a data interface designed to improve latency and efficiency for data-intensive AI workloads in data centers.

Engineers are increasingly using in-memory SQLite databases to manage application state in high-throughput environments like OpenRTB bidders. This architectural pattern replaces complex manual synchronization of primitive data structures with a relational model to improve state consistency, transparency, and transactional integrity.

Crusoe and Perplexity have entered a multi-year partnership to utilize Crusoe Cloud's infrastructure for Perplexity's AI model training and managed inference. The agreement leverages NVIDIA GB300 NVL72-powered clusters and InfiniBand solutions to support Perplexity's real-time research and search products.

Vodafone UK is launching a new TV service in October powered by Netgem's PLEIO platform and Android TV hardware. The service aims to bolster the operator's fixed-mobile convergence strategy by offering live and on-demand content to both mobile-only and fixed-broadband customers.

DMP has launched VK VMS, a cloud-based video management platform enabled by new XV Plus Gateway hardware. The system introduces AI-driven natural-language search and Dynamic Slicing, allowing for modular subscription options for video management and analytics.

Motorola Solutions has launched a local Australian cloud instance for its access control platform, enabling data residency for security information. The platform integrates AI-powered video analytics, such as appearance search and unusual motion detection, to automate incident identification and reduce manual monitoring requirements.

Apple is expanding the availability of Apple TV to 59 additional countries, bringing its total footprint to 170 markets. In over 100 territories, the company is bundling Apple TV and Apple Arcade with paid iCloud+ subscriptions to drive adoption in developing markets.

AirData has updated its live streaming platform to include 10-minute retrospective recording and cloud-based video preservation for drone fleets. The new features allow remote stakeholders to review footage without interrupting active feeds or relying on onboard media, supporting operations like Drone as First Responder (DFR) and BVLOS.

Bell Canada and the Government of Saskatchewan have announced a $50 billion expansion of a data centre near Regina, increasing its planned capacity to 1.2 gigawatts. The facility will serve as the headquarters for Bell AI Fabric and is intended to bolster Canadian data sovereignty.

NTT Docomo has launched commercial operations using Nokia's O-RAN-compliant basestations, enabling a multivendor network environment. The deployment utilizes Nokia's Levante and Ponente baseband cards to improve power efficiency and connectivity density in urban and event-based environments.

Flam has raised $40 million in Series B funding to scale its AI-driven interactive video technology, which includes tools for mid-playback scene switching and conversational visual agents. The company, which has secured over 100 enterprise customers, plans to use the capital for R&D and global sales expansion.

ZTE has launched an end-to-end AI Video Solution at IBC 2026, designed to help operators transition from traditional IPTV/OTT services to smart-home ecosystems. The platform integrates AI-driven EPG features, a distributed AI delivery network (AIDN) for edge inference, and a smart-home management platform.

Latos has begun construction on a £100m neural edge data centre in Stockton-on-Tees, which will utilize Nvidia Blackwell GPUs to support low-latency AI applications. The facility is the first of 20 planned UK sites intended to provide sovereign data infrastructure for public and commercial sectors.

Cornelis Networks has secured $205 million in funding to expand its Active Compute Fabric, an architecture that integrates RISC-V cores into network interface cards and switches. The technology aims to offload AI tasks like KV cache acceleration directly into the network fabric to improve GPU utilization for AI and HPC workloads.

Foxxum and Tennis Channel have extended their long-term partnership to develop a new suite of Connected TV apps. The project involves migrating the broadcaster's existing streaming applications to a new backend platform across major CTV environments including Roku, Fire TV, and Samsung.

Valve has launched the Steam Frame headset with monochrome tracking, requiring a separate $149 Arcturus Vision camera module for color passthrough. The lack of documented APIs for the accessory forces developers to build for grayscale as the baseline, complicating mixed reality development for the platform.

Pegasystems has released Infinity 26, which introduces support for the Model Context Protocol (MCP) to enable external AI agent integration and shifts to outcome-based pricing for its customer service workflows. The update positions Pega as a governed workflow engine for contact centers like Amazon Connect rather than a full CCaaS replacement.

Arm has introduced the Neoverse CSS N4 compute subsystem and its AGI CPU, designed to support high-performance agentic AI workloads in data centers. The new architecture features up to 128 cores per die and has secured early support from major cloud providers including Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and Oracle.

Verizon has expanded its 6G Innovation Forum by adding nine technology partners, including AWS, Nvidia, and Intel, to accelerate the development of AI-native network capabilities. The initiative focuses on integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) and edge computing to support future immersive streaming and AI-enabled wearable applications.

Vidyard has updated its platform with new AI-driven features including automated chaptering, description generation, and multi-language audio tracks. The company also implemented a brand refresh to reflect its evolution into a more comprehensive AI-driven platform for revenue teams.

ST Engineering iDirect is partnering with satcom integrator Datacom to deploy its Intuition ground system across the Asia-Pacific region. The initiative aims to transition satellite operators to cloud-native, software-defined architectures to support multi-orbit operations and reduce hardware dependency.

3Vision analysis indicates that content creators are increasingly leveraging their existing video archives to launch 24/7 linear FAST channels on platforms like Samsung TV, Pluto TV, and Roku. This trend allows streaming platforms to secure fresh IP and established audiences while providing creators with a new monetization channel for their content libraries.

NAGRAVISION and Plume have partnered to integrate NAGRA Scout Threat Intelligence into Plume’s security suite for internet service providers. The collaboration aims to provide network-level protection against phishing and malware for over 30 million subscribers across 450 ISPs.

Strada demonstrated its Strada 2.0 platform at IBC 2026, showcasing peer-to-peer media transfer capabilities that bypass centralized cloud storage. The update introduces virtual drive mounting, server-side proxy generation, and AI-driven metadata features including bulk transcription and translation for distributed production teams.

Omdia research presented at IBC 2026 indicates that 75% of US viewers now use smartphones while watching television, with significant adoption growth among older demographics. This shift suggests that streaming platforms and broadcasters must increasingly treat mobile and TV as integrated environments to compete for viewer attention.

Social Stream has released version 0.4.29, a test build introducing combined OBS browser source overlays, named Event Flow workflows, and new commerce board features for live-sale displays. The update also includes improvements to chat capture for various platforms and enhanced local-server recovery for interactive stream elements.

Apple has released its 2027 software updates, including iOS 27, macOS 27, and tvOS 27, which introduce the Siri AI assistant and various platform-wide performance improvements. For streaming professionals, the update adds high-resolution lossless audio support for Apple Music on Apple TV and AI-powered spatial scene generation for Vision Pro.

Sophia Space has secured a $300 million financing framework from SLI to deploy a 10-satellite orbital edge computing constellation by 2028. The deal utilizes a long-term operating lease model to provide infrastructure capacity equivalent to 240 edge servers for data-intensive applications.