Advanced Television

Live streaming booming

May 25, 2016

Live streaming is booming globally as audiences demand more real-time connections to their favourite content on their preferred devices, reports Ooyala. That’s particularly true in top (and topical) media categories like news and sports where content has far more value delivered live than via on-demand replays.

Meanwhile, social media companies understand the rising value in live video as well. For example, Facebook now allows premium content publishers to bring their official live streams to the Facebook Live platform, via media partners including Ooyala. Momentum for it is growing: BuzzFeed counted 800,000 concurrent Facebook viewers tuning in to watch a 45-minute live feed on how many rubber bands it takes to explode a watermelon.

All of this activity continues to bring more content, competition and experimentation to the digital media space. AOL, for one, is focused on creating content that aligns with how audiences are consuming video, so it segments content into long, mid and short-form lengths optimised for devices; live content is bucketed into short-form content that viewers can turn to when they are on mobile devices. Look for live video to take a greater share of viewing time and advertising revenue in the year ahead as technology improves to deliver high- quality, real-time experiences continuously.

Media companies are employing video in a variety of lengths to drive engagement and value. Look for publishers to prioritise original live video to stand out in a sea of offerings, as the web continues to look more like a super-sized TV channel line-up.

Categories: Articles, Consumer Behaviour, OTT, Research, Social Media