Short Cuts

Leveraging Gen AI to Improve Discovery and Streaming Engagement

The applications of Generative AI in streaming are seemingly endless, but what are specific ways that AI can make streaming content more discoverable, more personalised, more engaging, interactive, and more effective for advertisers in leveraging targeted content to reach the right customers? Microsoft's Andy Beach, Vecima's Paul Strickland, mireality's Maria Ingold, Alvarez & Marsal's Ethan Dreilinger, and Reality Software's Nadine Krefetz explore the possibilities in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2024.

QoE vs. QoS in Live and On-Demand Streaming

How do you define Quality of Experience (QoE) and Quality of Service (QoS) in live and on-demand streaming, and what are the key metrics for measuring them? IMAX's Abdul Rehman, YouTube's Sean McCarthy, SVTA's Jason Thibeault, and PADEM Media Group's Allan McLennan discuss these topics in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2024.

Best Practices for Turning Streaming Viewers Into Participants

From concerts to sports and other tentpole live events, from leveraging influencers to social interactions to gamification, delivering fully optimised interactive entertainment experiences is the name of the game for engaging audiences and serving brands with large-scale live streams. Bulldog DM's John Petrocelli, who has been delivering some of the biggest events in the business for more than a decade, discusses best practices for high-engagement live streams in this conversation with Ring Digital's Brian Ring at Streaming Media Connect 2024.

What Kind of Audience Data Are CTV Advertisers Looking For?

Content is king, but when it comes to monetizing CTV advertising campaigns and maximizing their effectiveness, it's secondary to the data and metrics that guarantee that their marketing efforts are connecting with the right audiences. In this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2024, Warner Bros. Discovery's Daniel Trotta, Revry's Damian Pelliccione, and Advertising Perceptions' Erin Firneno discuss real-world examples of how CTV content providers and aggregators can provide specific analytics and metrics that deliver real value to their advertising partners.

Survey Says: What Kinds of Interactive Streaming Experiences Do Viewers Want?

What kinds of interactive, lean-forward streaming experiences can help drive engagement that attracts fans and holds their attention? What are the top things viewers are demanding from streaming interactivity? Jennifer Kent, VP Research, Parks Associates, shares the latest insights from Parks's research in this discussion with Ring Digital's Brian Ring at Streaming Media Connect 2024.

What Drives Up Cloud Streaming Costs?

What are the predictable and unpredictable factors that drive up the cost of cloud streaming workflows as complications arise and projects scale? AWS' John Barber, IMAX's Abdul Rehman, Zixi's Eric Bolten, and SVTA's Jason Thibeault offer practical tips for keeping cloud costs in check in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2024.

What Is Contextual Advertising and How Is it Changing TV?

"Contextual advertising is a really hot topic in TV advertising right now," declared TVREV's Alan Wolk at Streaming Media Connect 2024. But what exactly is it, and how is its growing presence in CTV and streaming changing the TV experience and particularly the way advertisers buy media? Wolk, Estrella MediaCo's Christina Chung, and Mad Leo Consulting's C.J. Leonard explore these issues in this clip from their panel at Streaming Media Connect.

Streaming’s Great Rebundling and the Fight Against Churn

Preventing subscriber churn is the oldest problem in the streaming subscription business, and bundling is hardly a new solution, as analyst Paul Erickson points out in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2024. So with a purported "Great Rebundling" upon us—and with tiered offerings, hybrid ad models, and other revenue-generating approaches increasingly holding sway—how do contemporary bundling/rebundling strategies differ from old ones and offer greater avenues to success? Ampere Analysis' Guy Bisson, Hub's Jon Giegengack, and Antenna's Rameez Tase offer their takes on current bundling and aggregation strategies and which ones are working in 2024.

How Can Publishers and Advertisers Monetise Roku’s Platform?

Head of Roku Exchange Charlie Goodman and Future Today Marketplace VP Tim Ware discuss the opportunities and the challenges of monetizing the Roku Channel and Exchange for programmers, distributors, and advertisers alike in this clip from their panel at Streaming Media Connect 2024.

What Are Walled Gardens in CTV Advertising?

Future Today Marketplace VP Tim Ware goes 'round the horn with Roku's Charlie Goodman, Streaming Made Easy's Marion Ranchet, TVREV's Alan Wolk, and IAB Tech Lab's Anthony Katsur on the definition of walled gardens in the CTV advertising marketplace in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2024.

How Bloomberg Transitioned to FAST Free Streaming News

How does a multiplatform news media organisation bring free streaming content distribution into its portfolio? What are the digital transformation, architectural, content strategy, and adtech challenges? Bloomberg Media GM of Video & Audio Travis Winkler explains Bloomberg's journey to FAST news in this discussion with The Local Act's Marion Ranchet at Streaming Media Connect 2024.

Where Streaming Measurement Isn’t Measuring Up

The lack of consistent measurement tools, metrics, and standards across multiple platforms continues to limit the success of streaming ads and frustrate content publishers looking to deliver optimal experiences to advertisers and end users. TVREV's Alan Wolk, Vevo's Julie Triolo, Estrella MediaCo's Christina Chung, Advertiser Perceptions' Erin Firneno, and Mad Leo Consulting's C.J. Leonard discuss the current challenges facing OTT and CTV publishers and advertisers alike in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2024.

Who’s Watching? How CTV Publishers Measure Viewership for Buyers

How do CTV publishers deliver credible and actionable performance metrics to the buy-side brands that support them? Estrella MediaCo's Christina Chung, Vevo's Julie Triolo, and TVREV's Alan Wolk discuss the current challenges publishers face in measuring and communicating CTV performance to buyers in a clear and common language and the growing role of metadata in delivering usable metrics in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2024.

The State of Ad-ID in CTV and Streaming

Launched by the IAB Tech Lab's Advanced Television Systems Committee and designed to "provide standardsed identity management for ad creatives" through metadata, Ad-ID is designed to bring streaming ad insertion—particularly for live events—out of "the Wild West," according to Paramount's Jarred Wilichinsky, and to stop, among other things, the mindless repetition of ads that drags down so many streaming experiences. Wilichinsky, Roku's Charlie Goodman, JWP's David Palomento, Akamai's Peter Chave, and Infinitive's C.J. Leonard weigh in on Ad-ID's progress and its potential impact on the streaming ecosystem in this discussion with Reality Software's Nadine Krefetz at Streaming Media NYC.

What Makes Streaming Bundles Work

When it comes to bundling streaming services, there are other factors to consider beyond the price point, product differentiation, and the content offering the bundle will deliver. According to Roku's Anastasia Pronin, Philo's Adam Salmons, and Bango's Giles Tongue, the key to an effective and profitable streaming bundle is identifying consumer needs and pain points and delivering a bundle that addresses those needs, and they explain how to do it in this clip from Streaming Media NYC.

Are FAST Bets Paying Off for Independent Streamers?

Now that FAST (free ad-supported streaming television) has arguably moved past the "landgrab for distribution" phase and matured well beyond its initial preponderance of legacy content, are independent streamers' investments in FAST proving worthwhile? Execs from Crackle, Tastemade, and DangerTV—all members of the Independent Streaming Alliance (ISA)—discuss the challenges overcome and the challenges ahead in this discussion with Streaming Made Easy's Marion Ranchet at Streaming Media NYC.

FAST, Data, and Tracking Diverse Audiences

Given that traditional media measurement companies have always underrepresented diverse audiences, minority-owned content companies targeting multicultural audiences face unique challenges in tracking those audiences and leveraging the data to monetise their channels, as Publicis Media EVP Cultural Investment & Innovation Stephen Paez explains in this candid discussion with media universe cartographer Evan Shapiro at Streaming Media NYC.

How DAZN Leans Into the Curves of Consumer Engagement

Delivering premium content to broad audiences means acclimating to the viewing habits of different consumer demographics, which can make serving younger viewers with typically longform content like live sports challenging for sports streamers like DAZN. In this clip from Streaming Media NYC 2024, DAZN Global CRO and President USA Walker Jacobs discusses the engagement curves of social and CTV viewers and how DAZN has learned to lean into them.

Securing Streams: What Are We Trying to Protect?

Few streaming stakeholders, from entertainment to enterprise, would deny that stream security and anti-piracy matter, but what are we really protecting when we apply DRM or other methods to curb the inappropriate appropriations of streaming content? Are we protecting user experiences? Profitability? Proprietary content? An international panel of industry experts from Synamedia, EZDRM, Vindral, United Cloud, and Help Me Stream weigh in on this critical question in this clip from Streaming Media NYC 2024.

How Google Leverages First-Party and Partner Data to Improve Consumer Experiences

For "data machines" like Google, the problem is never having too little customer data—it's all about managing the data overload to pinpoint the right data to leverage to build customised, targeted, personalised experiences that satisfy users and keep them engaged. Increasingly, according to Google TV Product Manager UX Rob Caruso in this interview with Media Universe Cartographer Evan Shapiro at Streaming Media NYC, it's working with partners to identify the right mix of first-party and partner data to take personalization to the next level.