Resounding Support for MOQ Liftoff Fuels Hopes Next-Gen Streaming Might Finally Fly

By Fred Dawson

Global consensus on a next-gen video streaming protocol supporting real-time connectivity at mass scales appears to be closer than ever with multiple implementations of the MOQ Transport standard now underway.

The recent NAB Show in Las Vegas left no doubt that pent-up demand for sub-second synchronized delivery of streamed payloads has brought major players in the M&E sector to the brink of forging a path beyond the prevailing unidirectional latency-prone streaming infrastructure. That’s the case even though reliance on MOQ requires a major transformation in content delivery networks along with adoption of new software platforms governing packaging and playback of streamed payloads. Continue reading >>

Broadcasters’ Push to IP Production Sparks Interest in Bypassing ST 2110

By Fred Dawson

Major advances in cloud virtualization and vendor interoperability are finally unleashing the cost-effective transition to IP-based live production workflows that has become an urgent priority worldwide.

The question is, how far does the industry want to go in upsetting old apple carts?

Standing out among a multitude of approaches to speeding the IP transition is the release of an open-source software development kit (SDK) supporting what’s known as the Media eXchange Layer (MXL). The innovation is part of the Digital Media Framework Reference Architecture (DMF RA) that was formulated by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and a handful of vendors and media companies at workshops in late 2024. Continue reading >>>

3 Vendors Pin Hopes on 1-Way Real-Time Streaming over HTTP

By Fred Dawson

MOQ may be moving rapidly toward adoption as a real-time streaming standard with growing industry support, but that’s not deterring some suppliers from ramping up efforts to promote new approaches to streaming at sub-second latencies over existing infrastructure.

Ceeblue, nanocosmos and Nakadi are betting ready-to-deploy real-time streaming that works with software tweaks on conventional CDNs will outweigh people’s reluctance to go with proprietary solutions. Afterall, they argue, their approaches are far cheaper to implement than MOQ and WebRTC platforms that require new infrastructure. Continue reading >>>

Transformed Viewing Experiences Energize Disruptive Potential of Live-Streamed Football

By Fred Dawson

Last year’s football season took the venerable sport a quantum leap closer to what fans of all sports worldwide will soon be taking for granted with next-gen viewing experiences that fully exploit the interactive personalized dynamism of IP technology, especially when it’s employed with ultralow-latency streaming.

The transformative implications of what’s taking shape around efforts to drive viewer engagement with on-screen magic have been largely overshadowed by press reports covering new streaming deals as a way to reach cord-cutters and cord-nevers. The big news is that pervasive inclusion of live football as part of streamed services’ programming has led to virtually every NFL and top-tier college game becoming available through live-streamed as well as multichannel pay TV and over-the-air distribution.

The every-outlet emphasis on the business side is understandable, given what’s at stake as the big four broadcast and streaming rights holders with billions invested in recent multi-year contracts compete in high-wire acts aimed at balancing monetization agendas across traditional TV and digital outlets. But they’re also going further than ever in the digital domain to deliver the feature personalization and gamification deemed essential to driving engagement with a restless generation of younger consumers. Continue reading >>>

Threats Aside, AI Is Perceived as Life Saver in TV Newscasting

By Fred Dawson

In an ironic turn of events, amid widespread alarm over AI’s role in disinformation through image fakery and hallucinatory fabrications the technology has become what many traditional TV news broadcasters see as a vital linchpin to their survival as bastions of journalistic integrity.

Adding to the irony is the fact that some broadcasters are strengthening their newscasting reach by taking advantage of AI’s ability to distort reality by turning monolinguistic on-air personalities into fluent multilinguists. This is accomplished through real-time audio translation platforms that can generate multilingual news, sports and other live commentary by replicating the voices and reshaping lip movements of presenters speaking in one language for simultaneous output in one or more alternative languages. Continue reading >>>

Chris Allen, CEO & Co-Founder, Red5

Jonas Blotz, VP, Engineering, Ceeblue

Matt Fleckenstein, Chief Product Officer, Genius Sports

Jeff Zellmer, EVP, Digital Operations, Fox Television Stations