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expanding FAST ecosystem.
“From a wider perspective, questions
around platform saturation and consoli-
dation continue to rumble on. The biggest
FAST platforms want to know that new
channels will deliver engagement, ad rev-
enues, and returning audiences — it’s on
the channel creators to make sure they’re
proven, compelling, and increasingly in-
corporate a mix of higher value live pro-
gramming,” said Rick Young, senior vice
president of global products at LTN.
Technical innovation enables
expansion of streaming and live
programming
“Content owners are also looking for
ways to more efficiently create, manage
and monetize FAST channels while ele-
vating viewer engagement with more live
programming. Live sports and news are
increasingly finding their way to FAST ser-
vices as content owners and platform op-
erators push for increased viewing time,”
said Young.
Underlying these streaming trends are
significant technological advancements
enabling higher quality, more reliable de-
livery at scale.
“For
years,
low-latency
streaming
has been a challenge, but recent break-
throughs
are
making
real-time,
ul-
tra-low-latency video delivery achievable
at scale. This is particularly transformative
for live sports, betting, and interactive ex-
periences, where even milliseconds mat-
ter,” said Mathieu Planche, CEO of Witbe.
“In streaming, we will see the emphasis
shift from expansion to sustainability. As
FAST channels and other streaming ser-
vices proliferate globally, infrastructure
must accommodate diverse formats — live
sports, episodic content, and user-gener-
ated content — within a single ecosystem,”
said Anupama Anantharaman, vice pres-
ident of product management at Interra
Systems.
IP-based delivery technologies contin-
ue to advance, particularly for live produc-
tion environments.
“IP-based delivery is shifting to the next
level for many content owners and media
companies with growing adoption of JPEG
XS for high-quality, low-latency transmis-
sion – perfect for remote production of live
sports,” said Rob Szabó-Rowe, global head
of engineering and product management
at Tata Communications.
“Content that is designed to be watched
anywhere, on-demand and on any device
naturally requires high-quality, low-laten-
cy content workflows. This is an ongoing
challenge that the industry has been bat-
tling for some years now, and one that has
recently been jumpstarted by the adoption
of JPEG XS in many live streaming work-
flows,” said Ben Shirley, product manager
at MainConcept, on codec developments.
“We’ll be keeping an eye on develop-
ments in low-latency streaming and pro-
tocol interoperability — two key factors in
ensuring that content owners can reach
audiences across a fragmented distribu-
tion landscape,” said Chris Clarke, chief
revenue officer and co-founder of Cerbe-
rus Tech, on the importance of protocol
interoperability.
Monetization strategies for
streaming continue to evolve
As streaming platforms mature, the fo-
cus is shifting toward sustainable business
models and efficient monetization.
“Part of that conversation hinges on
driving monetization in traditional broad-
cast environments as well as on new dig-
ital, OTT and FAST ecosystems. We see
huge demand for simplified ad signaling
technologies, embedded at the network
level, that enable content owners to re-
place, customize, and target localized ads
for greater ad value across multiple ver-
sions of core content,” Young explained.
The industry is working to unify “dispa-
rate linear and digital ad worlds while driv-
ing maximum value from costly content
investments,” according to Young.
Vendors are developing solutions to
ensure accurate ad delivery and perfor-
mance measurement with ad-supported
models gaining momentum.
“As advertising becomes more person-
alized and dynamically inserted, the ability
to track real-world ad performance and
verify delivery with measurable data is be-
coming essential,” Planche noted.
Fragmentation challenges
Despite progress, the industry faces
growing fragmentation across viewing
platforms.
“Smart TVs have further solidified their
role as the primary content hub for view-
ers worldwide. However, rather than a uni-
fied ecosystem, the industry faces an in-
creasingly fragmented landscape of Smart
TV operating systems, each with its own
specific requirements,” said Planche.
For streaming providers, this creates
operational challenges that require robust
solutions.
“Streaming is a high-stakes game now
and providers need flexible, cost-effective
and rock-solid solutions to stay ahead,”
said Chris Wilson, head of marketing at
MediaKind. “In live sports production
and event streaming, audiences expect
real-time engagement, multiple camera
angles, and seamless personalization -
placing even greater emphasis on low-la-
tency, scalable, and robust delivery mech-
anisms.”
Continued from previous page
Underlying these
streaming trends
are significant
technological
advancements enabling
higher quality, more
reliable delivery at scale.