The Impact of Live Broadcasting on Media Companies

Modern media companies are adapting to a rapidly changing landscape. In just a few short years, we’ve seen the decline of traditional and cable TV and a corresponding explosion in online video. Today, live broadcasting, also called live streaming, now plays an important role in many media businesses.

In our video-dominant world, streaming live video is a great way to reach a massive audience. For example, one survey found that 82 percent of viewers prefer seeing a live stream over a brand’s social posts. In this article, we’ll cover the rise of live streaming and how live broadcasting can positively impact your media company.

According to Cisco, by 2020, there will be nearly a million minutes of video crossing the internet every second. And by 2021, the live streaming industry could reach $70.05 billion. With those trends in mind, media companies can now begin live streaming more easily than ever before. How? By using an online video platform, like Dacast!

Now, let’s explore current trends and opportunities for live broadcasting for media companies today.

Cord Cutting Accelerates to Record Levels

Online video is the future and TV in the past. By 2019, cord-cutting is hitting record-setting levels as consumers follow suit. Young people are leading the way. Starting in 2015, young millennials (ages 14-25) began watching more video on digital devices than on television.

As we mentioned above, well over 33 million U.S. households have cut the cord on their cable subscriptions. By opting for online video, they’re joining the digital-only media generation. This shift in consumer preferences reflects some of the advantages of digital media delivery over TV. This shift isn’t just happening in the U.S. In emerging markets like India, OTT is bypassing TV as the go-to option for viewing media content.

Viewer Advantages:

• All-device support: viewers are no longer limited to watching videos on TVs.
• Choice: for every popular and niche topic, there’s an online video provider to match.
• Watch anywhere: with cloud video services, viewers can watch on-the-go.
• Integration: the new online video streaming solutions integrate with viewers’ digital lives.

OTT Dominates

On average, U.S. adults spend 6 hours a day watching videos. And increasingly, the vast majority of that video is digital.

OTT, or “Over The Top,” refers to media delivered via existing IP networks, rather than dedicated communication channels. Today, well over 51 million U.S. households use OTT streaming services. Do the math–that’s more than 69% of U.S. households. And a full 38% of households subscribe to two or more such services. Moreover, these trends aren’t limited to the U.S.—they’re global, too.

In short, more and more media is being distributed via IP networks. In fact, some industry leaders are advocating that we stop differentiating between OTT and broadcast TV entirely. Today, we’re facing a future in which all TV is distributed via OTT. There are huge benefits associated with this for broadcasters, including the following:

Benefits for Broadcasters

• Lower cost: OTT production and distribution can be significantly less expensive than TV.
• Accessible: Broadcasters no longer have to compete for limited airwaves.
• Global: Unlike TV, live streaming can reach a global audience natively.
• Functionality: Modern live streaming platforms can provide tools for analytics, monetization, and more, plus APIs for easy integration.

Live Broadcasting On All Platforms

In 2018, 2.38 billion people watched streaming or downloaded video across all devices. More than three quarters used a mobile device. Given these stats, a modern media business needs to adopt a “mobile-first” approach to keep up.

Luckily, modern live streaming platforms for business use HTML5 video players compatible with all devices. They may also provide some tools for broadcasting to multiple platforms at once. Some services do not offer this feature. When it is available, however, it can be used to simultaneously stream to multiple platforms.

There’s no doubt you should use a white label professional video platform to host streaming video content on your site. People now watch more videos on social media than any other website. Facebook is close to beating YouTube in terms of online video views with over 3 billion video views per day. Posting your live stream on social media will boost awareness and reach more viewers.

Increase ROI for Production

First, note that live streaming can support any type of business. Regardless of industry, companies that use video features grow revenue 49 percent faster than non-video users. Even better, you can achieve this in many different ways. Some businesses use live video for marketing and communications. Other focus on direct monetization options.

Whatever your approach, professional live streaming services should come with monetization options. If available, you can use an integrated paywall to charge viewers a fee for watching your content. In addition, there are other options to generate revenue from live broadcasting. For example, you can charge viewers via pay-per-view or through a subscription model. Alternatively, you can use advertising to monetize your online video content.

Whichever method you choose, live streaming can provide a solid revenue stream and ROI for your business.

Events, Entertainment, and Communication

No matter what your industry, live streaming can be very useful. The industry publication MarketingWeek says that live streaming “is key to building authenticity.”

As a media company, you may use live streaming for sports or entertainment. Maybe you’re producing TV shows or long-form content. Or maybe you’re using live streaming video to promote your other products and services through events. The bottom line: live streaming makes sense for events of all sizes, not just huge events.

Scalable Live Streaming for Media Companies

Creating a TV show used to be an extremely serious business that often cost millions of dollars. Nowadays, however, any business can launch a professional-quality live broadcasting setup with a much more reasonable budget. In particular, the key element in this process is a professional video platform like Dacast.

For example, Dacast offers tools for hosting and delivering live streaming and VOD content. These tools include:

• Video monetization
• Analytics
• Security features and video encryption
• APIs
• SDKs for iOS and Android development
• On-demand video hosting in China
• And much more

Few media businesses are prepared to build the technology stack necessary for OTT from scratch. Using an Online Video Platform (OVP) that includes API access can enable you to deliver content rapidly and reliably, and to scale to a massive audience using global Content Delivery Networks (CDNs). A CDN

All Dacast video streams are delivered Akamai, one of the best CDNs (Content Delivery Networks) available in the market. A CDN uses worldwide servers to distribute content all over the globe. Akamai ensures that streams are delivered buffer-free and quality is maximized.

CDNs are usually very expensive if you want to use one on your own due to large commitments and long contracts. You can save a lot of money by using a live streaming solution that includes CDN delivery. This is just one more way that media companies are benefitting from the live-streaming revolution.

Conclusion

Whether you’re a new media company, TV show producer or ad agency, you can take advantage of the benefits of live broadcasting. You can reach a bigger audience and promote your original content across multiple platforms. You can also earn money doing what you’re passionate about. Isn’t that what everyone is aiming for?

You can see the impact today that live broadcasting is having on media companies. Why not get started today? Dacast offers a risk-free 14-day free trial. No credit card is required to sign up and test our functionality right now.