Streaming channels -- the way of the future?

This year, Livestation is holding one of the Wednesday NX workshops, addressing the question, How is Big Data transforming news broadcasting? Livestation CEO Lippe Oosterhof gave us his thoughts on live streaming, transformation and big data...a preview of what to expect from the Livestation Workshop.

1. Lippe, tell us about Livestation and why you think your model of streaming channels is a positive thing for broadcasters.

Livestation offers viewers around the world a convenient way to watch their favourite news channels on any online device (PC, mobile, tablet, smart TV). You can find most major news broadcasters on Livestation and most of them are available for free. Broadcasters partner with Livestation to reach more viewers and increase their online revenue (broadcasters receive a share of our advertising and subscription revenue) but most importantly broadcasters receive unique data on online viewing habits from Livestation.

2. Are there any downsides to a broadcaster in making its channel available to Livestation?

As we all know Over The Top (OTT) distribution is growing fast but cable deals are still the bread-and-butter for most broadcasters so although OTT experimentation is important it should not happen at the expense of existing distribution deals. This is why some of our channels use Livestation as a digital playground - they are learning at 'arms-length'. Still, we recognize there is a potential conflict between online streaming and cable distribution which is why some of channels sit behind a paywall.

3. When a broadcaster agrees to have its channel on Livestation, is that channel the same as the one we would see on television? It is a public internet feed or is it something customized for your platform?

Yes, the online stream is exactly the same as the linear channel: Livestation essentially transcodes the satellite feed in real-time. We can geo-target the online distribution and block certain programs if there are rights issues but generally the online feed is the same as what you would see on TV. Because the feeds are identical we can use online viewing as a proxy for TV behavior which provides a lot of new insights.

4. What do you believe is the next big development in live streaming? In other words, what is next?

Live streaming is hot. More and more publishers stream live on the web content because they recognize that's where the eyeballs are moving to. There are two big developments in live streaming: first, getting your live content on mobile devices and connected TV's (multi-platform distribution). The second is generating 'meta-data' on live content: video clips already have many of these descriptive tags which is why it is easy to find them and why advertisers want to place ads next to them. This is a hard problem to solve Livestation is investing a lot of resources in this because meta-data will make live streams as popular as video on demand.

5. What is the effect, if any, of live streaming news capabilities on the craft of journalism? Does the technology influence or change journalism? If so, how?

We have all heard the powerful stories of Reuters live streaming mobile phone feeds from Syrian dissidents. As live streaming is going mainstream journalism will shift from reporting to editorializing, similar to how blogs and social media are impacting written journalism. Another aspect of live streaming is that online viewers have different viewing habits than TV (for example, people do more 'snacking' online: shorter but more frequent sessions). This creates new opportunities to build and retain viewers provided journalists adapt their craft accordingly and give viewers a reasons to come back more often.

6. This year, Livestation will be a Friends of NX sponsor for the first time. (Thank you!) And you'll be hosting a workshop. What can you tell us about your workshop?

Livestation is hosting a workshop in association with Oliver Wyman titled "How is Big Data transforming news broadcasting". Digital distribution and consumption have opened up a wealth of data on viewership behavior. But how can a news broadcaster benefit from Big Data? In this workshop you will learn how data can be used to measure editorial experiments in real-time, spend product development budget where it matters and build a stronger case when negotiating distribution deals.