Streaming Blog: Industry News, Trends & Tips

History of IBM Watson Media

Written by Anthony Romero in Company News on 10 December 2019

In late 2015 and early 2016 respectively, IBM made key acquisitions in the video space. This saw the 100+ year old company acquire both Clearleap and Ustream. The entities were joined to form IBM Cloud Video. This also gave birth to IBM Watson Media, which was founded around creating an ecosystem of video solutions leveraging IBM Watson. As those solutions matured, and were integrated into the end-to-end streaming solutions, the IBM Cloud Video name was dissolved and the entire unit moved to be part IBM Watson Media.

Now IBM Watson Media has a rich history, a combination of activities done both after and before the acquisitions that led to its creation. This article documents this, noting past major events, awards and other occurrences in IBM Watson Media’s past.

What Your Business Needs to Know About Video Streaming

Written by Chris Zaloumis in Video Trends & Studies on 5 December 2019

Staying up-to-date with changing technology and evolving employee demands is essential. To better understand how video streaming practices are tied to workplace productivity, IBM, in partnership with Morning Consult, conducted research on employee streaming behavior, device preferences, and priority features. Among the findings: mobile devices are video streaming platform leaders, buffering challenges still disrupt engagement, and closed captioning is a top priority for enterprise streaming.

As global workplaces become more agile, secure enterprise video streaming technology is paramount. IBM dives into the latest trends powering streaming behavior in the workplace in an effort to inform decision-making and help businesses understand how to better engage employees.

Mobile Live Streaming App

Written by Anthony Romero in Product Updates on 31 October 2019

Looking for a mobile live streaming app to do one-to-many broadcasts? Maybe create a live stream to engage an audience, educate colleagues or give a glimpse of an event to coworkers?

IBM Watson Media released a new mobile application for iOS and Android that allows users to broadcast from their device to an IBM Video Streaming channel. This is done through, as noted in the white paper Live Video Delivery System Built for Scalability, a multi-CDN infrastructure that allows for immense scale, having been utilized to support concurrent viewership of over a million, while also bolstering reliability as well.

Read on to learn more about using this app, advantages, use cases and tips for producing better looking video with it.

IBM Watson Media Launches Mobile Video Streaming App to Enhance Workplace Communication

Written by David Mowrey in Company News on 30 October 2019

As we move towards an increasingly global workforce, businesses need a better way to connect and engage with employees. Modern corporations are spread across multiple geographies and locations, and according to Global Workplace Analytics, Fortune 1,000 employees are away from their desks sixty percent of the time.

Today, IBM Watson Media launches the IBM Video Streaming mobile application, a new product that offers enterprise businesses an end-to-end, security-rich solution for live mobile video streaming available on iOS and Android. With the IBM Video Streaming application, businesses can now connect all employees – up to millions of individuals – across the world, right from the palm of their hands.

Improve Live Streaming Video Audience Engagement

Written by Stacy Nawrocki in Tips & Tutorials on 23 October 2019

Wondering how to improve live streaming video audience engagement? Facebook and Twitter, texts, email, Slack, real-life meetings – just some of the many distractions that can lure viewers away from streaming video presentations such as training sessions and corporate town hall meetings.

It’s hard enough ensuring that viewers pay attention when they’re sitting around a conference table or seated in an auditorium. But if they’re not even in the same room as the presenters, how can you attract their attention over the course of the video stream?

So how do you engage employees with corporate communications? Well it can help to take a page from video marketing, where dollars are directly on the line to prove ROI. Where engaging video content is not something that is just stumbled upon, but carefully orchestrated. So we’ve interviewed communicators and video experts, ranging from those in video marketing to video production, to give you pointers on successfully engaging your employees with live content until the very end.

Slow Down or Speed Up Video: Playback Speed Control

Written by Anthony Romero in Product Updates on 3 October 2019

Looking for a method to allow your viewers to slow down or speed up a video? IBM Watson Media is introducing a way for end users to control the playback speed of on-demand videos. This enables viewers to slow down the material, to savor moments or better comprehend segments, or speed up the material, for those looking to breeze through the video.

Read on to understand how users have access to this feature and what it allows them to do for on-demand content.

Player speed control
Responsive and mobile compatible
Speed up video with closed captions
Keyboard accessible

IBM Showcases AI-Powered M&E Solutions at IBC 2019

Written by Therese Dematteo in Company News on 24 September 2019

That’s a wrap! Last week, IBM concluded another successful IBC Show in Amsterdam— showcasing its AI-powered and cloud-based solutions for broadcasters worldwide. Amid the backdrop of next-level industry innovation, IBM Watson Media and The Weather Company showcased solutions focusing on engagement and automation services.

Accessible HTML5 Video Player

Written by Anthony Romero in Product Updates on 16 September 2019

Need an accessible HTML5 video player? A player built with compliance in mind to broaden those who can watch video content?

IBM Watson Media has been making improvements to the existing video player around accessibility. This included re-evaluating keyboard controls, visual accessibility like font and indicators, along with many other aspects toward accessibility. As a result, the player now meets the IBM accessibility guidelines, as of version 7.0, along with the W3C WCAG 2.0 standards and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act: Application and Scoping Requirements. This article covers the various advancements and features found in the player toward making it accessible. Note that while it touches on captions, it won’t go into great depth. For more information on that topic, watch this webinar on How to Add Closed Captions Powered by IBM Watson.

15 Streaming Tips for Live & On-Demand Video

Written by Anthony Romero in Tips & Tutorials on 26 July 2019

Looking for some tips to perfect your video content? How about 15 streaming tips for live and on-demand content?

This article covers 15 different pieces of advice to improve your live broadcast or on-demand content. There is a larger emphasis for live streaming on this list, as more preparation is involved, although some advice covers aspects after the stream is done that fall into on-demand territory.

If you are a bit more interested in the live studio side of things, it’s recommended to also check out our Video Studio Recommendations white paper. This guide lists not just techniques to use in your studio, but also gives specific gear recommendations from microphones to lighting systems.

FOX Sports & IBM Team Up to Transform Production of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup France™

Written by Kristen Lauria in AI Video Technology on 24 June 2019

Alex Morgan/Sam Kerr Player Data Comparison on Player Spotlight Built with IBM Watson. © IBM 2019

The eighth edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ is well underway, with teams from 12 countries battling it out for the championship title. While millions of soccer fans stay tuned to the excitement in France, IBM is teaming up with FOX Sports to help transform production of the event by infusing AI analysis and streaming into its coverage of The Beautiful Game.

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