iStreamPlanet Bringing New Live Streaming Services to Several Fronts

Streaming video is a massive market, whether it's live or otherwise. One of the major names in streaming video, iStreamPlanet, is looking to step up its own suite of offerings in the field by offering up a new set of solutions for live streaming video. iStreamPlanet's line of solutions looks to make better use of real-time messaging protocol (RTMP) in its lineup, which gives them a lot more versatility in the field.

The new line of iStreamPlanet solutions, geared toward acquisition, ingest and publishing, focus on RTMP. Not only will they be able to acquire live video sources with single-bit-rate RTMP, they'll also be able to output RTMP streams at multiple-bit rates. iOS users will find these developments especially welcome, as there will even be the ability to use RTMP streams in Apple (News - Alert) HTTP Live Streaming. Using it will involve a comparatively simple process, as content providers will be able to simply push their RTMP streams to a content delivery network (CDN) that's certified by iStreamPlanet. iStreamPlanet will then be able to pull the stream out of the CDN, process it, and publish to certified CDNs for playback.

The new services are available right now from iStreamPlanet's website, and for those who have content to exhibit, getting in on live streaming is a smart idea. It steps up the range of offerings from just satellite and fiber acquisition to go into IP-based offerings. The increasing availability of IPTV (News - Alert) has already made quite a splash on several fronts, and some very unexpected sources are looking to make inroads into streaming video. There are further benefits to be had, as explained by The Diffusion Group's senior partner, Colin Dixon (News - Alert): "There are a number of efficiencies to be gained in adopting an IP-based video workflow. For larger broadcasters, IP-based live video workflows accelerate their TV Everywhere strategy. New levels of cost-effectiveness will open up connected, live video streaming to a new market of emerging broadcasters and distributors."

Consider the network of newspapers across nine states who have found a terrific new source of income from live streaming video, sending out video of elections, parades, and even church services, among several other potential sources. Given that newspapers have been on the decline for some time now as more users turn to the Internet for their daily news feeds, finding a new source of viewership, and thereby revenue, is undoubtedly a priority for these outlets. We also just saw the value in live streaming with New Years' Eve, as celebrations from around the world were shown by live streaming, almost as good as being there.

This is before things like the more standard uses of streaming video--exemplified by places like YouTube, Netflix, and Hulu (News - Alert) Plus--come into play. It's quite clear that streaming video, be it live, on-demand or otherwise, is going to be a very big part of the landscape for some time to come. Figuring out how to take advantage of that development, meanwhile, will be made much easier with the new services offered by iStreamPlanet.