Articles about Streaming

TuneIn Radio has made some news recently, most notably with its inclusion of radio broadcasts for all NFL games. Granted, this requires the customer to pony up $7.99 per month for a premium subscription and there is no video, but it's a heck of a lot cheaper than NFL Sunday Ticket and radio broadcasts are pretty descriptive about plays.

Now the service is arriving on Windows 10, the latest operating system from Microsoft. This is a Universal App and brings the full content of the service to the platform.

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There's always news happening somewhere in the world and recently there have been some big stories like the Paris and San Bernardino shootings and explosives. Many of us have likely been glued to the TV and watching in horror as these events unfolded.

Now the CNNgo channel is launching on Roku and will bring you all of the latest stories from around the world. Users will be able to browse hundreds of news clips, but this isn't live TV, just highlights -- unless you have a pay TV subscription.

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Slowly over the past couple of months, Sling TV has been rolling out an update. It has already hit Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Android TV, Mac, PC and also mobile platforms Android and iOS. Now the reach of this release will become complete, as Roku is on tap.

This is happening now, as Sling TV is officially announcing the update for the tiny set-top boxes. The company labels this as phase one of its plan. This brings a brand new user interface which contains a revamped channel guide that Sling claims gives a quicker response and easier access to live channels and on-demand content.

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Freddy Krueger. Jason Voorhees. Michael Myers. Ad Blocking Technology. If you’ve watched a horror movie in the past 20 years, you’ve no doubt heard of those first three gruesome monsters. The last term may not be as familiar to you, but it is becoming a boogeyman of sorts for streaming video -- both for those who create and provide it as well as those who consume it.

Ad-blocking software and technology has become a very serious concern for programers, video creators, and publishers in 2015. Before the year is over, an estimated $3 billion dollars in video ad payload will be lost by publishers because of ad-blocking technology. Some premium video authors estimate that as much as one third of their video content isn’t reaching their streaming audiences at all. It may not be an epidemic yet, but there clearly is a trend, as ad-supported video businesses are being challenged as consumers install ad blockers at an increasing rate, especially on their mobile devices where they engage with video the most.

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It's that time of year with the weather turning cold, shopping lists in mind and a general feeling of...well, it depends on the person. However, many folks like a bit of spirit for the season and holiday music purveys that, frequently bringing back memories of youth with the likes of Bing Crosby and Burl Ives.

Now WebRadio, a BRS Media company, is trying to bring you the best of the holidays with a long list of channels to choose from.

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If you haven't been to the Smithsonian in Washington DC then you're missing out on a great time. The institution operates a number of museums situated along the mall, bracketing such famous sites as the Washington Monument and memorials to war veterans and past presidents.

Take the Smithsonian and roll in a bit of the BBCs famous Planet Earth documentary and you get the Smithsonian Earth channel.

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Pandora and Rdio are two of the major forces in the streaming music industry. It's a growing market now that CDs have become part of the past. Yes, sales of them still exist, just not what they once were.

Now Pandora is planning to acquire Rdio and consolidate the two services. It's an interesting proposition and will certainly have implications. Pandora and Rdio are different in certain ways. Pandora simply lets you create stations based on taste and does an excellent job of it. Rdio allows for streaming individual songs.

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For those who didn't know, the BBC has launched a 24 hour news channel to compete with such entities as CNN and Al Jazeera. Now the issue is making the network available for as many viewers as possible in this crowded market that is today's news cycle.

One of the largest markets is India and the channel is now there, announcing it has signed on to provide its network to YuppTV, the world's largest provider of OTT TV, at least for Indian content. The service provides more than 200 channels and 5,000 movies to viewers.

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Music services are an ever increasing market, with new ones popping up all the time. There are a few that have distanced themselves from the pack, though. One of those is Pandora which takes a song and analyzes it in an effort to create a station with similar music. You can argue if this works, but it does in most cases, at least based in my experience,

Now Tim Westergren's little hobby is launch an enhanced discover service in an effort to make it even easier to find music.

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Today the BBC launched a new online store where its back catalog of programming can be found. Featuring classics such as Doctor Who, Sherlock, and Orphan Black, the BBC Store provides a way to buy digital copies of your favorite shows... if you're in the UK, at least.

At the moment the store includes around 7,000 hours of viewing, but more of the BBC archive will be added over time -- and there are more than four million items for the corporation to add. Although the store is run by the license fee-funded BBC, content is not free of charge. Box sets start at around £8, while one-offs can be bought for much less.

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This American Life has become a bit of an icon on US radio. Few people haven't at least heard of the show or its host Ira Glass. While episodes vary from humorous to hard-hitting news and rather harrowing true stories, the show has been a success.

Now the producers have added another show, titled Serial, and it takes the approach a step further. This show carries on one story throughout the season, continued from one episode to the next. Season one covered a murder investigation in Baltimore.

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If you have a lot of stored media, such as music, photos and DVDs, and would like to get access to it through your home theater, then you need a bridge. That means a media server and an end-solution, and there is perhaps no better choice than Plex for this. The server is free and it can run on almost any computer platform. Then all you have to do is spare a bit of money for the app, which is also platform agnostic.

Now Plex is announcing that its software is arriving on the new Apple TV. That's good news for those who have shelled out the money for the set-top box out of Cupertino. This is the first time Plex is on Apple TV, as it wasn't available on the previous versions. At least not directly -- there were tricks for getting it running on the box, though they were not easy to pull off.

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True to its word, Amazon has made good on an earlier promise (or threat, depending on your point of view) not to sell Apple TV. In what will be widely regarded as an aggressive marketing move, the online retailer has cut out Apple TV like a cancer. The block on sales comes just as Apple launches its latest streaming device, and the sanctions also affect Google's Chromecast.

Previous links to such product now 404, but there are still a few accessories scattered through the store. But the ban does feel like a case of Amazon cutting off its nose to spite its face. While it does means that Amazon is able to take steps to fight the competition, it does so at the cost of hurting its customers.

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We're starting to see companies experiment with modern release methods for media. For instance we've seen movies debut on DVD the same day as they hit theaters and TV shows be available online before airing on networks. We can now add one more to the list.

National Geographic Channel and GE are teaming up to bring the "highly anticipated" new science show Breakthrough to viewers before it airs.

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Wow, and weird, is my reaction to YouTube Red, which is live starting today. The experience is so different from the regular service, I am stunned. Fast-loading is the first thing, so be careful what you click—or turn off autoplay. Videos on Facebook feel like a moped racing a Lamborghini compared to YT Red.

Using this 2012 MissFender video as example: Pressing the stopwatch on my Nexus 6P at the same time I click to enter the URL, 9 seconds passes before I can start watching the vid. The time includes the auto-loading ad, how long it plays before YouTube permits me to skip, and lag caused by my own responsiveness dismissing the advert.

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