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Improve Live Streaming Video Audience Engagement

Improve Live Streaming Video Audience Engagement

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

Slow Down or Speed Up Video: Playback Speed Control

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.


IBM Showcases AI-Powered M&E Solutions at IBC 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

Accessible HTML5 Video Player

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

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.

  1. Familiarize yourself with your equipment
  2. Test early
  3. Plan around lighting
  4. Don’t downplay your audio
  5. Know your upload speed
  6. Secure a stable connection
  7. Backup Internet source
  8. Stay organized
  9. Promote your live event
  10. Start your stream early
  11. Make the live stream interactive
  12. Utilize a CDN or CDNs to deliver your video
  13. Prepare for an on-demand version
  14. Record a local copy
  15. Create post event highlight clips


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

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.


Single Sign-On (SSO) Authentication for Online Video

Single Sign-On (SSO) Authentication for Online Video

Looking for Single Sign-On (SSO) authentication for online video in order to support your corporate communications strategy?

According to Wainhouse Research, who surveyed over 1,500 executives, 46% see corporate directory integration as a priority influence in choosing a streaming platform. Using SSO authentication as part of your corporate communications strategy offers a way for users to login through familiar credentials. In addition, it can also offer some value ads from both the user and management experience. This article talks about the advantages of SSO for corporate communications and the strategy around tying this to a video portal. This also includes how Watson AI can enhance this experience, leveraging processes to help put the right video in front of authenticated employees.


HTML5 Based Video Player: Removing Flash

HTML5 Based Video Player: Removing Flash

IBM Watson Media has updated the player available through the IBM video streaming solutions. This includes enhancements to the UI and improved consistencies in the experience across devices. It also encompasses the removal of Flash as a fallback option.

Some of these features, while not technically new, haven’t been widely available. The best example are the stats for the stream, which can show details like the CDN being used. This helps convey the normally behind the scenes power of the multi-CDN technology that IBM’s video streaming services utilize, which is detailed in this Scaling Video Delivery to Reach Massive Audiences white paper.


Video is Data

Video is Data

Video is an engaging medium. While it can be associated with entertainment, its use for training, executive town halls and other forms of corporate communications can’t be understated. However, it’s easy to overlook how valuable video content is longterm. Part of this is attributed to difficulties in utilizing larger archives. This is something that was brought to light by Wainhouse Research in the report Unlocking the Hidden Value of Business Video. Of the 1,801 executives surveyed as part of that report, an alarming 79% noted that: “One frustration of using on-demand video is not being able to quickly find the piece of information I am looking for when I need it.” As a result, traditionally people have approached video differently than they do a written report, which is seen as already searchable.

…but they don’t have to. Video can contain a rich depth of data and be searched against to discover this information. This article talks about approaching content libraries with the video is data mindset, traditional challenges in this methodology and technological advances that overcome them.


IBM Watson Media Powers Live Streaming of the Masters Tournament

IBM Watson Media Powers Live Streaming of the Masters Tournament

When executed at the highest level, golf appears beautifully simple. The greatest competitors in the sport swing a club with seemingly effortless grace, sending the ball on a perfect flight between towering pines and rolling along manicured greens toward a flag flapping in the Georgia breeze.

In these moments, we don’t see the countless hours of practice. We don’t see the history of injuries, exhaustion or frustration. Yet although we can’t see it, all that time and effort was necessary to create this seamless moment, tirelessly earned and presented as a gift to patrons of the sport.

These glimpses of simple perfection are why millions will watch the Masters Tournament this April. Delivering these moments in a seamless viewing experience to patrons around the world requires the right infrastructure—a solution architected using both technological innovation and human expertise.