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Tag: StreamGuys

  • ENCO Unleashes Raptor Cloud-Based Captioning at NAB New York

    ENCO Unleashes Raptor Cloud-Based Captioning at NAB New York

    ENCO introduces Raptor, a new cloud-based captioning encoder, to North American broadcasters at NAB New York. Designed for simple and fast deployment, Raptor makes it easy to embed closed captions (CEA-608) into live video streams. Built on a fully software-defined infrastructure, it combines AI-driven automation with compatibility for popular formats like SRT, RTMP, and HLS, making it a flexible and scalable solution for broadcasters and AV professionals managing live events.

    In partnership with StreamGuys, ENCO ensures Raptor delivers reliable performance through a secure hosting environment and full integration with the StreamGuys Contribution Network. Users gain access to powerful features like protocol transmuxing and automatic AI captioning with high accuracy, without needing any on-premise hardware. The collaboration reflects ENCO’s vision to accelerate cloud-based workflows across broadcast, streaming, and live production environments.

    ENCO this week debuts its latest award-winning captioning innovation to North American broadcasters at NAB New York. Introduced at IBC last month, Raptor is a cloud-based captioning encoder that offers a simple and straightforward way to embed CEA-608 Closed Captions into a live program stream. A convergence of pure software-defined infrastructure with AI and automated captioning workflows, Raptor’s quick-deploy capabilities offer powerful new captioning options for live broadcast. sports and AV events.

    Raptor adds new depth to ENCO’s market-leading range of captioning solutions as the company’s first cloud-based captioning encoder. Raptor’s software-defined architecture invites customization at any point along the chain to best match the workflows and standards in use, supporting SRT, RTMP, HLS and other video streams at the source or destination.

    Longtime ENCO partner StreamGuys will provide the hosting infrastructure for Raptor, offering customers a secure and reliable live streaming captioning service. Along with access to StreamGuys’ technical support and network uptime, customers are empowered through Raptor’s seamless integration with StreamGuys’ Contribution Network. The enterprise streaming media ecosystem will receive a live stream from any source, and provide an on-ramp to the Contribution Network to pass embedded Closed Captions in a variety of formats.

    Raptor customers will also have access to other valuable Contribution Network services, such as transmuxing between protocols. The process efficiently repackages streams into many formats to ensure compatibility with more user devices, enabling wider audience access to broadcast and streaming events.

    Raptor injects the speed, power and reliability of ENCO’s real-time, proven AI capabilities into process, incorporating the AI-based workflow from ENCO’s enCaption solutions to automatically generate captions with industry-leading accuracy. As hosted on the StreamGuys infrastructure with no physical encoder to maintain, customers are assured an agile solution that is quick to configurewith the ability to inject captions at nearly any stage.

    “We see many new interesting use cases for Raptor as hosted within our infrastructure, including captions for live visual radio broadcasts and integration with our ULLS ultra-low-latency streaming for in-venue sports and live events,” said Eduardo Martinez, Vice President of Technology for StreamGuys. “Our infrastructure is optimized for broadcasters in ways that more effectively serve and adapt to their needs than public clouds that often lack important specialized features for professional broadcast and streaming workflows.”

    “Raptor’s pure software-defined architecture unlocks captioning opportunities for content producers without the constraints of hardware dependency. Our partnership with StreamGuys ensures quick deployment and support for multiple types of streams, strengthened through many years of familiarity and experience with ENCO’s TV, radio and AV solutions,” said Ken Frommert, President, ENCO. “Together, we are providing a solution that addresses the increasing shift of broadcast and video production workflows to the cloud, further strengthened through ENCO’s proven automated captioning innovations.”

  • StreamGuys Adds Rewindable Audio and Video Analytics to SGreports

    StreamGuys Adds Rewindable Audio and Video Analytics to SGreports

    StreamGuys has enhanced its SGreports platform by integrating rewindable audio and video analytics, offering a deeper understanding of how audiences interact with time-shifted content. The new feature links SGrewind’s time-shifting capabilities to consumption metrics, helping broadcasters track user engagement with rewound content, whether on SGplayer or other HTML5 players. This update allows broadcasters to refine their programming decisions based on real-time data, including unique user behavior, geographical trends, and device usage.

    The integration also improves ad monetization by using behavioral data from rewound content to trigger targeted ads during replays. By merging real-time user data with content scheduling, StreamGuys gives broadcasters valuable insights into their most popular content and where they should focus their marketing and programming strategies.

     StreamGuys has added consumption metrics for rewindable streams to SGreports, a robust log processing and content analytics toolset that helps broadcasters and media companies understand how audiences interact with streaming content. Available immediately, the direct integration between SGreports and the company’s SGrewind time-shifting service connects consumption metrics to the front-end consumer experience for the first time, helping customers understand how users engage and interact with rewindable content streaming on SGplayer or other HTML5-based players accessible within web browsers and mobile apps.

    StreamGuys released its second generation of SGreports nearly two years ago to simplify how its customers make business and programming decisions for live streams and podcasts. The 2023 software releases added user dashboards to help customers quickly filter and compare data on program streams and podcast episodes through improved visualizations, offering a more streamlined experience that adheres to industry standards for usability and modernization that keep systems up to date. Through both of its iterations, SGreports has helped commercial and public broadcasters, sports teams and content producers worldwide access detailed, insightful metrics across total listening hours, number of active sessions, number of unique users, geographical locations by user, type of device used to access content, and much more.

    As SGrewind gives listeners direct control of their live-streamed audio and video, SGreports offers insights into what content was most important to the audience throughout the broadcast day. This evolves SGreports’ analytical capabilities beyond the typical data reporting functions used for live streams and podcasts, and makes SGrewind uniquely positioned to understand in-the-moment habits and on-demand patterns of each listener or viewer.

    “SGrewind is a valuable front-end tool for streamers because it lets listeners and viewers jump back to specific points in time to access or rewatch content that was already broadcast,” said Robert Minnix, Head of Product, StreamGuys. “With SGreports, the client can merge scheduling information with the streaming data that we store and understand precisely what percentage of listenership is generated specifically through SGrewind, and which programs through the day that people consistently return to. That provides insights into the content a broadcaster should focus on, or a network’s overarching streaming strategy. It tells the client what programming matters most to audiences and what drives listenership and viewership.”

    The convergence of SGreports and SGrewind can also bring benefits to advertising decisions, as SGrewind integrates ad-insertion functionality to deliver targeted ads to listeners as they rewind and replay streams. “By accessing the audience data we pull from SGrewind and place within SGreports, including choice of content and behavioral characteristics, we can effectively leverage our ad-triggering metadata from live streams to insert new ads during replays,” said Eduardo Martinez, Vice President of Technology, StreamGuys. “That adds an entirely new layer of monetization to the mix.”

  • StreamGuys Adds AI Magic to On-Demand Workflows

    StreamGuys Adds AI Magic to On-Demand Workflows

    StreamGuys is bringing AI-powered automation to live and on-demand streaming workflows, making it easier for content creators to manage ad insertions, captions, and transcriptions. Their new AI service, debuting at NAB Show 2025, eliminates the manual process of tagging ad markers in podcasts and on-demand audio. This means publishers can automate prerolls, midrolls, and postrolls while focusing on creating engaging content. The AI also generates automatic summaries and transcriptions, helping production teams improve searchability and compliance.

    Beyond ad tagging, StreamGuys’ AI-driven tools streamline captioning and translation for on-demand content, cutting down on tedious manual work. These features are particularly valuable for companies repurposing live broadcasts into monetized podcast content. StreamGuys will showcase its new AI solutions at NAB Show 2025 and will host a webinar on February 26 at 1 PM ET to explore AI’s role in captioning and transcription.

    StreamGuys officially enters the AI universe with the debut of new workflow integrations that simplify some of the most labor-intensive tasks associated with content production in live and on-demand streaming. The company’s first AI service rollouts will address the manual tagging process for ad markers in podcasts and on-demand content, and expand StreamGuys’ live stream captioning services to reduce timelines for captioning on-demand media.

    To be introduced at NAB Show 2025 (Booth 1743), StreamGuys’ first AI service removes the tedious responsibility of when, where and how to tag transition points in podcasts and on-demand audio streams where ads would appear. This is particularly useful for midrolls that appear through the course of stream and require carefully placed markers to insert and trigger ads specific times.

    StreamGuys’ application of AI for ad marker tagging is an extension of the company’s workflow conversion tools for metadata related to ad insertions. In 2023, StreamGuys unveiled new conversion toolsets to automatically turn SCTE-35 video ad insertion markers into ID3 metadata markers commonly used in audio-only insertion toolsets. While those toolsets automated the conversion of metadata ad markers for midrolls and other ad insertions between video and audio, tagging those markers remained a manual process.

    The addition of AI eliminates the monotony of manually inserting markers at the precise second where each ad break should be triggered. The AI application is trained to recognize the natural point of transition between the end of the segment and an ad break. The application is especially valuable for StreamGuys customers that use its SGrecast service to convert live broadcasts into podcasts with the intention of monetizing that content, allowing production staff to focus on what’s important: creating content that is both compelling and monetizable.

    “Our SGrecast customers can now very easily use our AI workflow integrations to automatically insert prerolls, midrolls and postrolls, and then redirect the content back into SGrecast for publishing,” said Eduardo Martinez, Vice President of Technology, StreamGuys. “While applying AI for automated tagging  is a time-saver for even a single podcast, the incremental savings of time, money and effort adds up for publishers with hundreds to thousands of podcasts in their libraries.”

    Martinez adds that the same AI technology can provide automatic summaries and transcriptions of podcasts that is helpful to production staff as ad markers are added. Furthermore, StreamGuys will demonstrate how the same AI application can support fast, accurate captions and translations for on-demand content, removing the need for content producers to manually work through large libraries of new and existing podcasts.

    “We’re applying the power of automation speech recognition to pre-recorded content, and saving production teams seemingly endless hours of manual work bringing existing podcast and on-demand content into compliance,” said Martinez. “With our new AI innovation, our customers can insert midroll markers, produce textual summaries, extrapolate keywords, improve searchability, and deliver complete, accurate captions and translations. Collectively, we are using AI as an augmentation to human-operated production workflows to both return time and labor to the staff and boost revenue sources through intelligent monetization strategies.”

    StreamGuys will exhibit on the ENCO booth in the West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center from April 6-9. This Wednesday (February 26) at 1pm ET, StreamGuys will host webinar exploring the use of AI for captioning and transcription.

  • StreamGuys Revives Simulcast Fan Experience with Ultra Low Latency Streaming Service

    StreamGuys Revives Simulcast Fan Experience with Ultra Low Latency Streaming Service

    StreamGuys offers live streaming, podcasting delivery, and SaaS tools for enterprise broadcast media organizations, providing a robust, scalable platform for business growth and revenue generation.

    StreamGuys will introduce an ultra-low-latency streaming service (ULLS) at IBC, designed to synchronize live sports events with alternative commentary and enhance the in-venue experience by minimizing streaming delays. The service uses low-latency protocols to eliminate typical streaming delays and integrates with SGrewind for live DVR functionality. It supports real-time captions and works within sports apps for seamless fan engagement.

    This service addresses the problem of streaming delays disrupting the synchronicity of live sports viewing, allowing fans to enjoy synchronized audio and video streams, enhancing both at-home and in-venue experiences. It also offers broadcasters a way to provide a seamless, high-quality streaming experience without requiring specialized equipment.

    StreamGuys will introduce a new ultra-low-latency streaming service at IBC that brings synchronicity to the “second screen” experience of a live sports event, removing the delay that takes live game action and audio/video streams out of alignment. The company’s new ULLS service provides broadcasters with the tools to synchronize the two experiences, returning control to fans that want to listen to alternative commentary – and providing stadium management with a way to make live streaming a part of the in-venue experience.

    The StreamGuys workflow first ingests streams into its Contribution Network, an enterprise-level streaming media ecosystem to move self-produced, locally originated, and/or third-party media content onto the public internet for end user consumption. StreamGuys employs low-latency streaming protocols inside the Contribution Network workflow that erase the delay at the output, where its HTML5-based SGplayer presents the live video or audio-only stream to the audience.

    “This returns the live broadcast to the spectator who enjoys listening to the local team announcers as they watch the game from the stands or in their homes,” said Eduardo Martinez, Vice President of Technology, StreamGuys. “That experience hasn’t been possible with streaming technology that typically adds 18 to 30 seconds of latency. We’re introducing widely supported low-latency protocols into our solution that produce a harmonious experience.”

    StreamGuys has also built a bridge between ULLS and its SGrewind service, which gives listeners the power to return to a previous moment in the game. StreamGuys achieves this by simultaneously recording the ULLS stream to an SGrewind buffer, essentially providing the audience with the audio equivalent of a live DVR. StreamGuys has also engineered the ULLS service to support standards-based CEA-608 captions from broadcasters, with SGplayer presenting real-time captions for the deaf and hard of hearing in sync with audio streams.

    Martinez adds that the streams will ideally be consumed within an app related to a sports league or club where fans can engage with other services, such as purchasing tickets, merch or food and drink from concessions. The protocols employed will also deliver high-quality streams without consuming much bandwidth, producing a seamless consumption experience even when the stadium capacity is full.

    At IBC, StreamGuys will present a live demo with a low-latency and high-latency stream side by side that will allow visitors to compete the difference. “We will present a clock in the playout system so that people can see the real-time outputs from each stream and compare them to what they are watching,” said Martinez. “On the input side, our technology works with any audio or video streaming encoder that plugs into our ingest system. It’s all standards-based, with no specialized components required. As long as we can get it onto our Contribution Network, we can provide that experience fans have been missing for years.”

    StreamGuys is an official co-exhibitor with ENCO at IBC this year at Stand 8.C76. IBC takes place September 13-16 at RAI Amsterdam.

  • StreamGuys Launches Next-Gen RevenueStream Subscription Service

    StreamGuys Launches Next-Gen RevenueStream Subscription Service

    StreamGuys, a provider of live and on-demand streaming, podcasting delivery, and SaaS toolsets, supports enterprise-level broadcast media organizations worldwide, ensuring business growth and revenue generation.

    StreamGuys is showcasing a modernized version of its RevenueStream service at NAB Show 2024, designed to help broadcasters and live events companies tap into audience subscription revenue. This updated platform offers powerful new subscription management, branding, and payment features, along with flexible monetization options like metered paywalls, freemium access, and donation support.

    The new version of RevenueStream aims to provide broadcasters, content creators, sports leagues, and live events companies with innovative tools to generate revenue beyond traditional advertising models. It offers secure subscription options, customizable branding, and enhanced subscriber management, catering to a wide range of users and helping them maintain steady revenue streams and audience loyalty.

    Pioneering streaming and podcast solutions provider StreamGuys returns to NAB Show 2024 with a modernized version of RevenueStream, among the first solutions of its kind to help broadcasters and live events companies tap into the potential of audience subscription revenue. StreamGuys will demonstrate the new version of the groundbreaking service on the ENCO booth (W1743), where StreamGuys will have a branded presence and dedicated station.

    RevenueStream was brought to market in 2008 to help radio and television broadcasters look outside the traditional advertising model for revenue generation. It also struck a chord with content creators, musical performers and sports teams that wanted a professional, secure and controlled service to help them monetize their live streams and on-demand media. RevenueStream proved to be a successful access control service that offered secure, password-protected subscription offerings, helping early internet radio services defray bandwidth costs through audience-supported revenue. Over the years, RevenueStream has helped users of all sizes increase revenue and grow their aggregate audiences.

    StreamGuys has now unleashed its second-generation RevenueStream platform with powerful new subscription management, branding and payment features, along with more flexible monetization options for all customers. The latter includes metered paywalls, freemium access, membership plans, and donation support, making RevenueStream an attractive option for live worship and private corporate events to private podcasters, public media, and commercial broadcasters. It also supports everything from one-time events to recurring subscriptions that support ongoing revenue models.

    RevenueStream’s new features will also prove highly attractive to the sports and live events market, especially for larger sports leagues and concert streaming services that wants the benefits of a powerful subscriber management platform and customizable integration opportunities. StreamGuys has natively integrated SGplayer media player with RevenueStream to support these new features, although third-party players can also be integrated behind the paywall.

    The new subscriber management platform, powered by Pigeon.io, will help users manage their subscriber lists, membership plans and account renewals, while new customizable integration options will help organizations easily visualize their branding elements within SGplayer. Customers also have the option of adding StreamGuys’ SGcontrol tokenization service to fully lockdown and secure content from being stolen as streams occur. Additionally, RevenueStream has expanded its transactional options, providing consumers with more payment choices while ensuring secure transactions that protect subscriber data.

    “RevenueStream was built to help broadcasters and content creators discover new ways to generate revenue while also igniting new creative avenues for their live productions,” said Eduardo Martinez, Vice President of Technology, StreamGuys. “We are already seeing strong interest from both commercial and public broadcasters, the latter of which can now offer donors alternate content during their pledge drives. We are excited to bring customers in all verticals a modernized service to market that helps them offer more adaptable subscription models, drive audience loyalty and retention, and maintain a steady revenue flow. Furthermore, integration with our other tokenization and playout ensure our customers can enjoy a proven and reliable streaming ecosystem along with our exceptional customer support.”

    NAB Show 2024 takes place April 14-17 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

  • StreamGuys Lift San Jose Sharks Out of the Shark Tank and Into the Streams

    StreamGuys Lift San Jose Sharks Out of the Shark Tank and Into the Streams

    StreamGuys, founded in 2000, is a provider of live streaming, podcasting delivery, and SaaS tools for enterprise-level broadcast media organizations. With a robust network and scalable cloud-based platform, it supports various industries, including podcasts, TV broadcasters, and healthcare services. StreamGuys focuses on business growth and revenue generation.

    The San Jose Sharks, a professional NHL hockey team, established their own 24/7 audio network called the Sharks Audio Network in 2001. They utilize StreamGuys’ SGrecast platform for podcast automation, rebroadcasting, and live streaming across multiple platforms. This network provides a variety of content including live games, interviews, player profiles, and more, catering to Sharks fans worldwide.

    The Sharks established their own audio network to enhance fan engagement and reach a global audience. By utilizing SGrecast, they can efficiently manage and distribute their audio content, expanding their reach beyond traditional radio. This approach allows them to engage with fans on multiple channels, optimize monetization strategies, and gather valuable analytics for targeted marketing efforts. Overall, it’s a strategic move to modernize content delivery and maximize audience engagement in a cost-effective manner.

    Established in 1991, San Jose Sharks is a professional NHL hockey team based at San Jose’s SAP Center in the Bay Area of San Francisco. In 2001 they ended a 20-year run on The South Bay’s 98.5 KFOX station to push off its own 24/7audio network, with StreamGuys’ SGrecast managing all podcast automation, rebroadcasting and live streaming across multiple platforms.

    The Sharks Audio Network is a power play for fan engagement and provides rolling 24/7 audio content for San Jose Sharks fans across the globe. Delivering a mix of live regular season and Stanley Cup playoff games alongside a packed schedule of on-demand content, the team produces a full program of interviews, player profiles, replays, pre-game shows, highlight packages, lifestyle programs and live news.

    With a background in radio, veteran play-by-play announcer Dan Rusanowsky is also involved in all areas of audio production. Now in his 33rd year with the Sharks, he is ideally placed to keep fans across all the action from what the locals refer to as the “Shark Tank”.

    “I am best known as the play-by-play commentator for the San Jose Sharks, but I also operate the Shark’s audio network and, along with our staff, coordinate everything related to audio production,” says Rusanowsky. “I’ve been with the Sharks since the team was formed in 1991 and I was charged with setting up radio network coverage, so managing audio has always been a normal part of operations for me. But when we went 24 hours it expanded everything we were doing.”

    Having worked with StreamGuys since 2019, Rusanowsky turned to its SGrecast SaaS platform to help him convert and republish live content, expand the platform’s distribution, and monetize the Sharks’ online footprint to get a bigger bite of their overseas fanbase. With most listeners accessing its stream on the Sharks Plus SAP Center app, the San Jose Sharks website also uses the SGrecast player to provide a dedicated hookup.

    “Although we still have a terrestrial radio network in Northern California, we don’t currently have a flagship radio station in the Bay Area, and we decided to push people toward our 24-hour programming on the app,” says Rusanowsky. “It gives us access to people in places we have never been able to reach before, and SGrecast makes it very easy to continue to deliver programming to the NHL and to our partners at Skyview Satellite for our terrestrial affiliates.

    “SGrecast acts as a bank which manages all our programming, and automatically archives our content,” he says. “SGrecast’s record capability gives us an aircheck of a game within minutes of the program finishing. It means we can edit and repackage quickly; we can upload a condensed version for reuse, remove outdated commercials, or edit out any mistakes on the live broadcast, and re-upload them wither in the same or in a different space. SGrecast makes it very easy.”

    The Sharks’ approach to generating content means it now has a dedicated studio at the SAP Center that replaces the studio that they would have had at the radio station, and being in full control of content means that not only are more people getting hooked on the Sharks, but the team is also better able to monetize content for even greater return.

    “Terrestrial radio still does live programming very well, but I think that that’s starting to change with the younger population,” says Rusanowsky. “Operating across multiple channels allows us to utilize our programming for client acquisition as well as client retention, and the Sharks Audio Network is an outstanding way to make sure that our fans stay engaged with the product.”

    “Dan’s production creativity has led to exciting republishing workflows where the Sharks repurpose on-demand content as live, and live as on-demand,” says StreamGuys source, Neil Carducci, Quality Assurance Tester, StreamGuys, who adds that Rusanowsky has provided useful feedback on SGrecast that has helped StreamGuys optimize its impact for the Sharks and other customers. “Dan is a very technical user who also has a vision for the big picture.” By mixing recordings, live broadcasts, scheduled broadcasts, and podcasting, the Sharks have maximized SGrecasts content repurposing potential.”

    Rusanowsky adds that they are using StreamGuys’ ad insertion technology to inject commercials into non-live programming, and the analytics helps them share with advertisers how many impressions the ads are getting, who they are reaching and who is finding their product. Meanwhile, SGreports tells them who, where and when people are listening to the full stream, helping them identify regions where interest is strong, and target marketing in those areas.

    “It’s like expanding transmitter coverage to an infinite area and doing it with full digital quality. I think a lot of organizations with smaller audiences would find it very valuable,” he concludes. “If you can get a signal out and get an audience, and do it in a very cost-effective way, there’s no reason why anybody wouldn’t want to do it.”