In the last five years, the advent of an ‘always-on, perpetually-connected’ culture has fundamentally altered the face of media products. As this evolution accelerates, what will premium media products look like in 2018? At the Streaming Media East show, taking place next week May 21-22 in NYC, we have a session entitled, “The Future of Digital Entertainment in a Multiscreen World“.

With a panel extending across media domains – sports, broadcast, film, cable programming, and social platforms – we will explore the evolution of data-driven product and distribution strategy for marquis media brands, including insight on the operational challenges associated with realizing an application-driven future that actively responds to a direct connection with individual audience members. Confirmed speakers include:

• Moderator: Andrew Grant, Sr. Manager, Online Services, Dolby
• John Pacino, VP, Digital Design and User Experience, NHL
• Tony Petersen, VP, Digital Products, Viacom Media Networks
• Greg Philpott, Founder & CEO, mDialog
• Domenico DiMeglio, VP, Distribution and Operations, CBS Interactive

It’s not too late to get a pass to the show and readers of my blog can register using my own personal discount code of DR13, which gets you a two-day ticket to the show for only $695 and gives you access to 40 sessions and how-to presentations and 100+ speakers. You can also register for an exhibits only pass and get access to the show floor, both keynotes from CBS and ESPN and all the networking events, at no charge. #smeast

On Monday May 20th, at the Content Delivery Summit in NYC, (#cdnsummit) we’ve got a session that will focus on real world scenarios for the virtualization of caching and CDNs in operator networks. Experts will discuss industry initiatives across the CDN ecosystem that are changing the cooperation between operators and CDNs and helping to define new ways to extend and scale content delivery services more easily and cost effectively. Examples of cloud computing, IT data center and software defined networking (SDN) concepts will be used to illustrate how operator-owned resources can be used for revenue generation from content delivery. Confirmed speakers include:

• Moderator: Charlie Baker, Director of Product Management, PeerApp
• Jon Vestal, VP, CDN Products, Pacnet
• Henri Setiawan, VP Innovation Management, Telin
• Ian Van Hoven, Director, Technical Operations, LinkedIn
• Kyle Okamoto, Director of Product, Verizon Digital Media Services

Now in its fifth year, the Content Delivery Summit is a one-day conference designed to bring together telecom carriers, service providers, content owners, and industry vendors for a detailed look at CDN platforms for the delivery of video and content acceleration. Readers of my blog can register using my own personal discount code of DR13, which gets you a ticket to the show for only $395.

At the Streaming Media East show, taking place next week, May 21-22 in NYC, we’ve got a session that will discuss tips and tricks, best practices, and lessons learned regarding the technical setup of live streaming production. Learn how to stream multiple formats from a single encoder, use social networking overlays, leverage adaptive bitrate streaming, and transition between live streams from multiple camera angles using multi-encoder synchronization. Confirmed speakers include:

• Moderator: Philip Nelson, SVP, Artist and Media Relations, NewTek
• Erin Bigelow, Technical Director, St. John’s University
• Kathryn Jones, CEO, Virtual Arts TV
• Andrew Lipson, VP, Operations, Synaptic Digital
• Mitch Jacobson, Author, Mastering MultiCamera Techniques

It’s not too late to get a pass to the show and readers of my blog can register using my own personal discount code of DR13, which gets you a two-day ticket to the show for only $695 and gives you access to 40 sessions and how-to presentations and 100+ speakers. You can also register for an exhibits only pass and get access to the show floor, both keynotes from CBS and ESPN and all the networking events, at no charge. #smeast

Earlier in the week, TeliaSonera announced a deal with EdgeCast to do a large managed CDN and site acceleration deployment in 3-4 countries where they are the incumbent telecom and have built a specialized sales team of CDN professionals to sell the solutions. For EdgeCast, this is the second large managed CDN deal they have done this year – PT Telekom and now TeliaSonera.

This is another example of two very large telcos, who are going about this the right way in markets where there is ample demand for these services. These are real deals that are signed and have already launched in market, as compared to many others who have announced managed CDN partnerships, but have yet to launch actual services, outside of beta. Unlike some of the other managed CDN announcements where the telcos have competition in those regions, TeliaSonera has a powerful global backbone network and dominant enterprise market position in their home markets, so they have no real competition. The fact that EdgeCast already uses their global backbone to connect their pops around the world and now has embedded pops inside their network makes for a good combination.

If you want to hear more about the managed and licensed CDN market, don’t miss the Content Delivery Summit this Monday, May 20th in NYC.  Now in its fifth year, this one-day conference brings together telecom carriers, service providers, content owners, and industry vendors for a detailed look at CDN platforms for the delivery of video and content acceleration. Readers of my blog can register using my own personal discount code of DR13, which gets you a ticket to the show for only $395.

Not all video encoders are created equal. And at the Streaming Media East show next week, you’ll learn how to evaluate the effectiveness of your H.264 encoder. See the real-world video outputs of top commercial H.264 encoders compared, including those from Telestream, Harmonic, Sorenson, and Adobe, as well as open-source options such as FFmpeg and x264. Learn what features you should have available in an encoding tool before you invest your organization’s budget in a solution.

It’s not too late to get a pass to the show and readers of my blog can register using my own personal discount code of DR13, which gets you a two-day ticket to the show for only $695 and gives you access to 40 sessions and how-to presentations and 100+ speakers. You can also register for an exhibits only pass and get access to the show floor, both keynotes from CBS and ESPN and all the networking events, at no charge. #smeast

If you want to learn how to make a broadcast channel from VOD assets and the methods for distributing live streams to desktops and portable devices for all co-viewing opportunities, then don’t miss the Streaming Media East show next week. Vevo and Level 3 will walk you through the process of turning your video on demand (VOD) library into an online broadcast channel in a presentation entitled, “How To: Using File-Based Workflows With Live Streaming To Replicate The Linear Television Experience.” Get detailed specifics on encoding, leveraging your CMS to integrate metadata, how to set up a playlist mechanism, and how to turn the file-based encodes into live HD streaming.

It’s not too late to get a pass to the show and readers of my blog can register using my own personal discount code of DR13, which gets you a two-day ticket to the show for only $695 and gives you access to 40 sessions and how-to presentations and 100+ speakers. You can also register for an exhibits only pass and get access to the show floor, both keynotes from CBS and ESPN and all the networking events, at no charge. #smeast

For the past four years, Peter Csathy has been the CEO of Sorenson Media and this morning, he announced that he is moving on to a new company and is now the CEO of Manatt Digital Media Ventures. His new group is a division of Manatt Digital Media, a full-service digital media professional services business for entrepreneurs, ranging from individuals to companies of every size and stage –- start-up, growth, mature public. (Check our their clients page here)

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, is one of the most respected and storied law firms for the media, entertainment and advertising industries. Manatt’s roots run deep in the centers of media, entertainment, advertising and technology — in Los Angeles, New York, and Silicon Valley — and Peter’s background as a former M&E lawyer makes him a perfect fit for his new role. Peter will continue to work with Sorenson as a board member but is officially in his new role starting today as a VC, business connector, negotiator and deal-maker.

As Peter says on his blog announcing his new role, “Attention all you digital media entrepreneurs out there, PITCH ME!”, so if you are looking to raise money, you might want to give Peter a call.