The Most Important Companies in Online Video Tech

Welcome to the 2021 Streaming Media 50, our annual checklist of an important, most revolutionary, and most attention-grabbing corporations in the net video area. It’s the fourth yr we’ve capped the checklist at 50 corporations, as a result of as the net video {industry} continues to develop, it’s extra essential than ever that this annual checklist highlights each the veterans whose endurance stays sturdy and the startups that we predict have what it takes to stay round for the lengthy haul. 

Before we get to the checklist, a couple of qualifiers: As typical, we’re focusing nearly completely on know-how distributors, somewhat than content material corporations. This checklist has at all times been about recognizing the businesses that allow video providers to ship nice content material to customers reliably on the highest doable high quality on each gadget and hopefully to earn cash from it. 

Once once more, this yr, we took the video manufacturing phase of the market, the one lined by Streaming Media Producer, and gave that its personal checklist. Look for the 2022 Streaming Producer 25 subsequent spring. 

Also, the Streaming Media 50 focuses completely on corporations with headquarters in North America. Later this yr, we are going to publish the same checklist, the Streaming Media Europe 101, specializing in corporations with headquarters in Europe. Of course, some corporations have headquarters in each the United States and overseas; in these circumstances, we ask the corporate which checklist they need to be thought of for. 

So how will we arrive on the checklist? We ask our common contributors to take a look at a grasp checklist of the entire distributors in the net video market and rank them on a scale of 1 (doesn’t belong in the Streaming Media 50 in any respect) to 5 (no checklist of an important corporations can be full with out it). The prime 50 make the checklist.

Notably, 15 corporations that had been on the 2020 checklist did not make it this yr. Some of them simply aren’t innovating or increasing their choices, whereas others, frankly, are being outpaced by the businesses that changed them.

Without additional ado, right here’s the 2021 Streaming Media 50. Congratulations to all.

Agora

Tony Zhao, CEO and Founder

Agora’s real-time engagement platform is constructed on the straightforward premise that voice and video is the following neatest thing to being there (apologies to ol’ Ma Bell). Over the last18 months, the remainder of the world caught up, and now the corporate claims its know-how is used in greater than 50 billion (!) minutes of human connection on-line every month. There’s no going again now.

Akamai Technologies

Tom Leighton, Co-Founder and CEO

Akamai was doing edge supply earlier than anyone referred to as it edge supply, nevertheless it’s carried out something however relaxation on its laurels. And even because it’s expanded its purview to concentrate on ecommerce, healthcare, banking, and safety for all industries, Akamai stays the go-to CDN for large-scale dwell occasions, just like the delayed Euro 2020 event, which peaked at 34.9Tbps of site visitors in July.

Amagi

Baskar Subramanian, Co-Founder and CEO

The rise of free ad-supported TV (FAST) has been the most important story of the yr, and Amagi has been behind among the largest platforms in the marketplace. The firm has carried out so whereas sustaining its foothold in AVOD and D2C, with a SaaS providing, a totally managed service, or a novel “deliver your personal license” mannequin.

Read extra about Amagi in Co-founder Srinivasan KA’s View from the Top article.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Adam Selipsky, CEO

Despite challenges, AWS remains to be the most important cloud in the sky, and AWS Elemental supplies a soup-to-nuts suite of each cloud and on-prem options for video encoding, transcoding, packaging, supply, and monetization. And with the announcement of EC2 Vt1 cases for multi-stream dwell video transcoding as much as 4K, prospects have extra choices than ever earlier than.

Read extra about AWS for Media & Entertainment in Chief Technologist Eric Iverson’s View from the Top article.

Bitmovin

Stefan Lederer, Co-Founder and CEO

Bitmovin’s buyer roster reads like a who’s who—BBC, fuboTV, DAZN, ClassPass, iFlix, Discover, Globo, and extra—and with good motive. The firm has grown from a scrappy Austrian startup into a significant participant, at all times placing video high quality on the forefront of their encoding, participant, and analytics choices. Plus, their annual Video Developer Report is a must-read for these seeking to get a deal with on the state of video engineering.

Brightcove

Jeff Ray, CEO

Sometimes a rebranding is simply window dressing. Other occasions, as with Brightcove’s new search for 2021, it is reflective of one thing deeper. After a few tough years, the corporate has each constructed on its fame as the unique on-line video platform and expanded into the digital occasion area at a time when such options had been desperately wanted. Along the best way, it is constructed a formidable buyer roster of manufacturers, bands, universities, and OTT platforms.

BuyDRM

Christopher Levy, Founder and CEO

BuyDRM was acquired this yr by French cloud computing supplier OVHcloud. That will develop its attain, nevertheless it had already handed an enormous milestone in 21, reaching 50 million licenses a day with its KeyOS Multi-DRM Platform. It additionally introduced in March that KeyOS is accessible in Google Cloud, making it simpler for corporations in media, leisure, and telecommunications to leverage the award-winning platform.

Comcast Technology Solutions

Ken Klaer, President

The options facet of Comcast Cable, Comcast Technology Solutions provides a full suite of options focusing on advertisers, content material and streaming suppliers, MVPDs, and know-how companions. This yr, the corporate managed the multiscreen property for NBC Olympics supply of the Tokyo Games, and its integrations with industry-leading advert tech options gave it unprecedented attain.

Conviva

Keith Zubchevich, President and CEO

With 3.3 billion sensors in video apps throughout the globe, monitoring 1.8 TRILLION occasions per day, Conviva justifiably calls itself “#1 in streaming analytics.” In addition to serving to its prospects present one of the best QoE and QoS to their viewers, the corporate additionally points common State of Streaming experiences that present invaluable perception into viewing experiences worldwide.

Dacast

Martin Rogard, CEO

DaCast has been on the Streaming Media 50 because it was the Streaming Media 100, making its first look in 2012. It’s tempting to name the corporate “the little engine that might,” however that might undersell the truth that it really works with loads of big-name broadcasters, manufacturers, enterprise, and schooling shoppers for each dwell and on-demand video. Plus, the corporate’s weblog is among the most helpful in the enterprise.

Read extra about Dacast in CEO Martin Rogard’s View from the Top article.

Digital Element

Rob Friedman, Co-Founder, Vice Chairman, and Executive Vice President

As we discover elsewhere in this challenge, OTT is now a really international proposition, and Digital Element’s IP geolocation providers are completely suited to a video world that, for licensing, promoting, and DRM causes, nonetheless must respect nationwide borders. Plus, in relation to focused promoting, the corporate’s NetAcuity IP Intelligence permits entrepreneurs to ship all the way down to the ZIP code.

Dolby Laboratories, Inc.

Kevin J. Yeaman, President and CEO

Like we stated final yr, “Dolby is the David Bowie of streaming tech corporations, focusing equally on sound and imaginative and prescient.” For the Streaming Media viewers, the corporate’s Hybrik media processing provides among the greatest transcoding and high quality management round, and its Dolby Vision is the {industry} chief. And if you have not checked out the spatial audio with Dolby Atmos on Apple Music, you are lacking out.

Eluvio

Michelle Munson, CEO and Founder

Michelle Munson has at all times been on the slicing fringe of on-line video know-how (she led the group that created the FASP protocol), so it is no shock that she and her firm are out entrance with a decentralized platform that options content material management, ticketing, and e-commerce primarily based on blockchain. Want to promote NFTs along with your video content material? Yeah, Eluvio does that, too.

Encoding.com

Greggory Heil, Founder and CEO

Encoding.com is about heaps greater than encoding and transcoding nowadays. This yr, the corporate’s emphasis has been on cloud media processing workflows, and prospects like WarnerMedia and Adobe are amongst those who turned away from {hardware}. It’s clearly the wave of the longer term, and Encoding.com is using it.

EZDRM

David Eisenbacher, Co-Founder and CEO

EZDRM is on the forefront of not solely multi-DRM however educating the market about its worth, together with partnering with Streaming Media for a content material and income safety analysis report this yr. What’s maybe most compelling, although, is the corporate’s dedication to each kind of content material safety software, irrespective of how esoteric.

Read extra about EZDRM in Co-founder & COO Olga Kornienko’s View from the Top article.

Fastly

Joshua Bixby, CEO

Fastly did not invent edge supply, however they’ve rapidly develop into one of many leaders in the area. The firm has scaled as much as greater than 145Tbps capability and greater than 800 billion requests a day, and their developer instruments and dashboard are second to none.

Float Left

Tom Schaeffer, CEO

A speaker at one in every of our Streaming Media Connect occasions stated it greatest: “If content material is king, then consumer expertise is the fortress.” Float Left has at all times led with its consumer expertise improvements, and at this time powers greater than 450 apps on 10 completely different OTT platforms.

Flussonic

Maksim Lapshin, Founder and CTO

This British Columbia-based firm has flown below the radar for some time, however not anymore. From its widespread Flussonic Media Server to its {hardware} Coder to its Flussonic Watcher IP digicam provisioning and recording answer, it provides a variety of options for an equally big selection of streaming video functions. Keep an eye fixed on this one.

Google

Sundar Pichai, CEO

It was solely a matter of time earlier than the Google Cloud CDN grew to become a key participant in the content material supply market, and that is simply what’s occurred in the final yr. Add that to the opposite media storage, processing, and workflow instruments in Google Cloud, throw in a little bit Chromecast, and a pinch of Google TV Ads, and you have an entire set of instruments for OTT.

Haivision

Mirko Wicha, Chairman, President, and CEO

Combine best-in-class encoders just like the Makito X4 and the Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) protocol that Haivision invented, and you have a low-latency mixture that is onerous to beat. And whereas enterprise and broadcast streaming get many of the consideration, Haivision’s place in each medical and protection streaming units the corporate aside.

Harmonic

Patrick Harshman, President and CEO

The sponsor of our Spring 2021 “State of Streaming” survey continues to develop its choices for cloud broadcast and streaming, garnering prospects from sports activities leagues to NASA. And in case you’re searching for a cloud broadcasting answer that makes it straightforward to spin up pop-up channels, look no additional.

Intertrust ExpressPlay

Talal G. Shamoon, CEO

One of the founders of the Marlin platform, Intertrust clarified its worth proposition in 2021 by breaking out ExpressPlay into its personal enterprise unit. ExpressPlay provides multi-DRM, watermarking, safety, and offline DRM, and is working onerous to place itself for the HbbTV/ATSC 3.0 world of the longer term, the place broadcast and streaming lastly converge.

JW Player

Dave Otten, Co-Founder and CEO

No longer just a bit video participant firm, JW Player now provides a complete bundle of options from streaming and monetization to viewers engagement and, sure, the preferred video participant in the world.

Kaltura

Ron Yekutiel, Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO

I first encountered Kaltura once they spoke at Streaming Media East, the place Ron Yekutiel dazzled the group with a free on-line video platform. Oh, how far the corporate has come. Today, it is one of many largest video platforms in the world, and this July went public with a valuation of $1.24 billion.

Limelight Networks

Bob Lyons, CEO

Perhaps sensing that its choices had been getting a bit lengthy in the tooth, Limelight Networks shook issues up in 2021, naming a brand new CEO and re-evaluating nearly every little thing. The firm doubled-down on its Realtime Streaming service, providing one of many largest ultra-low-latency content material supply platforms in the world.

LTN Global

Malik Khan, Cofounder and Executive Chairman

Since its acquisition of Make.TV in late 2019, LTN Global has each deepened and expanded its choices to bridge the hole between broadcast and streaming in a approach no different firm fairly does. And by breaking its ecosystem in to 4 clear segments—Create, Command, Signal, and Transport—it brings a giant broadcast philosophy to OTT and social streaming alike.

Lumen

Jeffrey Storey, President and CEO

Lumen introduced collectively CenturyLink, Level 3 Communications, and Streamroot to create a telco-CDN powerhouse, nevertheless it’s nonetheless the corporate’s Vyvx Broadcast Solutions that brings it again to the Streaming Media 50 yr after yr.

MediaType

Allen Broome, CEO

MediaType is all about large-scale dwell streaming, and this yr it promoted Allen Broome from its R&D division to the highest job, signaling that it isn’t going to let that fame slip. “Live streaming with out limits” is the corporate’s new slogan, and with Broome on the helm, you’ll be able to make sure that’s the imaginative and prescient.

Microsoft

Satya Nadella, CEO

You may not hear the phrase “Microsoft” and instantly assume “video,” however the firm’s Teams, Dynamics, and Power choices are behind among the largest dwell streaming workflows in the enterprise. In a latest dialogue, one in every of Microsoft Media & Entertainment division’s executives in contrast the corporate to the outdated BASF tagline: “We do not make plenty of the merchandise you purchase. We make plenty of the merchandise you purchase higher.”

Millicast

Richard Blakely, CEO and Cofounder

Looking for latency lower than 500 milliseconds? Then you are in all probability searching for WebRTC. And in case you’re searching for WebRTC, likelihood is good you are seeking to Millicast, whether or not instantly or by way of companions they supply their white-label answer to.

MUX

Jon Dahl, Co-Founder and CEO

MUX is a video developer’s thought of what a video options firm ought to seem like—no fancy UIs or flashy web site. Just the APIs and analytics instruments for geeks to construct nice video experiences. This yr, the corporate additionally made the leap to low-latency, interactive dwell streaming.

Read extra about Mux in Co-founder & Head of Developer Experience Matt McClure’s View from the Top article.

Nagra

André Kudelski, Chairman and CEO

Video content material safety and safety is only a small a part of what mother or father firm Nagra Kudelski is all about, however the firm’s digital TV division has been quietly increasing in the U.S. and worldwide, serving to conventional pay TV suppliers re-invent themselves for a multiscreen, IP-based world.

Phenix

Roy Reichbach, CEO

“Real-time streaming” is a misnomer, however I’ve lengthy given up combating that battle. And Phenix—whose URL is “phenixrts,” with the “rts” standing for “real-time streaming”—is among the the reason why. With latency lower than 500 milliseconds, the corporate powers interactive streaming experiences that allow viewers get as near the motion as they will with out being in the stadium.

Read extra about Phenix in CEO Roy Reichbach’s View from the Top article.

QWILT

Alon Maor, CEO

Israel-based Qwilt raised eyebrows with a $70 million funding from Cisco, nevertheless it simply emphasised how dedicated the corporate is to “construct one of many world’s largest high-performing content material supply networks,” because it stated in the press launch saying the funding. We’ll see if it will get there, but when Cisco is on board, that is saying one thing.

Read extra about Qwilt in CEO & Co-founder Alon Maor’s View from the Top article.

SSIMWAVE

Abdul Rehman, Co-Founder, CEO, and CFO

The firm has damaged out its SSIMPLUS choices into three classes—VOD Monitor, Live Monitor, and Video Quality Dial—to additional its aim of bringing one of the best video optimization and high quality assurance instruments to market, not just for OTT however for broadcast and cable as effectively.

Read extra about SSIMWAVE in CEO and Co-founder Dr. Abdul Rehman’s View from the Top article.

Stackpath

Christopher (Kip) Turco, CEO

A Stackpath-sponsored Streaming Media survey referred to as “2021 Content Delivery & Edge Compute Trends” discovered that edge compute has but to take maintain, however Stackpath is on the vanguard of the pattern. In addition to its personal platform, the corporate provides the instruments to assist corporations construct their very own edge community, setting it aside from its opponents.

Streaming Global

Richard Oestereicher, President and CEO

Streaming Global’s idea of a “video pipeline” is exclusive, sufficient in order that it raised $8 million in funding this yr to advance that imaginative and prescient. Its software-defined agile transport strategy rethinks the standard client-server workflow, and if you have not checked it out, it’s best to.

TAG Video Systems

Tomer Schechter, CEO

TAG’s software-platform brings all QoS monitoring features (sure, I get bored with all of the acronyms, too) below one roof. And not only for OTT—prospects embody NBC, CBS, BBC, Sony Pictures, and HBO.

Read extra about TAG Video Systems in Zer0 Friction Officer Kevin Joyce’s View from the Top article.

Telestream

Dan Castles, CEO

Hardware, software program, cloud, on-prem, dwell, VOD—Telestream does all of it. And they do it effectively. They simply maintain constructing, too, buying asset administration agency Masstech Group and dwell occasion internet hosting platform Sherpa Digital Media in 2021. No doubt we’ll see extra progress in the following 12 months.

Tulix

George Bokuchava, Co-Founder, CEO, and President

Tulix has grown from being primarily a CDN to specializing in options that assist broadcasters of all sizes—health studios, homes of worship, and colleges, in addition to “conventional” broadcasters—get their video to their viewers. They’re not one of many larger corporations on the checklist, however they deal with each buyer like a giant 3 community.

Read extra about Tulix in Co-Founder and CEO George Bokuchava’s View from the Top article.

Verimatrix

Amedeo D’Angelo, President and CEO

Verimatrix provides watermarking, authentication, and multi-DRM options, in addition to a variety of cost and analytics options that set them aside in the content material safety subject. The firm did not make any main developments in 2021, however generally gradual and regular wins the race.

Read extra about Verimatrix in SVP, Global Marketing Jon Samsel’s View from the Top article.

Vimeo

Anjali Sud, CEO

Vimeo has gone from being a higher-quality different to providing a complete set of options for company and advertising streaming. Robust dwell streaming and collaboration instruments increase the corporate’s well-established video administration platform, and monetization options spherical out the combination.

Vizrt Group

Michael Hallén, CEO

So what’s a Norwegian firm doing on this checklist? Simple: Vizrt owns NewTek, and NewTek’s NDI has revolutionized how video will get captured, distributed, and edited, and it is effectively on its option to supplanting SDI because the transport technique of selection for video producers who’re more and more working in distant, distributed groups.

Wurl

Sean Doherty, CEO

Wurl began with a easy premise: Video distribution and promoting providers needs to be mixed right into a single answer. So the corporate brings collectively content material corporations and advertisers, monetizing the previous whereas offering attain to the latter. And as FAST channels multiply, Wurl is behind lots of them.

Xilinx

Victor Peng, President and CEO

With apologies to Rolaids, how do you spell field-programmable gate array? X-I-L-I-N-X. The firm that invented the FPGA continues to innovate, and its Zynq UltraScale integrates each H.265 and H.264 4K codecs on a single chip.

Yahoo Edgecast (previously Verizon Media, Media Platform)

Jim Lanzone, CEO

You’d want a move chart to maintain monitor of who’s who and what’s what at Yahoo, previously Verizon Media, owned by Apollo. But you do not want one to know that the Edgecast supply community and distribution platform stays one of the agile in the streaming {industry}.

Read extra about Edgecast in GM and CPO Ariff Sidi’s View from the Top article.

Zenlayer

Joe Zhu, CEO and Founder

Yet one other edge supply firm? Yes, however Zenlayer provides each devoted naked steel servers and edge information facilities, in addition to a worldwide accelerator and the power to construct a cloud community. Plus, a major variety of its edge factors of presence are in APAC, giving it the, ahem, edge for supply to that area of the world.

Zixi

Gordon Brooks, Executive Chairman and CEO

Zixi made its title with its proprietary dwell video transport protocol, however at this time it provides rather more than that: an entire software-defined video platform that works with any protocol. And its ZEN Master management airplane provides a single portal to configure, orchestrate, and handle the whole system.

Read extra about Zixi in SVP Alliances and Marketing John Wastcoat’s View from the Top article.

Zoom

Eric S. Yuan, Founder and CEO

Zoom utterly revolutionized the world of video conferencing and collaboration, leaving established gamers like Skype, Google, and Microsoft scrambling to catch up. They’re engaged on it, however Zoom remains to be far and away the chief, and is prone to stay so for the foreseeable future.

Zype

Ed Laczynski, CEO

Zype provides an end-to-end video administration and distribution infrastructure for delivering video to all platforms and gadgets. Yeah, I do know, you’ve got heard that earlier than. But Zype’s video connectors provide an intuitive, easy option to goal video apps, making it stand out from the pack.

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