LiveU 2020 ‘State of Live’ Report Confirms Rise in Live IP Broadcasting for Contribution and Distribution

The latest LiveU data shows a 100 percent increase in LiveU Matrix usage for domestic US and international content sharing

The COVID-19 global pandemic has impacted the way live news, sports, and a variety of other markets have gathered, managed, and disseminated live content. LiveU, the leader in live streaming and remote production solutions, is today presenting the company’s annual ‘State of Live’ report showing the trends over the past year based on data generated from its global customer base.

Most notable has been the significant increase in content sharing over IP, for US and international viewership. The consolidation of newsgathering efforts and the reduction of on-site staff at live events have increased the reliance on IP-based content contribution and distribution across the globe – from network-to-station, station-to-station, and production crews to sports teams, leagues, and associations.

Key findings include:
•    100 percent growth in the use of its LiveU Matrix IP cloud-based management and distribution platform worldwide. The average number of sessions by users has doubled with global media organizations relying on Matrix to pool live content, which has allowed for expanded live coverage for newscasts.

•    Major milestone this past summer with more than 1,000 customers taking more than 30,000 live feeds per month for distribution to local, national and global news broadcasts.

•    Increase in international content sharing with international broadcasters particularly interested in the US election, LiveU Matrix proved itself a powerful, easy-to-use content sharing platform for extending viewership of unique content. LiveU customers, such as CBS Newspath, have been leveraging LiveU Matrix to share up-to-the-minute election updates with its global affiliates. The news organizations also sold graphics packages, which provided quickly updated, accurate editorial vote count maps and other updates.

“Our IP-based technology is inherently suited for remote productions. With the ongoing pandemic and subsequent health, logistical, and budget concerns, our cellular-based portable units have enabled live broadcasts to carry on from home and other locations. At the same time, the move to IP-based workflows has required producers to think differently about the way they create and share live content,” said Samuel Wasserman, LiveU’s CEO and co-founder.

He added, “In the midst of the pandemic, our customers were able to rise above the challenges and deliver content that informed, engaged, and entertained viewers. As the market hopefully stabilizes with the availability of vaccines, we see the return of live sports and the use of live streaming, remote production, and IP contribution and distribution growing even more. We look forward to new opportunities and growth in 2021 with major events such as the US Presidential Inauguration and the Summer Games in Tokyo.”

The Year of LiveU Matrix

LiveU Matrix now has nearly 10 US state governors providing daily and weekly press conferences and at the height of the pandemic this spring over 40 local pools for content sharing.
Matrix was fundamental for the 24/7 news cycle in covering high-profile events such as the protests and riots in the US and the SpaceX Crew Dragon, boasting more than 15,000 feeds delivered over 8 days this summer.

Most recently, LiveU Matrix proved to be mission-critical on Election Night in the United States with nearly 700 customers consuming 3,700 live feeds for distribution. The platform delivered more than 12,000 hours of video over the course of election day alone, and then another 8,000 plus feeds over the remainder of election week, without interruption.