According to Variety, Google is in talks to buy Twitch, a live video game streaming service, for close to $1 billion. Yup, a website that lets you watch other people play video games may be worth $1 billion. Fans don’t even have to fire up their own version of “Call of Duty.” The reported deal illustrates the growth of live streaming technology. For example:
Streams that make us go Squee! Streaming service provider UStream says the market for live streaming is growing. Right now it says it gets about 77 million unique global views a month — a year ago at this time it got just 55 million. The company says it broadcasts everything from church services, to content broadcast by citizen journalists to disc jockey lessons. Animal cams, it notes, are always popular:
2. Baby Hummingbirds!
3. Kitty rescue center cam!
Life event live streams
1. Graduations
In case you can’t get enough tickets for grandma, grandpa, and grandma and grandpa.
2. Weddings
You may not catch the bouquet, but you also don’t have to shell out for plane tickets.
3. Funerals
Mark Krause of Krause Funeral Homes says he started offering a streaming service in 2009, charging consumers about $195 on top of regular costs. While Krause notes that the stream wasn’t meant to replace the ceremony itself, he says it was helpful for family members who weren’t able to physically attend. Unfortunately Krause notes that just a few years ago, the technology was too unstable to provide a seamless experience for consumers: “It’s more on the bloody edge, than the cutting edge,” he says. “I’m always about trying innovating things but funeral directors won’t provide it if they can’t rely on it.”
Other
1. 2014 Rope Skipping National Championships
BrightRoll, a tech platform that powers video advertising on the web says sports make up a massive, disproportionate share of streamed video. Tim Avila, Senior Vice President of Marketing Operations at BrightRoll says there was a 176% increase in live video ad views between 2013 and 2014.
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/sctv18
2. Bigfoot cam.
Do you believe? Watch this stream and maybe you’ll finally spy proof for your theories.
3. London Bridge
Like bridges? Like London? You will love this.
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