StreamGuys is heading to the IBC2019 exhibition in Amsterdam (September 13-17) with new features in its SGrecast live stream repurposing and podcast management system, designed to help radio broadcasters and podcasters maximize the monetization of their content and better engage their audiences.
Co-exhibiting in stand 8.A59 with partner ENCO, the Humboldt County, Calif.-based company will showcase enhancements including server-side ad insertion support in the SGrewind live stream time-shifting module; expanded Audio2Video functionality for turning on-demand audio into compelling visual experiences; and live broadcasting to social media platforms.
These additions complement other recently-announced SGrecast upgrades including a comprehensive API for integration with customers’ existing enterprise systems; direct incorporation of SGreports analytics functionality for detailed content performance metrics; and support for Remote Audio Data (RAD) podcast analytics technology, including quick tagging of many commonly desired RAD events.
Relevant Ads when Rewinding Radio
StreamGuys’ cloud-based SGrecast solution lets radio broadcasters record, repurpose, replay and rewind their live streams to improve audience experiences and create revenue-expanding side channels and podcasts. Its SGrewind feature offers listeners DVR-like control of their live-streamed audio, allowing them to pause and resume a stream without missing any content; rewind the stream to hear something they missed; or restart the stream from the beginning of a preceding program or segment.
Complementing StreamGuys’ existing dynamic advertising capabilities for live streams and on-demand content, the new AdsWizz-enabled SGrewind ad insertion functionality delivers targeted ads to listeners when they rewind and replay live streams. The new feature leverages ad-triggering metadata from the original live stream to insert fresh advertising content into the same position during the replay. Whether rewinding a live stream by minutes, hours, or even days, listeners will hear timely, relevant advertising.
“The addition of server-side ad insertion to SGrewind rounds out our robust dynamic advertising support, enabling broadcasters and producers to target ads across their live streams, on-demand content, and now linear replays,” said StreamGuys EVP Jason Osburn. “Instead of hearing the same ad again after rewinding a stream, a listener could hear a spot from a completely different advertiser, thus providing further revenue opportunities for the broadcaster. And even if a listener rewinds by a few days, he or she shouldn’t hear an ad for an event or promotion that is already over.”
Bolstering Audio with Video
SGrecast’s expanded Audio2Video features provide users with greater control and more customization options when turning their on-demand audio content into compelling video clips. The new toolset and editing interface enable broadcasters and podcasters to creatively craft the look and feel of the videos they create from their audio, combining the auditory source with graphics, custom text, visual waveforms, motion backgrounds and transitions. The Audio2Video functionality can also be seamlessly integrated with ENCO’s enCaption4 automated captioning system to overlay captions of the audio.
“Social media is one of the most important outlets for content providers to engage their audiences, and video is a powerful way of attracting and retaining followers,” said Osburn. “While our expanded Audio2Video features can be applied to any length of content, they are particularly effective in turning short-form content such as sports, news and talk segments into catchy visual experiences for repurposing to social platforms and promoting their brand.”
Bringing Live Streams to Social Media
While the new Audio2Video capabilities focus on bringing on-demand content to social media networks, StreamGuys will also provide IBC attendees with a sneak preview of upcoming SGrecast capabilities for live broadcasting to social outlets. Customers will be able to ingest their existing live broadcast streams into SGrecast; overlay them in real time with elements such as a graphic or waveform; and immediately rebroadcast them to all of their social media platforms. Users will also be able to create scheduled linear rebroadcasts of archived content and deliver them to social media channels as live streams, enabling them to repurpose existing material into live-like experiences to attract new audiences.
“Customers using our managed CDN services can already deliver their live streams to social networks, but our upcoming new functionality will give our users more control, providing access to their archives to create linear rebroadcasts while letting them customize the visual presentation of the audio,” concluded Osburn. “We look forward to discussing this upcoming feature with IBC attendees and getting their feedback as we finalize its development.”
