Broadcast Beat Magazine 2018 NAB Show Edition | Page 48
looks like.
Just because live streams need
improvement right now doesn’t
mean we can’t take the viewing
experience to the next level. It
just means there is tremendous
opportunity for growth.
What We’re Learning from
Trivia
Fixing delays and poor pic-
ture quality isn’t the only task
that live stream providers need
to address. Creating interac-
tive programs can elevate the
streaming experience as well,
and a hot gaming app is lead-
ing the way. HQ Trivia, the live
trivia game streamed to a play-
er’s phone, has become a viral
sensation. The game regularly
attracts more than a million
viewers, but has become noto-
rious for delays. How has a
game that can’t stream to a
few hundred thousand viewers
without regular system crash-
es create a more passionate
fan base than any streams pro-
duced by Amazon, Twitter and
Facebook?
HQ has created a formula for
engaging and interacting with
fans during games, and it’s
working. The game show pro-
gram focuses on viewer partici-
pation and encourages interac-
tion with a charismatic host
to foster audience loyalty. This
startup found the secret reci-
pe for viewer engagement. HQ
Trivia is a case study for com-
panies investing in this space
about the power of real-time
interaction. Although it’s quite
possible HQ will fade away as
most viral sensations do, espe-
cially given it’s rampant buffer-
ing issues, it’s given us a flash
of what engaging live content
Where are We Heading?
Although services haven’t been
perfected yet, we are heading
in the right direction. Facebook
and the NBA are both test-
ing new streaming services that
offer real-time interaction for
viewers. The streams still have
latency of 10 seconds or more,
but once that problem is solved
these two companies will be
offering engaging streams for
viewers in true real-time.
Outbidding other companies
and spending millions of dollars
exclusively on streaming rights
is not the key to dominating.
The key is developing a plat-
form that broadcasts in real-
time while encouraging viewer
interaction. HQ has developed
one of the most popular live
streaming services that we have
seen without nearly as much
money invested in it as the tech
giants are throwing at stream-
ing rights. These companies will
see a more positive response
when they invest in solving the
latency problem and creating
interactive platforms. The for-
mula for bringing streaming to
the next level is simple, and the
industry will get there just as
soon as it takes the necessary
steps.
48 • Broadcast Beat Magazine • www.broadcastbeat.com