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