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How To Create a Live Sports Streaming Website

How to Create a Live Sports Streaming WebsiteAre you a big sports fan who is looking for a way to easily stream live sporting events to your website and maybe even your TV? Maybe you are looking to stream your school’s sporting events or maybe you are just a proud parent that wants other family members living far away to be able to see your young prodigy playing his or her favorite sport.

While just a few years ago, streaming live sporting events to the Internet was extremely expensive and complicated, this is no longer the case. With the widespread use of high-speed Internet access as well as the drop in prices for camera equipment and high powered computers, almost anyone can now stream content to the Internet with relative ease.

Now that you’ve decided that you want to stream your content to a website, you are probably asking how you can make this happen. Well, thanks to a large number of streaming providers, getting your content in front of a wide range of people is not all that difficult.

Should You Use a Free Video Streaming Service?

When people are first creating video content for their website, they often are inclined to use one of the free providers available on the Internet to keep costs down. While this may be OK if your content is not going to be very popular, there are a number of disadvantages to using a free video streaming service.

  • Limited Customer Support – Free services often require that you have a strong understanding of how video streaming works. If you need some assistance along the way with getting your content online, a free service may not be the right fit for you.
  • Bandwidth Caps – Free streaming providers do not necessarily want your content to be extremely profitable. The more popular your content, the more resources that it will require, which can be difficult for a free streaming provider that may be hosting thousands, if not millions of other users’ content. By paying to host your content you can guarantee a certain level of service, which will allow your content to easily be viewed regardless of popularity. As your content becomes more popular, you will use more bandwidth, which may cause some free providers to cap the amount of people that can view your videos without severe buffering issues.
  • No Control Over Advertisements – Another huge disadvantage of free streaming providers is the ads that will be automatically placed before, during and/or after your videos are played. These videos are often catered to your user’s interests based on the genre of your videos. This means that while you work hard to attract visitors to your videos, other advertisers may “steal” your customers before they even experience your content. By paying to host your content you can control what advertisements, if any are shown alongside your video content.
  • Lack of Website Integration – While many free sites offer a way for your users to access your content from a mobile phone, they do not offer easy ways to embed their content onto your website. While it is possible, you often have to have knowledge of HTML or a CMS platform for this to work properly. Paid streaming providers often have tools which make it extremely easy to stream your sports content to your website.

TikiLIVE – Your Source For Creating a Live Sports Streaming Website

If you are looking for a streaming provider that can easily help you stream your sports content to your website, TikiLIVE should be at the top of your list. While TikiLIVE does offer a free account for low volume users, there are a number of reasonably priced plans that will allow you to stream your sports content to fans across the world without much effort on your part.

TikiLIVE is a well-known professional video streaming provider that is extremely easy to use, yet has a whole host of features that will be extremely beneficial as your content gains in popularity. Some of these features include:

  • Fully Featured WordPress Website – Creating your very own website to host your live sports content can seem overwhelming and difficult. The reality is that this doesn’t have to be the case – especially with TikiLIVE. With TikILIVE you have a fully featured WordPress website that is included with your account. Easily brand your website and allow your users to view your streaming sports content without leaving your website.
  • Mobile Support – As more people access streaming content from their mobile devices, it is important that your content can be viewed across all types of devices. This includes smartphones, tablets, computers and even TVs. With TikiLIVE all of your content can instantly be streamed across all of these platforms with no additional effort on your part.
  • Analytics – No longer do you have to guess as to what content is working well for you. TikiLIVE offers a full analytics suite that shows you which of your videos is receiving the most views so that you can constantly tweak your content strategy on a moment’s notice. TikiLIVE offers the same high level of analytics that larger companies rely on.
  • Pay Per View Options – TikiLIVE also allows you to charge for your content. As your content becomes more popular you may be surprised that some of your viewers would be willing to pay to watch your content. TikiLIVE offers a variety of options including selling tickets to live streaming events as well as offering pay per view services for users who missed the live stream and want to catch your content later.
  • Top Notch Customer Service – At TikiLIVE not only do you receive a world-class product, but you also receive world-class customer service. Whether you need to discuss your needs over the phone, through live chat or email, we are always here for you!

Start Streaming Your Live Sports Content With TikiLIVE Today

If you are ready to stream your live sports events today, contact us today! We can help you choose the right plan based on your needs so that you are poised for growth, yet not spending more than you need to.

The Best HTML5 Set-Top Box in the Market

The Best HTML5 Set Top Box on the MarketWith the spread of Internet streaming providers such as Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime, more and more users are looking to the Internet for their video content in place of standard cable television. While people are enjoying these services, they often do not want to give up their large TVs and comfortable living room couches to watch everything on their computers. Because of this set top boxes have gained in popularity over the past few years.

What is a Set Top Box?

A set top box is a device that connects to the Internet and streams video content to a television. These devices work similarly to cable boxes in that you typically have a channel guide to control what you are watching. As cable fees continue to rise, more and more consumers are looking to set top boxes as a way to save significant money each month while still being able to access their favorite video content.

TikiLIVE Offers Set Top Box Support

As we watched the rise in popularity of STBs, we knew it was important for us to offer this option to our customers, which is why we offer support for many different set top boxes.

Roku

Roku set top boxes are the most popular STBs on the market. Roku offers an easy to use graphical interface that makes watching digital content extremely easy. Roku was one of the first set top boxes to hit the market and because of this has had a fairly large head start on the competition.

TikiLIVE allows you to easily create a channel to be viewed on Roku devices. To create a Roku channel with TikiLIVE simply follow the steps below:

  1. To broadcast to Roku devices you must have either a TikiLIVE Midrange or Pro account. For more information on TikiLIVE accounts click here.
  2. You must use either HD WAVE or SD WAVE software to live stream content to Roku devices.
  3. After you have installed HD WAVE or SD WAVE you will need to launch the application, select both the video and audio sources and then select the channel that you will be streaming to.
  4. Click Start Broadcast to begin sharing your video content on Roku boxes all over the world.

Apple TV

TikiLIVE users can now also broadcast their video content to Apple TV set top boxes thanks to AirPlay, Apple’s new streaming technology. AirPlay allows users to instantly stream any video content from their iPad or iPhone to their Apple TV. This allows users to easily broadcast content on their TV without any complicated setup.

Chromecast

In much the same way that you can watch your TikiLIVE content on an Apple TV device through AirPlay, TikiLIVE also offers full support for Google’s popular Chromecast device. Simply access your TikiLIVE content on your mobile device and “cast” it to your TV with the simply click of a button. This will allow your users to enjoy your content on their TVs as opposed to a smaller mobile device.

White Label Set Top Box

At TikiLIVE we look at our white label set top box as the best HTML5 set top box on the market. This device offers a whole host of features that allow our users to create their own IPTV networks with little effort. Using a white label set top box offers a number of large advantages over some of the other set top box options listed above.

  • Branding: With your very own white label set top box you are able to completely control the branding of your device. Have the best of both worlds with the proven infrastructure of TikiLIVE along with your own brand logos to show your users that you are serious about your video content.
  • Reduced Competition: With your own set top box you control all of the content that is featured on your device. With set top boxes from Roku, Apple or Google your content will be featured alongside hundreds if not thousands of other streaming providers. This means that you are forced to standout among a multitude of other competitors, which can be difficult.By using your own white label set top box you control all of the content that is featured and avoid having to appear alongside some of the big providers such as Netflix, Hulu and Amazon. While these providers all offer great content, depending on your video streaming options you may want to distance yourself from these competitors.
  • HTML5 Support: HTML5 is the latest web technology that allows content to be streamed efficiently and with little buffering issues. TikiLIVE’s set top box offers full HTML5 support to ensure that your content is delivered reliably at all times.

Partner With TikiLIVE for Your Video Streaming Needs

Not only does TikiLIVE offer full set top box support, but we also offer a whole host of other features that make our video streaming service one of the best values among streaming providers. Some of the features that our users seem to enjoy the most include:

  • Mobile Support: In the same way that our white label set top box utilizes HTML5 technology, this also allows mobile users to easily access TikiLIVE content. Whether your viewers are accessing your content from their mobile phone, tablet or set top box, know that your content will be delivered in a format that matches their preferred device.
  • Top Notch Customer Support: We understand that it may take you some time to get up to speed with all that we have to offer. Because of this we are more than happy to work with you over the phone, by email or through our live chat option on our website.
  • Analytics: Not sure which of your videos is the most popular? With TikiLIVE you can easily track the popularity of all of your content to determine where you may need to tweak your strategy.

Answers to All Your Questions

If you would like more information about any of our services, feel free to contact our support team with your questions. We’ll be happy to help you in any way we can!

Content is King!


 
In the past year, TikiLIVE has grown significantly! Not only have we advanced our delivery platforms, we have also super sized our library of premium content!
 
Whether you are providing your own content or are in search of premium channels to extend to your clientele, TikiLIVE has you covered. Our new wholesale options allow you to provide premium HD TV to your subscribers fingertips from almost anywhere at anytime!
 
Choose from a plethora of stunning high definition options, all capable of streaming to countries all over the world! content such as Dream Works, Red Bull House Media, EURO Channel, and even Freckle TV for the kids plus many more!
 
Not only are all these channels available within the U.S., they can also be distributed internationally for a much broader, more available customer base.
 
TikiLIVE is a complete live streaming platform that allows users to deliver high definition content via computers, mobile phones, tablets, and even to televisions through set-top boxes.
 
Monetize your HD streams with pay per view. TikiLIVE delivers up to 1080p high definition channels and VOD. You may now create your own channels and start your own broadcasting or cable business. Like to learn more? Contact us for a full demonstration and platform review.
 
To see a list of all our available channels, visit our page here. For more information just fill out the online “Contact Us” form, or speak with us directly at 305.743.6722.

Linux Streaming Server

Linux Streaming ServerVideo and audio streaming has seen an explosion of growth over the past few years, due largely to the availability of high-speed Internet access as well as the popularity of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. This growth is likely to continue as technology improves and Internet speeds keep climbing.

As a video streaming provider this is all good news, but it is important that you ensure your content can be accessed efficiently at all times. Your video content is likely key to your brand and the last thing you want to do is deliver this content in such a way that turns off your customers or fans.

Customers with growing customer bases are looking more and more to dedicated streaming server solutions, many running the Linux operating system. You may be asking why choose Linux for your streaming server? Below we’ve attempted to answer this question and show you how you can implement a high-powered Linux streaming server without having a highly technical background.

Benefits of a Linux Dedicated Server

Linux is a robust operating system that was first released by Linus Torvalds in 1991. Linux was originally developed as a free operating system and is the most popular operating system for servers and mainframe computers for a variety of reasons, a few of which we’ve highlighted below:

  • Security: One of the primary reasons why Linux is used so readily used in the business world is due to security. Linux is based on the Unix operating system, which is innately secure and limits administrative privileges to only the administrator or root user. In a Linux system, users are limited to certain kernels of an operating system to keep the entire system protected.
  • Stability: Another huge benefit of a Linux dedicated server is stability. If you are running a dedicated server, downtime can cost you dearly. With Linux you can rest easy knowing that your server will be stable over the long haul. Linux servers rarely crash, which is great for small to medium sized businesses that are greatly affected by these types of issues. Furthermore, the majority of changes to a Linux server can be done without actually rebooting the server compared to Windows servers, which must be rebooted after most system changes.
  • Hardware: Other operating systems like Windows often require significant system resources due to their heavy digital footprints. Linux is extremely light and therefore can run on a server with much less memory and system resources.
  • Cost of Ownership: Because the Linux operating system is free, it is much less expensive to run a Linux server compared to other dedicated servers. With other servers you are forced to pay hefty licensing fees for software that can really add up over time.

Do You Really Need a Dedicated Streaming Server?

You may be asking yourself if you actually need a dedicated Linux streaming server and this can be a complicated question. Generally, as your content becomes more popular it requires more resources, which shared streaming services often can’t provide. Below are several reasons why it may make sense for you to use a dedicated server to handle your video streaming content.

  • Control: This may seem obvious, but when you are using a dedicated server you have complete control over the machine. You do not have to worry about another user hogging server resources, which in turn can greatly affect your user’s experience as they access your videos.
  • Scalability: Dedicated servers offer extreme flexibility as your user base grows. While you may only need a low-level dedicated server at this time, upgrading to a more powerful dedicated server is relatively easy, especially if you are using a managed provider like Gobyt, which can handle the entire process.
  • No More Sharing! With shared video hosting you are sharing disk space, CPU, RAM and network access. This shared access can be extremely taxing on a machine, which results in your content slowing and appearing choppy. This is one of the most frustrating things for an end user to deal with when watching video content and should be avoided at all costs. With your very own Linux streaming server, you only have to worry about how much resources your content is consuming as opposed to worrying about what everyone else is doing!
  • Robust Technical Support: When you choose a dedicated hosting provider such as Gobyt, you are not only receiving a high powered dedicated streaming server, but you are also receiving a high powered support team. A team of experts that is able to spot problems before they become larger issues will manage your dedicated server. This allows you to focus on creating great content as opposed to worrying about how your server is being managed.
  • Speed: Because your content will be hosted on a dedicated server, you can expect must faster load times for your video content which will be welcomed by your users. With shared hosting you have no control over the speed of your content, which can be extremely frustrating to you as well as your end users. End the headaches with a dedicated Linux streaming server.

Gobyt: Your Linux Streaming Server Provider

If you think that it may be time to upgrade from a shared hosting solution to a dedicated server, Gobyt should be at the top of your list. Gobyt and TikiLIVE can provide you with a Linux dedicated server that is optimized for video streaming as opposed to other dedicated server options that may not have everything you need.

TikiLIVE has been designing and managing dedicated streaming servers for a number of years and will bring that experience and knowledge to the table when working with you on a live streaming solution. Why trust your streaming needs to a company that doesn’t specialize in video hosting? Gobyt and TikiLIVE are the perfect team to ensure your video content is hosted safely, securely and is poised for growth.

For more information on our Linux streaming servers, contact us today!

The Best Software for Live Video Streaming

The Best Software for Live Video StreamingIf you are looking for the best software for live video streaming, you have all sorts of options online. With literally hundreds of providers vying for your business how can you ever know who to trust or who to choose? The reality is that you need to look for a provider that offers a full featured video streaming service and has a team of experts who are available should you need help.

TikiLIVE is a leader in live video streaming and has developed a loyal following of users that want to provide high quality video without all of the complicated software and tools that have been required for so long.

When you are looking for a live video streaming service, make sure that whichever provider you choose has the following features to allow your content to be easily viewed across as many devices as possible.

Robust Infrastructure

With all of the free live video streaming providers available you may think that you don’t need to pay to disseminate your content to your users. The problem with this approach is by using a free service you lose all control as to how well your content will be streamed.

Think about thousands of users trying to access videos from you as well as other video providers using these free video streaming services, all at the same time. This amount of traffic can be extremely taxing on servers and results in buffering and an overall slowdown of your content. When your users have to wait for content they will almost always go somewhere else to find someone who has a properly designed streaming infrastructure.

TikiLIVE offers a robust content delivery network that is able to adapt based on your content’s popularity. The more popular your content becomes, the more resources that will be available at your disposal. Isn’t that the name of the game? Why choose a free provider that is sure to let you down right when your content really begins to take off?

Easy to Use Software for Live Video Streaming

For years if you were to stream content from a computer you had to invest in expensive software and equipment. This prevented many people from even being able to afford to create video content. Now with the advances in technology, it does not have to cost a fortune to create and stream live video to people around the world. Even as the cost of live video streaming software has fallen, the complexity of these programs has not.

TikiLIVE has worked hard to develop an extremely easy to use video streaming solution. One way that this is accomplished is through the use of our HD WAVE software. This software is extremely easy to use and is available for both Windows based PC’s and Mac’s. The software allows anyone to stream live video and audio from their computer with ease. All that is required is a video device, which can even be your onboard video camera. After installing the software you simply select the TikiLIVE channel to which you will broadcast and click “START BROADCAST.” Learn more about how TikiLIVE’s HD WAVE software can work for you.

Mobile Streaming Capabilities

While broadcasting video from your computer is convenient, your computer won’t always be there when you need it. Many times things happen quickly and all you have to capture a riveting video is your cell phone or tablet. If you choose a video streaming provider that does not offer mobile streaming capabilities you could be out of luck when something big is about to happen.

TikILIVE has worked hard to ensure that your content can not only be created via mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets, but also that your content can be easily accessed by your users from these same devices. As the proliferation of smartphones continues across the world, you must cater to the mobile segment of your user base or risk losing out on a significant amount of traffic. With full HTML5 support, TikiLIVE allows your users to enjoy your content across all types of devices.

Complete Advertisement Control

One of the main objections of free video streaming providers is advertisements that preempt most videos and pop up throughout the video. This forces your users to see ads that may drive them away from your content before they even see what you have to offer. This can be a huge problem for companies who are trying to reach their target audience.

TikiLIVE gives you full control over advertisements in your videos. If you would like to monetize your content through ads, you totally can, but you never have to worry that a viewer will see irrelevant ads or even worse – ads for your competition!

So while our free plan does have ads, you can always upgrade to a paid plan that allows you to remove or even create ads of your own. The key is that with TikiLIVE you have control over whether or not you want to use ads within your video content.

Pay Per View Content

With many video providers the goal is to post your content and have it be viewed by as many users as possible, often for free. While this is great to get your name out into the marketplace, it does not typically generate income for your organization or business. This is why TikiLIVE offers pay per view opportunities that allow you to charge for the live broadcast of your content or even charge users to view your content long after the live broadcast is complete. This allows you to passively generate income long after you created the video content. How’s that for a return on investment?

Ready To Graduate To The Big Leagues Of Live Video Streaming Providers?

Then contact TikiLIVE today and discover which of our plans will work best for you and have you streaming your video content on our robust platform in no time at all.

Create Your Own Live Streaming Website

Create Your Own Live Streaming WebsiteIs your current website feeling dated and not providing the interactive tools that are required to grow an online audience in today’s fast-paced, technologically-driven economy? If so, you are likely trying to think of ways that you can improve your website and also grow your brand online.

As high speed Internet access has become common throughout the US and beyond, the doors have opened that allow website owners to create websites that are truly interactive, as opposed to just static HTML pages that were a bore for viewers. Today, thanks to the huge popularity of streaming video, website owners can easily create sites that have embedded videos covering everything under the sun.

Choosing The Right Provider For Your Live Streaming Website

You’ve likely already decided that you need to step your content creation up a notch by adding streaming video to your website, but you may not know exactly how. Thankfully there are a number of providers that offer turnkey options that allow you to be up and running with your own live streaming website in a matter of minutes. While there may be a large number of providers that claim to easily host your content, you must be careful to choose a provider that is not merely providing lip service when it comes to delivering a robust video streaming platform.

TikiLIVE Offers Robust Infrastructure to Handle Your Streaming Needs

While some free video hosting sites may be fine if you have just a few videos to share, if you are looking to grow your audience you need a partner with plenty of experience in live streaming services. TikiLIVE offers an entire suite of services that allow your videos to be seen across a myriad of devices, all without the common buffering issues that have become the norm on many free streaming sites.

Take note of the following features, which set TikiLIVE apart from the competition when it comes to reliability:

  • Robust Content Delivery Network – TikiLIVE features a content delivery network with servers strategically placed around the world to better deliver content to our users. This allows your content to always be served in the most efficient way – even if you receive huge spikes in traffic.
  • Mobile Support – With more users accessing the Internet from their mobile phones and tablets each day, it is incredibly important that your content be accessible across all devices. Out of the box, TikiLIVE supports access from all types of smartphones as well as tablets. With full HTML5 support, your users will be able to enjoy your content on any type of device that they may have.
  • IPTV Options – While more and more people are accessing video content online, there is still a large contingent of people who prefer to access video content through their TVs at home. TikiLIVE understands this need and fully interfaces with the popular IPTV device from Roku as well as our own brand of set top boxes, which are available for white labeling.
  • WordPress Integration – With TikiLIVE, your live streaming website is already embedded into your account. Simply access your WordPress site from within your TikiLIVE control panel and be publishing videos to your site in a matter of minutes. WordPress is an extremely easy to use CMS (content management system) that will allow you to quickly and easily distribute your content to your loyal website visitors.
  • Social Media Integration – When you publish videos, are you actively pushing them on your social media accounts? Many businesses struggle with consistency, which is why we offer features that allow you to completely automate this process. As soon as you publish a new video to your channel, you can instantly update your social media profiles to draw additional traffic to your site. Social media is a great place where people are willing to click and watch videos – especially if they align with a person’s interests.

How Should You Use Your Live Streaming Website?

So you now have seen the many features of TikiLIVE and how it can easily host all of your video content, but you still may have questions as to what type of video content you should host on your website. Thankfully we’ve compiled a short list of common ways that our customers have used videos to add interactivity to their websites while building and enhancing their brand at the same time.

  • Customer Testimonials – If you are looking for a great advertising vehicle for your website, never overlook the power of testimonials. A video of a current customer who is in love with your products or services can work wonders online. People want to trust who they do business with and videos are a great way to build that trust with potential customers.
  • Facility Tours – Another way to show potential customers that you run a legitimate business is by showing tours of your facility on your website. Many of us forget how impressive our facilities really are until we get behind a camera and film how things work behind the scenes.
  • Product Demonstrations – Are any of your products hard to explain with only words? If so, a video can be your company’s best friend. Have one or two of your employees actually demonstrate your products to show potential customers how they are used. This can go a long way in terms of showing your website visitors how useful your products can be.
  • Staff Presentations – Online videos do not just have to be for your customers. You can also use videos to present new ideas and even conduct training sessions for your employees online. Think about all of the expenses that you can save by providing training and staff presentations online. This is especially true for businesses with offices in multiple locations across the country or even the world.

Ready to Build a Live Streaming Website?

If you’d like to learn more about TikiLIVE’s streaming services and support, contact us today!

How To Make Your Own Broadcast Channel

SBT-imgSo you’ve decided that you want to try your hand at video but you aren’t sure where to start. The good news is that you no longer have to spend a large amount of money to create your own broadcast channel. Thanks to the advances in technology you can easily make your own broadcast channel with a video camera or even a smartphone and an Internet connection. Gone are the days where you needed an expensive video camera, satellite truck and an entire film crew to record video. Today the Internet has bridged this gap and allows literally anyone to stream content to viewers around the world.

The Future of Video Content

While the cable monopolies have long had a strong hold on video content, this is no longer the case. Thanks to a variety of streaming providers such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and other independent providers, users can access a wealth of content on the Internet for a relatively small amount of money. Viewers can access this streaming content from their computers as well as their phones or tablets and on their actual televisions by utilizing various set top boxes from manufacturers such as Roku.

Benefits of Your Own Broadcast Channel

If you’re still trying to decide whether it makes sense to create your own broadcast channel, we’ve outlined a few benefits that may sway your opinion.

  • Full Creative Control: One of the complaints that many artists have when it comes to working with others is that you often lose creative control over your project. This can be very discouraging especially for those who have a set vision as to what their video content should look like. By creating your own broadcast channel you have complete control over the look and feel of your content without any outside input from others who may not have your best interests in mind.
  • Relatively Low Risk: In the past it was extremely expensive to create your own video channel. This is no longer the case thanks to cheap Internet access and the drop in equipment costs related to video cameras and computers. For a relatively small amount of money you can have your content broadcast online to your followers in just a few short minutes. Even if your content does not take off like you would hope, you will not have invested a large amount of money into fleshing out your idea. Don’t be the person who never tries to follow their passion based on fear. Providers like TikiLIVE offer a number of affordable monthly plans that allow you to inexpensively publish your content.
  • Build Your Brand: What better way to grow your following than with your own video channel. Creating high quality video content that is in line with your brand’s goals can quickly help to grow your audience. Video is a great way to build rapport with your users compared to bland email or website copy.

Choosing A Streaming Provider

After you’ve decided that you actually want to create your own video channel, choosing a provider can be tricky. Sure you may think that it’s ok to choose a free provider that promises to easily handle your needs – but is this okay? Free providers often force you to cut corners when it comes to a variety of key points, some of which are listed below:

  • Advertising Control: If you choose a free video streaming provider you are almost guaranteed that your videos will be riddled with advertisements. This is a huge disadvantage, especially if you are just starting out. Why would you want to show your users advertisements for content from other providers? One of the primary pillars of effective marketing is to engage the customer as long as possible. Free video providers go against this principle by constantly bombarding your users with advertisements for other content.
  • Limited Monetization Opportunities: Free video providers offer very little when it comes to ways to monetize your content. This is much different from paid video streaming providers, which offer options such as charging for your live content through digital tickets or even utilizing a pay per view business model to create passive income long after your live video is originally broadcast.
  • Bandwidth Issues: With a free streaming provider bandwidth limitations will always be an issue. It is in the free provider’s best interest to recruit as many users as possible to their service to increase ad revenue, which is the primary method that these companies use to make money. The problem with this approach is that the more people that use the free service, the slower the content becomes for everyone.

How to Make Your Own Broadcasting Channel

We hope we’ve already convinced you that “free” may not be all that it’s cracked up to be. At TikiLIVE we offer a variety of plans that can help you create your own broadcast channel on a relatively small budget. To create your own channel with TikiLIVE simply follow the following steps:

  1. Setup an account with TikiLIVE: TikiLIVE does offer a free account, but if you are looking to create a broadcast channel that will stream significant amounts of video, one of our paid plans is probably a better fit. Browse our plans for more information.
  1. Click on Live Channels: Once logged into your TikILIVE account, click on “Live Channels” under the Channels menu.
  1. Create a New Channel: You should now be on the Manage Channels page where you can click the “New Channel” button to create a new channel.
  1. Enter Channel Information: Once on the new channel page you will need to enter the channel name, a logo if necessary, a short description and a category.
  1. Click Save Channel
  1. Click Start Broadcasting: After you have saved your channel you can begin broadcasting all of your content to your very own broadcast channel.

Partner With TikiLIVE to Make Your Broadcast Channel A Reality

As you can see, creating your very own broadcast channel with TikiLIVE is extremely easy. If you have any questions along the way, feel free to contact us and we’ll be happy to help you!

Electronic Program Guide for IPTV

Electronic Program Guide for IPTV (REWRITE OF: electronic program guide)If you are looking to broadcast video content to your users, you have a wide variety of options. You can use traditional broadcasting methods such as television, which are often expensive, or you can harness the power of the Internet to deliver video content at a fraction of the price through IPTV.

IPTV Explained

Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) is a way for video providers to stream their content to a television through a set top box rather than broadcasting through traditional cable or satellite providers. IPTV allows content providers to not be hindered by the high costs and regulations that riddle the traditional cable and satellite industries.

IPTV Allows Everyone to Broadcast High Quality Content

Using IPTV combined with high-speed Internet access allows almost anyone to easily stream content to set top boxes and other Internet devices. Today, most smartphones and tablets can deliver high quality HD video, allowing content to be created without expensive video equipment.

Appeal of IPTV Broadcasting

Let’s face it – the traditional TV industry is in trouble. With outrageous monthly fees, consumers are turning to other alternatives when it comes to consuming digital content. Streaming providers like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon have seen huge success offering digital content to consumers through the Internet and set top boxes at affordable prices. These providers have seen a variety of benefits to utilizing IPTV as opposed to traditional cable or satellite including:

Lower Costs: The infrastructure involved in IPTV is much less than that of conventional cable TV distribution. All content is delivered over an IT network as opposed to expensive and dedicated coaxial cabling. This lowers the barriers to entry for independent content creators looking to easily disseminate their content to a wide range of end users.

Display Flexibility: With traditional cable television you were limited to watching your content on only a television. With IPTV, you can still watch content on a TV, but you can also watch content on a PC, Mac, smartphone or tablet.

Scalability: By partnering with a high-powered content delivery network like TikiLIVE, you are easily able to scale your video content. Traditional cable networks require additional cabling to grow their user base. With IPTV all users need to access your video content is high-speed Internet access, which is becoming more prevalent by the day.

HD Support: IPTV offers native HD support where traditional cable offers limited HD support and often requires expensive equipment to handle the HD signals.

Electronic Program Guide for IPTV

One of the ways that IPTV providers like TikiLIVE distance themselves from the cable industry is through an interactive program guide. Below are a few features that are standard with the electronic program guide from TikiLIVE.

Sophisticated Search Filters: With IPTV you have access to content from hundreds, if not thousands of sources. This sheer amount of content can sometimes be overwhelming. With TikiLIVE’s program guide you can easily use our embedded search filters to find the content that you want without a fuss.

Event Scheduling: With TikiLIVE you can easily pull channels from all across the world to provide to users within your custom IPTV network. TikiLIVE automatically scrapes each channel’s broadcasting information and populates your program guide so that users are always able to access relevant content through your broadcasting network.

User Friendly Display: Our program guide offers an easy to use display, which allows all of your content to be properly displayed for your users.

Additional Benefits of TikiLIVE and IPTV

While we have listed many of the benefits of IPTV, we now want to showcase some of the reasons that choosing TikiLIVE as your IPTV makes both common and financial sense. Below are just a few of the many features that our growing number of users continues to enjoy:

Pay Per View Capabilities: TikiLIVE’s robust pay per view capabilities can be fully integrated into your IPTV network to allow you to either charge for live content or charge for previously broadcasted content. This allows you to make money during live broadcasts and well into the future. TikiLIVE easily allows you to charge your users for content through an electronic program guide or online as well.

Mobile Support: At TikiLIVE we mention mobile support often only because we think it is the future of video streaming. With well over half of all Internet access coming from mobile devices, failing to address this segment of your user base is catastrophic. Think about being instantly able to grow your user base simply by offering support for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Through HTML5, TikiLIVE offers full mobile support right out of the gate, leaving you able to focus on generating content as opposed to how your users will access your content.

Pre-Built Website: After you have started to create video content you will likely realize that you need a website to further market your videos. TikiLIVE is one step ahead of you with our integrated WordPress website option. Through your TikiLIVE online control panel, you can access your WordPress website and post your videos with ease. This allows you to reach your users through a variety of methods without having the technical background that is often required to launch a website.

Social Media Integration: An important way to grow your user base is through social media. TikiLIVE offers social media integration that can allow you to easily post updates to Facebook, Twitter and Google+ all from within your TikiLIVE control panel. Social media management can sometimes seem like a full time job and this is why TikiLIVE makes posting to all of your networks extremely easy.

Ready to Launch your IPTV Network with TikiLIVE?

If you think the time is finally right to launch your IPTV network, don’t hesitate to lean on the experts at TikiLIVE for guidance. Contact us today to get all of your questions answered!

Best Video Streaming Software

Best Video Streaming SoftwareFinding the best video streaming software online can be extremely difficult. Everywhere you turn you see streaming providers claiming that their solution is the best and that no matter how popular your content becomes you will not run into issues with buffering or latency.

Can this all be true?

We’re here to tell you flat out that video streaming can be quite complicated and many of the other providers on the market are simply trying to entice you to move your content to their services and the truth may be a bit different than what they are describing.

Is Free Really Free?

Many providers offer free video streaming, which on paper looks like a great idea for a growing organization or business. The problem comes when you begin to look at what you have to give up in order to use these free video streaming providers.

Advertising: Free streaming providers have to make money somehow so they will often insert advertisements prior to and during your videos. This immediately creates a scenario where your potential customers are being pushed away from your content and towards products offered by other advertisers. This can be extremely frustrating – especially for businesses looking to expand their brand online.

Buffering and Latency: With free video streaming providers you’re often sharing server space with hundreds, if not thousands of other users. Let’s just say that one of your videos becomes extremely popular in a short amount of time. The problem is that depending on how popular videos are from other users you may have a situation where your customers or fans experience severe latency and buffering at the worst possible time. When your videos become popular you need to ensure that they can be delivered efficiently to prevent users from going somewhere else.

Lack of Branding: Another downside to free video providers is the lack of branding opportunities that are given to users. While you may be able to add logos within your videos, your users will quickly understand that they are on a free video streaming site when they are watching your content. This may be fine for the novice video producer, but if you are looking to build your brand you may want something a bit more professional.

Turn To TikiLIVE – The Best Video Streaming Software Available

TikiLIVE has been in the live streaming business for quite some time and understands the need for a premium streaming provider focused on delivering high quality content for your end users. Below we’ve listed just a few of the many features that you get with a TikiLIVE account.

High Quality User Friendly Streaming Software: Each of our customers has access to HD WAVE, our popular and extremely easy to use video streaming software. With HD Wave, you can easily stream your video content to your TikiLIVE channel with no prior video experience. In fact, if you are using your computer’s onboard video camera and microphone, recording video is as easy as opening HD Wave and clicking START BROADCAST. How’s that for streaming content to your users? Of course, if you have higher quality video cameras you can easy use those with HD WAVE as well.

Social Media Integration: When you are creating video content it is up to you to market it to the masses. One of the best ways that you can quickly get the word out about your video content is through various social media networks. TikiLIVE allows you to easily and automatically post your videos to your social media profiles to help grow your user base. Think about how many videos you watch on social media and realize that with very little effort your content can be instantly shared to your social media profiles for others to enjoy.

IPTV Capabilities: With TikiLIVE you are not just limited to Internet users. You can create an IPTV channel that can be viewed by users with Roku devices as well as other set top boxes. No longer do your users have to sit in front of their computers to enjoy your content – they can sit back and relax on the couch and still catch up on all of your video content on their TV.

Mobile Support: According to market research, more than half of all Internet users are now accessing the web from their mobile phones or tablets. This is a huge number and if you are not reaching out to this segment of your user base then you are undoubtedly missing out. TikiLIVE offers full HTML5 mobile support, which allows your users to access your content from their iOS or Android phones and tablets. This functionality is available to all of our customers for no additional cost.

High Level Infrastructure: TikiLIVE has put a large amount of time and effort into developing a high level content delivery network that allows our users to experience content that is not riddled with the latency and buffering issues seen from so many other video streaming providers. Our network is setup so that it is able to grow as your user base grows. We understand that the more popular your content becomes, the more resources you need and the more important it is for your content to stream reliably for all of your users.

High Quality Customer Support: A website and email cannot replace live customer support. We offer a variety of support options including phone, email, and live chat so you can get help right when and exactly how you need it.

Ready to Try the Best Software for Video Streaming?

Then it’s time for you to take a look at the different plans we offer and see which one best meets your needs. If you have any questions along the way, feel free to contact our support team!

Live Stream Your Next Conference and Save Money

Live Stream Your Next Conference and Save MoneyAs companies look to adapt to the constantly changing economic and technological landscape, many challenges arise. Some companies have done a great job of harnessing the latest technological innovations to improve processes and even save money, while others have continued to struggle to adapt to the changing world around us. Has your company been able to adapt to the latest technology and use it to stay relevant and profitable?
One way that companies are cutting costs and improving efficiencies in the workplace is through the use of live video streaming for conferences. In this article, we will go over some of the benefits of this emerging technology and show you how you can also join the ranks of the companies that are using live streaming technology to conduct conferences with employees and even customers around the world.

Benefits of Live Streaming Your Next Conference

• Cost Savings
It is important to watch every business expense to ensure that no money is going to waste. However, minimizing the cost of attending and hosting conferences can be pretty difficult. Sure, a company could refuse to attend, but this would create resentment among employees and ultimately hurt morale – not to mention deprive them of new ideas and skills that could benefit your business in the long run. The problem remains that travel, lodging, food, and other costs add up quickly. Even if the conference is just an internal company wide event, if you have multiple locations you are looking at significant expenses before you even rent the venue.

By utilizing live streaming technology you can avoid the majority of the costs that go into planning and executing a traditional conference. Simply create video content and stream it to anyone you’d like to attend. Content can be pre-recorded or streamed live, but either way you’ll be able to open up your conference to many more people than a standard venue could even support. If your company is hosting a conference for your own employees, you now can allow each and every one of your employees to attend virtually, even those in lower paying positions.

• Convenience
Streaming your next conference online is all about convenience. Live streaming doesn’t just save you money, it also saves you time and other important resources. If you are putting on a conference somewhere away from your corporate headquarters you have to put someone in charge to handle all of the many details regarding the venue, any speakers, catering and much more. By streaming your conference online, you can potentially avoid the majority of these headaches. Simply stream your conference from your office and bring in relevant speakers as you see fit. This should allow you to put on a high quality conference with very little stress.

• Environmental Benefits
Think about the many environmental benefits that can result from streaming your conference online. You will no longer need to fly people across the country and you can even save on all of the printed material that is typically distributed at a traditional conference. Provide your handouts in digital format along with your online video conference to allow you to not only save money, but save trees and the environment as well. Who can argue with these types of significant savings?

• Analytics
Do you have any sort of metrics to determine how well your in-person conferences were received by your employees or customers? The answer is likely not. By streaming your conference you can see detailed analytics and determine which areas of your conferences are the most well received and which parts you may be able to trim for next year’s event. In fact, if you really want to get creative you can create online questionnaires following the conference to get valuable input as to which parts of the conference were the most popular.

• Location Independence
In today’s fast paced business climate, employees are often viewing location independence and flexible work schedules as more important than income. By offering your conferences online you can allow your employees with remote work arrangements to still attend and feel like they are a part of the team. Employees or participants who work from home can easily attend video conferences from the comforts of their own homes as opposed to having to hop on a plane to travel across the country. You can offer these online conferences as another benefit, which many of your employees or employees will likely appreciate.

• On Demand Recordings
Are you always having trouble training new employees due to the complicated nature of your business? What better way to train new employees than by having them watch recorded videos of conferences where you shared extremely important information about your company? And not just conferences, any training videos you may already have can be uploaded and stored, so employees have access to these materials anytime they need them.

• Participation From Virtual Attendees
How many times have you looked out in the crowd at a conference to find the majority of people nodding off or playing with their phones? With online video conferences you can ensure this doesn’t happen by requiring your employees or participants to complete certain quizzes or questionnaires after watching your streaming content. This will encourage participation and help your participants to actually retain the information that you are presenting.

• Desktop Screen Sharing
Using HD Wave Deskshare, you can stream live HD content and publish your desktop at the same time. If you’re hosting a training session or video conference and want to highlight, explain, or show someone how to do something, you can actually do so by sharing your desktop. This means that anyone watching your live stream can follow along with you and see exactly what you see on your computer screen. Picture-in-picture (PIP) mode allows you to stream your webcam feed and your desktop simultaneously to provide the ultimate conference experience.

Ready To Stream Your Conference Online?

If you are ready to stream your next conference online, TikiLIVE offers a suite of solutions that will have you be up and running in minutes. Whatever level of service and support you need, TikILIVE has the robust infrastructure and committed customer service staff to handle your needs. To learn more about streaming your next conference and how it can save you money, contact us today!