Choosing the Right Streaming Format: Evaluating Your Audience andResources

Now comes one of your most difficult decisions. Which format(s) should I choose that willserve my audience s needs? You ll struggle over this one. It might even keep you awake at night.The best way to cope is research, research, research. Understand and analyze your audience and theresources you have at hand as thoroughly as possible. That will lead to a good decision.

Professional media producers always start with the audience. Who is the man, woman, or childwe want to reach? What are their characteristics? Are we aiming at a mass audience or a nicheaudience? What makes our target audience different from the general audience? Once the audience isidentified, the message is tailored to resonate as strongly as possible with the target.

Streaming media producers also start with audience. But they have to ask some very specificquestions related primarily to the audience s capability to hear or view the content they produce.Put another way, television producers don t have to worry whether the family TV can show the Videoof the Week. That s because television technology is just about the same everywhere. But thecapabilities of office or home computers and their Internet connections differ wildly. Streamingproducers have to take these variations into account.

Here are some variables to evaluate as you decide which streaming media platform(s) work bestfor your situation.