Who should I stream with?

[Justin Wilcox]

I did a search and found nothing comparing companies. So if you guys could so kindly list your pros vs cons between CTV and SS, I would appreciate it. Its nearly impossible to find a review of both services on the net. Unless I just suck at Google.

 

[John Wetter]

What are your concerns, or what would you like to see compared with them?

 

[Joey Ketcham]

I don't get what you're asking, what exactly are you wanting to compare? Personally, I would stream either through UStream or Justin.tv, just my opinion but you would get a lot more viewership from known streaming sites than CTV or SS.

 

[Dan Robinson]

They all work just fine IMO. The question to ask is if streaming is really something you want to do. In my opinion, streaming is one of the worst things to come along in the chasing world in terms of cost versus benefit for the chaser. It's all cost (in more ways that one), no reward. Even the service providers don't see much from it. It adds significant workload to a chase (additional camera to buy and pay attention to). Media pays peanuts to use streams on-air (in the rare event they do pick your stream). It chews up your mobile data. Online viewers are generally unappreciative and demanding ("MOVE THE CAMERA NOW!!!" "WHY ARE YOU GOING *THAT* WAY???"). The additional task of babysitting the stream is a liability. Finally and most importantly, other than the 60 seconds someone is looking at your stream, nobody cares.

Streaming has already cost me dearly in making me miss shots I've been trying to get for a long time. I personally hate streaming and will never do it again. I'm amazed it's as popular with chasers as it is! Maybe that's not the kind of answer you were looking for, but just an honest take.

 

[Shane Adams]

I personally hate streaming and will never do it again. I'm amazed it's as popular with chasers as it is!

I agree with the first sentence, for the same reasons you mentioned. It was a lot of extra headache (even though when running, our picture was excellent), and to be quite honest, the payoff just wasn't worth it for us. After we accidentally streamed a chase with audio (we didn't realize the audio option had inadvertently been clicked) and it was a major hit with our audience, I wanted to do that all the time. However our provider at the time had a strict bandwidth limit which disallowed us to use audio, and I simply lost interest. To this day I won't watch a stream without audio.

As far as streaming's popularity, think it's twofold. You have new chasers coming up every year who are new to the technology, and the novelty draws them in. Secondly, you have the new breed of chasers who (IMO) have a main agenda of building an audience for their live streaming, to the point where they're actually addressing their audience throughout the chase, kind of like a virtual tour guide. From what I can tell, it seems the stream (and the audience) is just as important (if not more than) the storm.

Lastly, and to get back on topic, my advice on choosing a streaming service is (1) go with who you know or (2) just watch streams from the various providers. See which ones you like the presentation of, and which ones you find more annoying. That's an exact barometer for what you own stream will look like, and how the viewer experience will be. As far as operating them, from what most have told me they're all pretty much the same headache.

 

[rdale]

I use CTV and have no issues. I have agreements with two local TV stations, one pays me annually for unlimited usage of the stream (more if they want to re-air something big, and they are my former employer so I cut them a break ) and another pays me per newscast. So if I never see another cent, I'm still well ahead of the game. I'd suggest trying to get those sorts of deals if you really want to stream for a reason.

 

[Justin Wilcox]

Hey sorry for not getting back sooner. I was just looking for a simple comparison. Like "CTV is better because ___". Then I remembered I dont care enough to get all nitpicky.
I never really cared to stream before this year really. But I have family and friends that keep asking me to do it, so I made them pay for it . Its already become more of a hassle than I care for, just getting things up and running. Streaming is the last thing I want to worry about while im out there anyway, so if its working - fine, if not - well, its just not lol. Thanks for the replies guys.

 

[rdale]

It usually takes me about 10 seconds to start up the streaming software. If it's much more than that, you need to re-check

 

[ngjere]

Pretty much agree with the sentiments of the responses here. I decided to pull the streaming plug because I continuously found myself paying more attention to the health of the stream than the actual chase itself. As said above, it's cool but lends little value for the expense.

 

[Steve Miller]

I would go with ChaserTV but I'm a bit biased .
Utilizing either streaming company for chasing is a solid bet as exposure of your feed will be much higher than if you're trying to promote yourself on a ustream-type system. Presentation of your feed will be in line with what your viewers are searching for; i.e. your location in reference to a storm.
Regarding ROI of streaming, if you drop an email to your local TV station and make an arrangement to stream weather for them, it can be a reasonably good deal. Also, make arrangements with one of the more reputable video brokers. They have access to buyers as well.

Streaming isn't hard.

 

[ngjere]

I've become extremely disappointed in ChaserTV this season. At the beginning of the year when ownership changed hands, I, like many others were led to believe that there were going to be many improvements made to the site by the beginning of April. Thus far, very few have been implemented and I've attempted to contact the owner both through the private forum and direct e-mail to find out the status and I'm met with nothing but radio silence. I can be extremely sympathetic to those attempting to implement new ideas, abilities, and updates to a website and they don't go quite as planned, but don't ignore your "bread and butter" customers when they ask questions why things haven't taken shape as they were promoted.

 

[John Wetter]

I'll say the error handling of the software for SS is night and day compared to before. I honestly forgot I was streaming many times this spring because the stream just kept on going and I didn't have to babysit it at all. I stream because family like to watch it and it's low impact as far as my time... It's at the bottom of the priority list so if it is being a pain, it gets dropped, but that honestly hasn't happened yet this year so I'm likeing the SevereStudios experience right now!