Cassette-like Capabilities For A Live Stream

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Remember the days of the boom box and the SONY Walkman, when it was “so easy” to rewind, pause or restart a cassette tape? Of course, it was impossible to do the same to a live broadcast of an AM or FM radio station.


Those capabilities are now available, at least to a radio station’s audio stream. A Humboldt County, Calif., tech company is set to show how its tool works in front of a global audience.

SaaS-based streaming solutions provider StreamGuys will demonstrate the new “DVR-like” functionality for live streams at the upcoming IBC2018 conference and expo in Amsterdam.

The company’s SGrewind technology lets broadcasters automatically retain a rolling window of content from their live stream.

SGrewind will be a feature of StreamGuys’ SGrecast live stream repurposing and workflow managementsystem, which offers broadcasters a platform for recording live streams and transforming them into side channels and podcasts.

“The new feature gives listeners and viewers more control of their live streaming experiences by letting them pause and resume streams without missing any content; rewinding for a fixed time period; or starting the stream at a specific segment, similar to a television electronic program guide (EPG),” StreamGuys says.

Company EVP Jason Osburn says, “Media enterprises are constantly looking for new ways to differentiate their offerings against their competitors, and SGrewind provides effortless tools to give their audiences more convenience and control over how they consume live streams.”

SGrewind-enabled live stream control will be available through StreamGuys’ advanced media players as well as third-party players and apps. SGrewind will be supported in StreamGuys’ managed, embeddable SGplayer, while compatible players with rewind controls can be also generated from within SGrecast. An SGrewind API and URL-based control strings also allow customers to integrate SGrewind support into their own players and custom mobile apps.

Broadcasters with fixed schedules will be able to bring them into SGrewind to generate EPG-like controls. Rewindable streams will be available in both HLS and MPEG-DASH formats. Audio stream support will be available in the initial SGrewind release – currently slated for Q4 – with video support to follow.

“As we start talking to customers about SGrewind, they keep surprising us with additional use cases that we didn’t envision right out of the gate,” Osburn says. “We love helping them turn those unique ideas into reality, and we look forward to officially unveiling the technology at IBC2018 to get even more feedback as we finalize its initial feature set.”


StreamGuys will take the wraps of the new capabilities in stand 8.A59 at the exhibition (September 14-18 in Amsterdam), where the company will co-exhibit with ENCO.

1 COMMENT

  1. Actually, my BMW has had this capability with any and all audio coming from the dash. I know that some GM cars had this feature as well. You could also record your favorite audio, while you are away from the car and listen later.

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