Live-streaming is all the rage! Or, at least it’s getting there.
Having a live-stream of your online service or event can be pretty exciting and can provide numerous benefits besides tons of traffic. But before you jump head-first you’re going to want to consider a few things.
Here are 5 considerations to ensure success:
1. Cost
Although there are some free options out there you’re going to want to consider paying a few bucks (or more). Your audience will largely determine how much you end up paying so try to get as good a figure as possible before you jump in.
Sometimes it might be better to not overestimate the amount of people that will come to your event and instead keep it “closed” or limited.
2. Multiple Bitrates
The end user-experience is the most important thing for you to consider and if you want to make sure that as many people enjoy the experience as possible you’re going to want to account for the differences of connection in terms of speed.
By providing multiple bitrates you can account for these differences.
3. Comprehensive Setup
A live streaming event is more than just one thing and you’ll want to make sure you’ve accounted for everything, including all the necessary equipment. Make a checklist if you have to:
- Cameras
- Encoders
- Cabling
- Internet Connections
- Lighting
- Production
- People
- Props
- And more…!
4. Testing it Well
You’re going to want to account for time for testing. Don’t skimp here. Launching without testing might be the stupidest thing ever.
5. Post Mortem Support and Maintenance
Even if your event is just a one-time thing you’re going to have to have some post-mortem process, either collecting feedback, managing the archived footage, etc.
And even during the event you’re going to want to be able to provide support for your users.
Great post, John. I always was a fan of Livestream, with their nice desktop software and all, although I feel like many churches use it and take the cheap way out which can definitely cause viewership to suffer. The main reason is advertisements. I don’t think many people want to sit through a 30 second ad for shampoo before attending church.
Cost I think is a big factor, cameras etc are expensive!
But that means that, at least right now, there aren’t too many highly visible web streams that are plain crap. That might not actually be true, just the ones I’ve seen have been super high quality, because they come from churches with the budget for it.
Soon we’ll probably see church web streams that are the quality equivalent of this.
Hey Stephen- the “this” link is junk man. Please be more careful when you link- especially without identification of the link. Thanks.
~Nick
One of the biggest pitfalls that a lot of churches aren’t taking into consideration when broadcasting live on Sundays are licensing issues. I still don’t get it, but I know we’re not doing anything more than the sermon (only in the event of severe winter weather when transportation issues are limiting people from coming in) until we’ve got it all straight. I heard too many churches who “just did it.”
I’ve wondered about licensing issues with live webcasting as well. I can only imagine how many churches are just running with it without considering it, especially if they’re providing video of the worship music.
Great post. Can anyone shed some light on the Encoders? What do people suggest & how much $ are we talking?
Encoders can be found in live audio and video capture software. (Encoders BTW is just something that can convert information from one format to another.) Here’s an example of Adobe’s live encoder – http://www.adobe.com/products/flashmediaserver/flashmediaencoder/
Cost is related to size and quality. Like what John said, Free to thousands if you really wanted high quality, self hosted streaming.
#4 is so important.
i’ve helped a few different ministries within campus crusade test the livestream process.
what’s been helpful is to try to bring as many people into the testing process (skilled and inexperienced). if it does go well and it’s just you or one other person then it’s hard to see the broadcast refine and develop.
also try different platforms, and the various options within in the platform.
we’ve used livestream a lot, and have experimented w both the procaster software and their studio.
One thing I love about the video at LifeChurch.tv is that Craig addresses the folks on the other side of the camera as if they’re in the room with him. He does an especially good job of making the Church Online congregation feel just as much a part of the church as the IRL folks.