Humberto Farias, CEO at FanHero talks about the effect AI will have across the streaming technology segment in this short Q&A with MarTechSeries:

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Welcome to this MarTech Series chat, Humberto, tell us about yourself and more about the FanHero platform…

I’m a serial entrepreneur and have an extensive technology background in the areas of web-based applications, software development, mobile app development, business intelligence, data science, and artificial intelligence. I am a founding partner and CEO of FanHero, which started its operations in 2016.

FanHero is a video technology cloud™ company and the provider of an all-in-one, white-label live video streaming and over-the-top (OTT) solution based in Orlando, Florida. Since its inception, the FanHero platform allows businesses and creators to distribute and monetize content worldwide using its proprietary video technology cloud to power their video operations. FanHero offers a sophisticated video platform solution that is easy to use and delivers fast and reliable experiences for both content creators and viewers. The platform is capable of handling both on-demand and live video content and provides all the necessary tools to create, host, manage, distribute, and monetize videos.

How have you been seeing streaming platforms evolve over the years and what are some top predictions you have in mind for the near-future? 

Streaming platforms have increasingly gained market share over the past decade with large companies, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney Plus, conquering a significant portion of the market. Our prediction is that we will likely see a continued increase in specialized content and video interactivity powered by AI.

We see AI playing a role across the entire video content and video experience spectrum including:

1. Content prescription – The understanding, processing and suggestion of content by AI algorithms.
2. AI-assisted content – AI will play a more active role in the planning and production of content.
3. Video experience – AI will enable a more personalized video experience for users.

We also predict an increase in large platforms moving towards live streaming options as people crave watching content in real-time. We’ve seen this on Netflix, with Chris Rock’s live standup and the Love is Blind season 4 reunion. Many large streaming platforms already do this well, and I expect the ones with more on-demand content to continue to experiment with programming and shows that can take on a live streaming element.

Lastly, we are seeing an upward trend toward niche content being created more often as many viewers are turning to smaller, more specialized platforms that cater to their specific interests.

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In your view, what are some of the features/trends that end users or even creators and advertisers look for from streaming platforms and networks?  

End users are looking to engage with creators and brands in real-time. FOMO plays a role. Premium, exclusive, VIP access, and first-basis access also play a role. End-users are looking for curated content that specially promotes transformation.

Creators are looking for a way to easily distribute and monetize content worldwide and get access to their data. One thing that is becoming increasingly important to creators is the ability to “own” their brand and the platform their content lives on. This tends to be challenging with traditional social media platforms. Finally, the ability to use that data to promote further engagement, grow their audience and generate revenue.

We have noticed, based on a series of experiments, that brands tend to be more satisfied with partnerships with video creators for many reasons including: better engagement, real-time conversations with their customer base or potential customer base, and especially the ability to access data to improve their offerings. Overall, video and especially live streams tend to provide better ROI for brands.

As the marketplace for streaming services becomes more diverse, how do you see the impact of AI playing a role down the line?

AI is and will continue to play a very critical role. At FanHero, we have been using AI for video for almost five years. We see this making the biggest impact with descriptive analytics, or the ability to identify and classify things with AI. Down the line, the trend we’re looking at is the prescriptive aspect of AI, which is AI assisting in the process of creating content, and we think this will be extremely powerful in the future – think ChatGPT for video content.

If you had to control or change three things about the online streaming market today, what would they be?

The biggest thing I would change about the online streaming market is the decentralization of control. We should give more control to creators, allowing ideas and topics to flow freely. At FanHero, we want to empower people to create and express themselves freely without centralized control from both a content perspective as well as a creative perspective.

There is a high degree of control across social media and it’s a result of many things, and we want to give people the freedom to broadcast their true selves across the world.

A few common misconceptions about the online streaming platform and market you’d like to dispel? 

Most people think it’s difficult and/or they’re not capable of creating content, especially streaming content. You can get started in as little as a few seconds, and you can start creating content by simply speaking about something you love and are passionate about. We have the tools to just click and broadcast yourself, just like you’re having a conversation with anyone about something you like. We’ve seen many creators start streaming about a topic they want to create awareness about or want to teach others more about and it’s turned into a full-time career.

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