Companies of various sizes are utilizing webcasting to attract new consumers with diverse sales campaigns, arrange conferences with distant employees, and organize training programs, along with taking up more qualified people in their teams. Nevertheless, for a webcast to prosper it should be professionally produced — with an unambiguous sound system, smooth video, and high-quality features. This can be in the form of social networking or downloadable content. Talking about the cost of streaming videos, it majorly depends on the sort of service, the content, and the standard of production.
Similarly, for those who don’t know the difference between online streaming and live streaming, online streaming services get you everything at one place that you can watch when YOU are online (connected with the internet) although you can watch it later as well, while live stream or webcast shows you everything when they were online and it is not pre-recorded and edited before posting. People relish both streaming services these days and prefer to watch live streams (in real-time) at times catch up on it later or some quality content on the online streaming service’s portal they have subscribed to.
We all have been typically and traditionally cable customers for decades now where spectrum cable and the likes have been ruling our houses throughout the US. But things are changing now, live streaming/webcasting are the new normal, or all you get to see is streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney Plus becoming a part of our households or lifestyles, gradually. However, in this article, we will figure out how expensive it can be on average to stream live video(s). So, without further delay, let’s get to the factors and an estimate on how much expenditures we can have if we try this out.
Finding a provider
Two of the most prominent online streaming platforms are livestream.com and Ustream.tv. However, you have the option to choose providers operating on a small-scale, such as Chisel Multimedia located in Smyrna, Georgia. Livestream.com provides monthly deals for consumers who love to stream videos quite often; this costs around $42 to $800 a month with a variety of features. Other than this, Ustream.tv also provides monthly plans for $99 to $999, along with the opportunity of a 30-day free trial. Small-scale providers provide one-off pricing for solo events that cost $100-$200.
Bandwidth
There can be a concealed cost for bandwidth to hold-up a live stream. It depends on your provider though, they give you an initial allocation of bandwidth, then make payment for the surplus amount, the cost per bandwidth ranges from 30 cents to $2 GB.
Video production
There is a difference between the filming part of the event and the streaming service on the internet. This has a major impact on the entire expense of webcasts/live-streaming. The cost of video production ranging from $1500 to $5000 for one day and this includes high-quality cameras, videographers, and event managers and producers. The daily cost is based on the time rate, i.e., the time the videographer works at an event, the high-quality equipment that he uses, and the level of involvement in the event.
 Some factors that are involved in the cost of streaming a live video:
Viewing Time: The cost for broadcast will vary proportionally with time. So, you got to watch out for that.
The number of Viewing Minutes: These assess the number of people who will watch the broadcast and takes into consideration the average time. There is a major contrast between 50 viewers viewing the whole 1-hour broadcast and 1000 users viewing 5 minutes of a 1-hour broadcast.
Image Quality: It majorly relies on image quality. 300 Kbps is the least quality you can work with, it will look fine in a small window but not very impressive on a big screen. The most usual quality is 800 Kbps, it is not quite up to the level of a DVD, as DVD is better. However, some users might not value this because of inadequate internet.
Final Thoughts
The expenses for streaming live videos vary based on what and how you want. This scenario is pretty similar to what we usually do with anything else as well. You have to decide your budget and check the availability of live streams that fit your bill, doing this will enable you to find the best match. By now you understand the factors influencing the prices, and before you sign up for anything, you must be well aware of it and what you are signing up for.
