The streaming industry in 2025 is undergoing a seismic shift, driven by consumer behavior changes and cutting-edge AI technologies.
According to Deloitte’s 2025 Digital Media Trends report, social video platforms now dominate, with users spending 6 hours daily across media formats. At the same time, AVOD and FAST models are gaining traction, with 90% of adults engaging with ad-supported streaming platforms, as highlighted by the VAB. More than that: according to PwC’s report that 57% of executives believe their current business models may not remain viable in the next decade.
At Unified Streaming, we've been monitoring these shifts closely. AI is rapidly transforming content creation, distribution, and monetization strategies. Platforms like TikTok and YouTube continue to reshape viewing habits, and we’re at a crucial “adapt or die” moment for the industry. These emerging trends are guiding our mission to provide innovative, scalable solutions to help the streaming industry thrive.
AI: from experimentation to implementation in streaming
AI is no longer just an idea. It’s becoming a core part of streaming operations. NAB Show 2025 showcased how AI is improving workflow automation, content discovery, and monetization. AI tools are handling tasks like transcription, improving search results, and delivering more relevant ads through dynamic ad insertion (DAI).
But AI also brings challenges, particularly around security and copyright protection. As AI integrates deeper into the industry, managing data and metadata effectively becomes critical.
Have you heard about Unified Streaming’s content density concept? Creating video recaps without duplicating content can be simplified even more with AI. Pull the stream to one of the AI solutions, gather the metadata, and create perfect clips with Remix. Then provide your viewers with highlights. Easier than ever.
Monetization challenges: embracing FAST, AVOD, and other revenue streams
Streaming models such as FAST (free ad-supported streaming television) and AVOD (advertising video-on-demand) are growing rapidly, helping streaming platforms generate revenue while keeping content free. Finding the right balance between ad load and user experience, though, is a challenge. Bombarding viewers with too many ads can drive them away.
Hybrid models, which combine ads, subscriptions, and transactions, are becoming more popular since they help reduce churn. Technologies such as dynamic ad insertion (DAI) and Server-Guided Ad Insertion (SGAI) are gaining popularity, enabling the delivery of more targeted ads across various platforms.
Live sports are still a major revenue driver, but platforms must keep up with low-latency streaming and manage high costs of sports rights.
Theme
Key challenges
Opportunities & solutions highlighted
FAST/AVOD
Balancing ad load vs. user experience, ad relevance at scale
Contextual advertising, dynamic ad insertion (DAI), FAST channel curation
At Unified Streaming, we are actively addressing such challenges. Use Unified Virtual Channel to launch FAST, pop-up, sports, or other channels to experiment and get quick wins. Stream with ads and do ad replacement. Enhance your customer experience metrics with concepts like improved video startup times.
From clouds to hybrid, optimizing the infrastructure
During NAB 2025, a key focus was hybrid cloud strategies. Using cloud services for scalability during peak demand and on-premises infrastructure, hybrid cloud strategies can get companies predictable workflows. This approach reduces costs while maintaining high-quality performance.
The more this model is adopted by customers, the more vendors are challenged to provide services that work seamlessly across hybrid environments.
Unified Streaming products offer the flexibility to deploy solutions in public clouds, private clouds, or on bare-metal infrastructure, ensuring a seamless experience across all platforms. Our solutions are optimized for high-quality content delivery, whether for live stream or on-demand content.
Content protection: securing streams and fighting piracy
Piracy remains a serious threat to streaming platforms. At NAB 2025, vendors showcased solutions to fight piracy using multi-layered protection including DRM key rotation, watermarking, and encryption.
As AI grows, new threats like deepfakes and digital deception are emerging, which require new protection measures. Here comes C2PA.
Unified Streaming’s anti-piracy solutions are built into our platform, offering advanced protection for high-value content such as sports streaming. With features like high-frequency key rotation and forensic watermarking, we ensure your streams remain secure, even in the face of evolving digital threats. Additionally, we're actively contributing to and advocating for the new standardization of C2PA to make this approach more beneficial for the entire industry.
The rise of short-form and creator content
Short-form video is booming, especially among Gen Z, who now spend more than three hours per day on TikTok, YouTube, and other platforms. This shift is forcing traditional media to rethink their strategies and to adapt to the growing demand for users who prefer vertical videos and shorter forms.
The creator economy, valued at $250 billion, is blurring the lines between traditional and social media. Streaming platforms are actively downloading their clips to UGC (user-generated content) and social platforms to attract a wider audience and gain more viewers, who are hooked and later converted into subscribers.
Unified Streaming’s technology supports the shift to short-form content, offering tools to deliver content in vertical formats across devices. So you can easily share high-quality streams with your mobile viewers.
