The Wowza Video™ platform is updated on a regular basis. Refer to this article for information about software updates, such as new features and functionality or bug fixes, to the user interface. Updates to the Video user interface and API are also posted in the What's New panel of the Video user interface. For a list of current major features in Wowza Video, see Wowza Video Features.
Note: For information about updates to the Wowza Video REST API, see Wowza Video REST API release notes.
New features and functionality
2024
December 17, 2024
We're excited to introduce server-side ad insertion ad schedule in Wowza Video for videos! With this ad schedule, you can insert pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll ads in your videos based on the ad insertion points configured in the videos.
Server-side ad insertion provides your viewers with an enhanced viewing experience and minimizes the impact of ad blockers.
Note: Server-side ad insertion is currently only available for videos and not live streams.
For more information, see Get started with advertising in Wowza Video and Create a server-side ad insertion ad schedule in Wowza Video.
Note: The SSAI ad schedule feature is currently offered under limited availability, meaning the functionality is available to select Wowza Video users. If you need this functionality, please email us at customerservice@wowza.com.
December 13, 2024
You now have the ability to create a countdown to when playback starts during custom live stream creation. Viewers can see the countdown through Wowza Flowplayer once you create the countdown timer.
Why use a countdown timer?
- Audience Engagement: A countdown creates anticipation and excitement among viewers, keeping them engaged and more likely to join at the beginning of the stream.
- Improved User Experience: It clearly communicates to the audience when the live event will commence, reducing uncertainty and enhancing overall satisfaction.
- Synchronization: For events with regional or global audiences, a countdown helps synchronize everyone, ensuring viewers join at the correct time irrespective of time zone variances.
For more information, check out our Create a Fully-Configurable Live Stream in Wowza Video article.
You can now disable, enable, or reset a stream target on a transcoder only when the transcoder is running and receiving the stream from your encoder or video source.
November 21, 2024
We’re excited to introduce the Quality of Experience (QoE) metrics in Wowza Video! These new insights are designed to help you analyze the playback performance of your video streams for an optimal viewing experience. The QoE metrics include:
- Video start time – Measures the time it takes for a video to start playing after a user initiates playback.
- Rebuffer count – Tracks the number of times a video pauses due to buffering.
- Rebuffer time – Indicates the duration of playback interruptions caused by buffering.
For more information, see Analytics page in Wowza Video and Analytics in Wowza Video.
The Quality of Experience metrics data is available starting from November 7, 2024. You can retrieve metrics data for streaming events occurring on or after this date.
Note: Quality of Experience metrics is a premium feature available exclusively to Wowza Video subscribers with an annual subscription. To access this feature for enhanced streaming insights, contact our sales team.
November 21, 2024
You can now configure autostart and autostop when you create Go Live Now or Custom live streams in Wowza Video.
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When autostart is enabled, a live stream automatically starts when the encoder or video source you’re using starts and sends a valid RTMP stream to Wowza Video.
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When autostop is enabled, a live stream automatically stops for however many minutes you set it to stop after the encoder or video source stops sending a valid RTMP stream.
You'll see a green banner in the Live Stream Details page over the Preview Player if you've enabled Autostart, indicating that your live stream is set to autostart.
November 13, 2024
There's now the option to start or stop all stream targets on a transcoder independently of starting and stopping the transcoder.
- The Enable all Targets option starts all stream targets on the transcoder. The transcoder must be running to select this option. If all stream targets are already enabled, this option will be disabled.
- The Disable all Targets option stops all stream targets on the transcoder The transcoder must be running to select this option. If all stream targets are already disabled, this option will be disabled.
The fields are located on the Transcoder Details page on the Outputs & Targets tab.
For more information, see the Transcoder Details Page in Wowza Video article.
November 5, 2024
If a live stream is a scheduled live stream and uses the embed code available via the Live Stream Details page, viewers will see a timer counting down to the live stream start via the player.
October 22, 2024
To simplify the streaming process, we already have a primary live stream workflow you can use in Wowza Video. Today, we introduce a secondary workflow that’s a more advanced, technological route to build and run your live streams. A new Advanced section in Wowza Video allows you to build live streams with standalone:
- Stream sources
- Stream targets
- Transcoders
Note: The Advanced transcoders, stream targets, and stream sources feature is currently offered under limited availability meaning the functionality is available to select Wowza Video users. If you need this functionality, please email us at customerservice@wowza.com.
Wowza stream sources simplify the process of configuring and managing transcoders to make it faster and easier for you to stream live video. They automatically detect the region you’re broadcasting in and automatically start and stop an associated transcoder, providing an instant connection between your source encoder and a Wowza Video transcoder.
A stream target is a destination for a stream that you add to an output on a transcoder. Stream targets can be Wowza Video™ edge resources or custom, external destinations. Stream targets let you create more flexible, scalable streaming workflows.
You can customize transcoding processes to suit all kinds of complex streaming workflows. It's especially useful for transcoding a live stream into multiple output renditions and delivering them to multiple stream targets, letting you reach a broad, widely distributed audience.
Custom transcoders accommodate all kinds of one-to-many streaming workflows. For example, you can transcode one stream to one output rendition (a passthrough stream), and send that one rendition to multiple stream targets such as YouTube and Ustream. Or, you can transcode one stream to multiple output renditions, each of which goes to the same or different targets.
See the following articles for more information:
- Control a transcoder with a Wowza stream source in Wowza Video
- Add a stream target to an existing transcoder
- Create a custom transcoder with many outputs and targets in Wowza Video article for more information
October 18, 2024
We've recently added the ability to select a time zone when you schedule a live stream.
October 15, 2024
We've enabled mid-roll ad positioning for server-side ad insertion (SSAI) supported by Google Ad Manager Dynamic Ad insertion (DAI). You can now configure mid-roll ads in Google Ad Manager 360 for your videos. For more information, see Manage mid-roll ads for video on demand.
August 27, 2024
We’ve introduced ad insertion points to add time-specific ad positions in a video which enables a better viewing experience and advertising opportunity. For more information on how to add ad insertion points, see Add chapters, subtitles, and ad positions to a video.
July 22, 2024
We’ve added real-time streams as a live stream intent. If you need to stream at near real-time in ultra-low latency and with large scale, this is for you!
You’ll need a Real-Time Streaming at Scale license. To enable and purchase capacity for RTS@S for your account and access the /real_time operations, contact 720.279.8163 or schedule a call.
To create a real-time stream, click real-time streams, then click Add new.
See Stream in real-time with Wowza Video for more information.
July 15, 2024
In Historic Analytics, you can now see the analytics data in your local time zone. Wowza Video uses the browser's time zone as the local time zone and filters the data accordingly.
July 11, 2024
We’ve added the ability to stream to social platforms from existing live streams. You can now send your stream directly to Facebook Live or LinkedIn Live through our direct integration. Or, stream to any RTMP-based platform, like YouTube, with the generic Add external service option.
To learn how to stream to social platforms, see:
- Stream to Facebook Live with Wowza Video
- Stream to LinkedIn Live with Wowza Video
- Stream to YouTube Live from Wowza Video
If you streamed to Facebook in the legacy version of Wowza Video, you’ll notice you can only stream to an account’s timeline now because of changes in the Facebook Live API.
June 27, 2024
In Historic analytics, we've extended the minute granularity of the viewers data to 8 hours. When you filter the viewer data, it is now returned in the following intervals:
- If you filter data between 0 minutes to 8 hours, the granularity of the data returned is by minute.
- If you filter data between 8 and 24 hours, the granularity of the data returned is per hour.
- If you filter data between 24 hours and 175 days, the granularity of the data returned is per day.
- If you filter data between 175 days and 14 years, the granularity of the data returned is per month.
June 26, 2024
We'll soon be replacing the existing IP addresses for Wowza CDN on Fastly stream targets. While the change hasn't gone into effect yet, if you stream directly to Wowza CDN from Wowza Streaming Engine, you should add these IP addresses to your firewall rules so your integration continues to work seamlessly when the change occurs. When we've completed the transition to these new IP addresses, you should remove the old addresses from your rules. We'll add information to these release notes when the transition is complete so you know when to remove the old addresses.
44.232.207.6854.245.251.13335.161.232.14613.124.180.1843.39.128.1713.39.185.1323.65.160.2453.76.110.12418.195.249.55
See Stream to Wowza CDN from Wowza Streaming Engine to learn more.
June 20, 2024
We’ve introduced a new ad schedule, GAM (Google Ad Manager) Dynamic Ad Insertion that allows server-side ad insertion (SSAI) supported by Google Ad Manager. With this ad schedule, you can set up SSAI in Wowza Video with pre-roll ads embedded into your video.
SSAI provides your viewers with an enhanced viewing experience and minimizes the impact of ad blockers.
Note: SSAI is currently only available for videos and not for live streams.
For more information, see Get started with advertising in Wowza Video and Create a GAM dynamic ad insertion ad schedule in Wowza Video.
June 11, 2024
We’ve made a major update to the account usage feature in Wowza Video so that the data aligns better with how your invoices are formatted. The Account Usage page shows aggregated usage data in units of measure (UOMs) for an entire account. You also have the ability to drill down to view account usage by dates and specific start and end times for a particular day.
You can use the date filter to select dates to filter your usage data by to compare usage data against your Wowza invoices. Anyone with an organization owner, billing manager, or Wowza Video user role can view the account usage.
For more information, view the Account Usage article.
May 31, 2024
As part of the new Wowza Video user experience, you now have access to the Wowza Video Legacy user interface (UI) through our UI switcher available in both interfaces. Toggling the switcher takes you from the new UI to the Wowza Video Legacy UI and vice versa. We've added this feature so you can gradually migrate to the experience during a transition period.
For more information, see the Switch between Wowza Video Legacy and the new user experience article.
May 22, 2024
In Historic analytics, we’ve updated the all-time analytics so that:
- If you filter all-time analytics for a live stream or a VOD asset, the From field defaults to the date of the first view received for the respective live stream or VOD asset.
- If you filter all-time analytics data for all live streams and VOD assets in your org, the From field defaults to the date of the first view received on either a live stream or a VOD asset in your org.
- If you filter all-time analytics data for live streams or VOD assets only, the From field defaults to the date of the first view received on your live streams or VOD assets.
May 20, 2024
We're excited to now introduce two clipping options in Wowza Video:
- Quick Mode – Creates clips along existing segments, which are typically 8-second segments. If you don’t need frame-by-frame precision in your clips, this is an efficient and inexpensive choice.
- Precise Mode – Creates clips by specifying start and end times, down to individual frames. While this mode offers precise control, the precision requires re-encoding the resulting clip, adding encoding costs and time.
Choose the mode that best fits your needs and budget with enhanced video clipping flexibility. For more information, see Clip and stitch a video in Wowza Video.
May 8, 2024
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In Historic analytics, you can now gather viewer data for your live streams or VOD assets as early as May 2022, or, from the date of creation of the specific live stream or VOD asset. To view all-time data for a live stream or a VOD asset, select the All time preset in the Time frame drop-down under Historic analytics.
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In Historic analytics, viewer data is now returned in the following intervals:
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If you filter data between 0 minutes to 3 hours, the granularity of the data returned is by minute.
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If you filter data between 3 and 24 hours, the granularity of the data returned is per hour.
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If you filter data between 24 hours and 175 days, the granularity of the data returned is per day.
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If you filter data between 175 days and 14 years, the granularity of the data returned is per month.
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May 2, 2024
We now have reliable and highly accurate live captioning available for Wowza Video through a partnership between us and 3Play Media. You use 3Play Media's platform for an easy-to-schedule workflow to schedule either:
- Live Automatic Captioning which utilizes automatic speech recognition (ASR) technology to provide real-time captions for your live events.
- Live Professional Captioning which relies on a professionally-trained human captioner to caption your event. This service has an automatic fallback to Live Automatic Captioning in the case that service is interrupted. Once resolved, your human captioner will automatically resume.
The 3Play platform also includes a simple dashboard to order and manage all of your live caption events in one location. To get started with live captions in Wowza Video, contact a Wowza representative.
For more information, view our Use live captioning with 3Play Media and Wowza Video article.
April 11, 2024
- You can now automate transcriptions for your videos with a wide range of languages available. Review the following articles for more information:
April 3, 2024
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We’ve added 24x7 channel as a live stream intent. If you need to broadcast continuously, this is for you! To create a 24x7 channel:
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Make sure you have 24x7 streaming enabled To enable 24x7 streaming, contact 720.279.8163 or schedule a call.
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Click Live streams then click Add new and select 24x7 channel.
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March 21, 2024
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You can now add a poster image to your live stream. Poster images display before the live stream begins.
Some stream types allow you to configure the poster image during stream creation. For all other types, you can add or change a poster image on the Settings tab of the live stream's details page. - Moved modification of source authentication from the Configure transcoder dialog box on the Components tab of the live stream details page to the Security tab.
March 15, 2024
We've added the total number of plays and displays above the Popularity chart in Historic analytics. For more information, see Analytics page in Wowza Video.
March 13, 2024
- We’ve added Stream a video as live as a live stream intent. Already have a recorded event you want to show again? Now it’s easy to stream your MP4 file just like it were a live event! To stream video content as live:
- Click Live streams. Then click Add new and select Stream video as live.
See Stream video as live in Wowza Video for more information.
- Click Live streams. Then click Add new and select Stream video as live.
- Fixed an issue where SRT streams allowed source authentication but didn't persist when set. Source authentication isn't allowed for SRT streams, so the option is removed from the Security tab on the live stream's detail page to avoid confusion.
February 8, 2024
We've updated the user experience in Wowza Video to take advantage of Wowza Video's versatile live streaming functionality and Flowplayer OVP's superior player, video content management system, ad insertion technology, video playlist curation, and player analytics.
Important: We're rolling the new experience out incrementally to our customers to ensure the best transition possible. We appreciate your patience and excitement as the changes roll out!
With this update, you'll get:
- Enhanced live streaming capabilities – Creating live streams is now easier than ever! You can choose what type of live stream you want to create and customize it according to your needs.
- Enhanced player configuration – Wowza Flowplayer is at the heart of this update. You'll also be able to have multiple players on hand.
- Enhanced video capabilities – Manage files, replace original files, clip and stitch videos, add subtitles, change poster images, create chapters, and create animated previews.
- Enhanced content management capabilities - Add metadata to improve findability of your videos with tags. Organize your videos with categories.
- Playlists – Curate and organize your video content seamlessly. Whether you're running a series of training videos or a collection of entertainment content, playlists streamline the process, making it more accessible to your audience.
- Advertising – For content providers looking to monetize their videos, the addition of advertising is a game-changer. By integrating advertising into your video player, you can maximize your revenue.
- Analytics – Gain invaluable insights into audience behaviors, preferences, and engagement patterns, enabling informed decision-making for content creation, marketing strategies, and platform improvements.
To support the video content management system change, we've released version 2.0 of the Wowza Video REST API. If you integrate with the REST API, make sure to review the major API changes in the Wowza Video REST API Release Notes and Migration Guide.
More resources:
- Overview of user interface changes in Wowza Video
- About Wowza Video
- Wowza Video upgrade
- Welcome to Wowza Video product tour — Interactive product tour in Wowza Video.
