science

Streaming television

Streaming television is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Streaming television rather than just read about it. In short: Streaming television is the digital distribution of television media content, such as series and films, over Internet-based streaming media platforms. In contrast to over-the-air, cable, and satellite transmissions, or IPTV service, streaming television is provided as over-the-top media (OTT).

Key takeaways

Streaming television belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Streaming television to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Streaming television from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Streaming television is the digital distribution of television media content, such as series and films, over Internet-based streaming media platforms. In contrast to over-the-air, cable, and satellite transmissions, or IPTV service, streaming television is provided as over-the-top media (OTT). Television content includes productions made by or for OTT services, and acquired by them with licensing agreements. The length of a streaming television series episode can be anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes (some episodes may be longer). Similar to the running time of theatrical films, the average length of a film licensed or produced by a streaming platform is 90 to 120 minutes. Streaming television is available via paid subscription or as free ad-supported service. By 2023, streaming television represented 38% of global TV viewing with 1.8 billion subscriptions to streaming platforms. In 2024, streaming television became "the dominant form of TV viewing" in the United States. It surpassed cable and network television viewing in 2025. Of the top streaming platforms, Netflix had over 325 million subscribers as of December 2025, making it the most popular global streaming television service.

History

1990s Up until the 1990s, it was not thought possible that a television show could be squeezed into the limited telecommunication bandwidth of a copper telephone cable to provide a streaming service of acceptable quality, as the required bandwidth of a digital television signal was (in the mid-1990s perceived to be) around 200 Mbit/s, which was 2,000 times greater than the bandwidth of a speech signal over a copper telephone wire. Streaming services started as a result of two major technological developments: MPEG (motion-compensated DCT) video compression and asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) data communication. By the year 2000, a television broadcast could be compressed to 2 Mbit/s, but most consumers still had little opportunity to obtain greater than 1 Mbit/s connection speeds. The first worldwide live-streaming event was a radio live broadcast of a baseball game between the Seattle Mariners and the New York Yankees streamed by ESPN SportsZone on September 5, 1995.

2000s The mid-2000s were the beginning of television programs becoming available via the Internet. In November 2003, Angelos Diamantoulakis launched the streaming television service TVonline, making it the world's first television station to produce and broadcast content exclusively over the internet via web page. The online video platform site YouTube was launched in early 2005, allowing users to share illegally posted television programs. YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim said the inspiration for YouTube first came from Janet Jackson's role in the 2004 Super Bowl incident, when her breast was exposed during her performance, and later from the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Karim could not easily find video clips of either event online, which led to the idea of a video sharing site. Apple's iTunes service also began offering select television programs and series in 2005, available for download after direct payment. During the mid-2000s, the streaming media was based on UDP, whereas the basis of the majority of the Internet was HTTP and content delivery networks (CDNs). In 2007, HTTP-based adaptive streaming was introduced by Move Networks. This new technology would be a significant change for the industry. One year later the introduction of HTTP-based adaptive streaming, many companies such as Microsoft and Netflix developed their streaming technology. In 2009, Apple launched HTTP Live Streaming (HLS). Television networks and other independent services began creating sites where shows and programs could be streamed online. Amazon Prime Video began in the United States as Amazon Unbox in 2006 (but did not launch worldwide until 2016). Netflix, a website originally created for DVD rentals and sales, began providing streaming content in 2007. The first-generation Apple TV was released in 2007. In 2008 Hulu, owned by NBC and Fox, was launched, followed by tv.com in 2009, owned by CBS. Digital media players also began to become available to the public during this time. In 2008, the first generation Roku streaming device was announced. These digital media players have continued to be updated and new generations released. In 2008, the International Academy of Web Television, headquartered in Los Angeles, formed in order to organize and support television actors, authors, executives, and producers in streaming television and web series. The organization also administers the selection of winners for the Streamy Awards. In 2009, the Los Angeles Web Series Festival was founded. Several other festivals and award shows have been dedicated solely to web content, including the Indie Series Awards and the Vancouver Web Series Festival.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Logo used since 2024

Logo used since 2019

Logo used since 2024

Logo used since 2018

Logo used since 2025

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Streaming television

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Streaming television claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Streaming television before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Streaming television ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Streaming television

In research: Streaming television appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Streaming television in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Streaming television is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Digital television, Internet broadcasting, Internet television channels, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Streaming television outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Streaming television in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Streaming television means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Streaming television out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Streaming television in simple terms?

Why does Streaming television matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Streaming television?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Streaming television.