With Ustream, Inc. off the market, what live streaming video services remain for consumers and small businesses alike?

Putting an end to the speculation, IBM has officially announced its acquisition of live streaming company Ustream for an estimated value of $130 million. 

The acquisition is deemed to be a part of a new cloud video services unit that IBM is working on. Braxton Jarratt, the CEO of ClearLeap, Inc. which IBM acquired in 2015, has been chosen to lead this new cloud video services unit. The new unit will be comprised of four acquired companies – Ustream, ClearLeap, Cleversafe, and Aspera.

“IBM doesn’t shoot from the hip. One of the things we were impressed with when we started engaging with IBM [last Fall] was there was a big master plan behind this acquisition. Sometimes companies make purchases in reaction to a move by a competitor. That was clearly not case here. This was a well thought out plan to incorporate video into a [cohesive] cloud unit,” Jarratt explained in an interview with TechCrunch.

The acquisition is expected to boost the company’s video offerings for corporate clients using IBM’s cloud suite. No word yet as to whether Ustream’s services will be discontinued after the acquisition has been finalized, but in case it does, we’ve rounded up some alternative services that could fill the void.

Ustream alternatives

YouTube Live streaming

YouTube may be the last thing on your mind when looking for a live streaming service, but the feature to live stream has been around since 2011. To get started, just go to https://www.youtube.com/live_dashboard_splash to setup a live streaming account. A user will need to provide a phone number, which YouTube will use to verify the user’s account.

Once the account is setup, the user will be provided with a link that can be used to publicly host streams. From here, users can start streaming game play, news, music, sports, tutorials or just about anything a user wants to share with the rest of the world. The service also allows live streamers to interact with their audience as well as customize audio/video, monetize the show with ads, make a highlight reel, and more.

Livestream

Livestream LLC allows users to either watch or broadcast live stream videos. Users can watch live local news, sports, music, conferences and other events from all over the globe.

Users can broadcast live from their smartphone, tablet, connected cameras, laptop or computer and also watch live video feeds by accessing the service from Livestream.com or Livestream apps.

Send a link via Facebook, Twitter, text message or email to invite friends to watch live, and even interact with viewers via Livestream’s built-in chat. Users can follow people on Livestream and get notified when their doing a live video stream as well as use iOS and Android devices as well as a Roku, Inc.  set top box to watch live streams.

Twitch

Formerly called Justin.tv, Twitch (Twitch Interactive, Inc.) has now grown as the world’s leading social video platform and community for gamers. It is home to 1.7 million unique broadcasters per month and over 100 million community spectators gather to watch and talk about video games.

Twitch caters to  game developers, publishers, media outlets, events, casual content creators, and the entire esports scene. Twitch offers an app for iOS and Android, which users can use to watch live streams or video on demand as well as chat with other gamers. Users can also use Chromecast to send live streams from their mobile device to the big screen. Twitch users can use Nvidia Shield, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, or Xbox 360 to broadcast games.

Bambuser

Bambuser AB offers different tiers that cater to different live streaming needs, from a free personal account to other tiers that offer varying viewing hours and audience reach, as well as player and page customization. If you’re an app developer for iOS or Android, you can use Bambuser’s Iris platform which allows live broadcast videos to integrated in your mobile app.

Facebook Live

Introduced last August, Facebook Live was first made available to celebrities so they can share their daily activities with their fans. Before the year ended, the live streaming feature began rolling out to more users.

Using Live is as easy as updating one’s status. Tap on Update Status then tap on the Live Video Icon. Users can write a short description of the stream as well as choose who can watch the live stream. While live streaming, users can see who are tuned in, the number of live viewers as well as real-time comments. Unless the Live video is deleted, it will automatically be uploaded to a user’s Facebook Timeline. Facebook users will see videos from friends and public figures they follow on their News Feed, and if they like the live stream, they can hit the subscribe button so they get alerted when a new video is being broadcast.

Periscope

This live stream app got its roots as a real-time resource for those seeking updates on protests and other socially impactful events around the world. Periscope, now owned by Twitter, Inc., allows users to broadcast live video to the rest of the world and instantly notify a user’s followers when videos go live.

The audience can interact by commenting and sending hearts, and when the live broadcast is over, the user can choose to make the video available for later viewing or not. Periscope is available for iOS and Android, and is a great tool for streaming live videos on the go.

Meerkat

The Meerkat (Life On Air, Inc.) app allows users to directly stream to their Twitter followers by pressing the ‘Stream’ button. When a user goes live, followers will be notified that a live video has started streaming. Streams are watched live, but unlike Periscope it does not allow for replays.

What Meerkat offers is re-streaming of streams that have been saved to the Meerkat Library. This allows viewers to re-stream any stream and everyone can watch any stream on the web. Viewers will be able to interact and comment on live video streams, and can even take over a user’s stream if they wish. Meerkat is available for iOS and Android.

Blab

If you enjoy watching people talk with each other, Blab by Bebo may be the right fit for you. This could be best described as a live talk show between friends. Users can initiate live video conversations with up to four people on a split scree and viewers can watch this conversation.

Blab is currently in beta, but it offers a way for people to easily find interesting conversations in real-time, or watch out for upcoming Blabs and even watch replays. This can be a great tool to initiate a debate between friends, or just a fun way to talk about anything under the sun as others could join the conversation. Blab is currently available to iOS only.

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