Dacast

Dacast Inc. (formerly known as Andolis) is an online video platform that allows businesses to broadcast and host video content as well as offer free or paid programming.

Dacast, Inc.
IndustrySoftware, Media
Founded2008 (2008)
HeadquartersSan Francisco, California, U.S. London, England, U.K.
Area served
Worldwide
ServicesLive streaming, Video Hosting
Number of employees
40 (2019)
Websitewww.dacast.com

Unlike consumer oriented platforms such as YouTube or Facebook Live, Dacast is business-to-business (B2B). Over 155,000 video producers used Dacast by the end of 2019 including TV and radio stations, event production companies, school and university networks, church and house of worship networks.[1]

Dacast is headquartered in San Francisco with locations in London, Beijing, and Manila.

The platform was launched globally on October 26, 2010. Dacast users are located worldwide, including China as 北京维迪奥科技有限公司 (Beijing Video Technology Limited), but not in the countries specifically prohibited by the United States and European Union.

History

The company was founded in 2008[2] by Stephane Roulland and Aldric Feuillebois. Initially the service was based on the multicast peer-to-peer (P2P) technology, with Dacast being the product name, propriety of Andolis LLC.

This approach was abandoned because of a significant decrease in the cost of data, removing the competitive advantage of P2P.

In preparation for its official launch in 2010, Andolis renamed itself as Dacast.

Since 2013, Streaming Media Magazine has included Dacast among the lists of the 100 companies and 50 companies that matter most in online video[3][4]. In 2018 and in 2019, Dacast received the Streaming Media Readers' Choice Award for “Small/Medium-Sized Business Video Platform”[5].

In March 2019, Dacast acquired vzaar, a UK based online video platform[6][7].

Services

Dacast is a self-service[8] live video streaming solution and features an OVP video platform, video hosting, and a VOD (video on demand) platform. Its white label system allows users to control their live streams and VODs. Dacast positions itself as a cloud based SaaS solution (software as a service) with the following slogan: "Streaming as a Service".[9]

The platform allows users to monetize their video content[10] via an integrated paywall into the media player or via ads integration.

Technology

Dacast currently provides video and audio content distribution based on industry standard HTML5 technology. The stream ingest is RTMP and the stream delivery is supported in HLS and HDS formats.

The platform is compatible with different video file formats such as .MOV, .MP4, .MP3, .M4A or AAC and can transcode other formats to make them compatible with the service. The H.264 and X264 video compression standards allowing streaming in high-definition video (HD) are supported.

Viewing

Videos and live streams hosted on the Dacast platform can be embedded and viewed on the broadcasters’ websites, or on Facebook and Twitter social media platforms[11]

Dacast is available on Microsoft Windows, Mac OS & iOS, and Android. The platform can be used for both live and on-demand content.

Partnerships

Dacast is a NetAlliance partner with the content delivery network (CDN) Akamai,[12] known for servicing companies including Facebook, IBM and the U.S Department of Defense.

References
  1. Holck, Ryan (2016-01-29). "10 Church Live Streaming Providers to Consider". Churchtechtoday.com.
  2. Takahashi, Dean (2008-06-18). "Dacast offers peer-to-peer video streaming broadcasts". Venturebeat.com.
  3. Schumacher-Rasmussen, Eric (October 2017). "The List of the 100 Companies That Matter Most in Online Video in 2016". Streamingmedia.com.
  4. Schumacher-Rasmussen, Eric (October 2018). "The 2018 Streaming Media 50: The 50 Companies That Matter Most in Online Video in 2018". Streamingmedia.com.
  5. Streaming Media Editorial Staff (November 2018). "The 2018 Streaming Media Readers' Choice Award Winners". Streamingmedia.com.
  6. Munson, Ben (March 2019). "OTT tech firm Dacast buys video hosting specialist vzaar". Streamingmedia.com.
  7. Dreier, Troy (March 2019). "Dacast Buys Vzaar to Create More Powerful Streaming Platform". Streamingmedia.com.
  8. Takahashi, Dean (2010-10-26). "Dacast launches self-serve live video streaming". Venturebeat.com.
  9. Lawler, Ryan (2011-10-12). "Dacast's new SaaS business model: Streaming-as-a-service". Gigaom.com.
  10. Nguyen, Hubert (2010-10-26). "Dacast aims to help video content producers monetize their work". Ubergizmo.com.
  11. Lawler, Ryan (2011-04-18). "Want to Live Stream Over Facebook? Dacast Shows You How". The New York Times.
  12. Dreier, Troy (2013-11-06). "Dacast Announces Mobile Video Service, Partners With Akamai". Streamingmedia.com.
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