New live-streaming options for podcasters – TAP203

Here are the new live-streaming technologies I now recommend to podcasters who want to broadcast live.

Also, listen to my previous miniseries of episodes about live-streaming.

5 core requirements for live-streaming technologies

1. Modern-friendly—Must not require Flash, must work on mobile devices
2. Easy to use for visitors—Support easy logins, no confusion for playback (or auto-play option)
3. Embeddable and responsive—A single piece of code to place on your own /live site and work with responsive web design
4. Uninterrupted by ads—If there are ads, they must not interrupt the content (like Ustream has been known to do), getting a revenue share from ads would be a bonus
5. Inexpensive or free—Under $10–$20 per month to reach your whole live audience

The most important thing for you is to always have a central platform where you send people. That's why I recommend having your own /live page. Then, it doesn't matter what technology you use because you're always pointing people to the same page. This will remove the need to monitor multiple chat rooms.

Live-streaming video: YouTube Live / Google Hangouts on Air

I used to use and recommend either Ustream or Livestream for live-streaming video. But Ustream started interrupting content with ads; Livestream started pushing sexually driven ads for alcohol to my rated-G channel, and they switched to separate embeds for each show.

Then, Google+ Hangouts on Air was introduced and eventually offered also as YouTube Live. These two technologies are related, but not entirely similar.

YouTube Live is a live-streaming service that can be a broadcast destination from desktop software such as Wirecast, Adobe Flash Media Live Encoder, and others. YouTube Live can also be streamed from Google's own Hangouts on Air, giving you camera-switching, lower thirds, screen-sharing, and more without an additional app.

Google+ Hangouts on Air (HOA) is really the readily accessible front face to YouTube Live. When you host an HOA, you are using YouTube Live as the backend technology.

YouTube Live and Hangouts on Air events can be scheduled in advance and will appear in your YouTube channel's list of live events.

The beauty of YouTube live is its flexibility and workflow. All you need for an embed on WordPress is the YouTube URL or standard YouTube embed code (available when you schedule your event, and when you go live with an HOA). This now works everywhere.

Using YouTube Live / HOA is also an easy way to create video content for your YouTube Channel. These talking-head videos will have higher reach and retention than “fake videos” (podcast audio over just an image), but lower reach and retention than produced videos (where you're actually showing things).

You can make a YouTube Live / HOA event public and findable, “unlisted” but viewable by those with the link (or on your page with the embed), or “private” to those with invitations only. Thus, you don't have to be public in order to live-stream to your YouTube channel or use Hangouts on Air.

The big drawback to YouTube Live / HOA is that each event has its own URL and, thus, it's own embed code. But that's where the free IX Show Latest YouTube plugin for WordPress comes in! This plugin (which I now actively maintain) offers a single WordPress shortcode to embed the l