Streaming Glossary
Definitions for 105+ streaming industry terms and concepts.
Business
SVOD
Subscription Video on Demand — a recurring-fee streaming model.
AVOD
Advertising-based Video on Demand — free streaming funded by ads.
TVOD
Transactional Video on Demand — pay-per-title streaming.
PVOD
Premium Video on Demand — early digital release of films at higher prices.
FAST
Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television — free live and on-demand channels.
Day-and-Date Release
Releasing a film on streaming the same day as its theatrical release.
Windowing
The sequential release of content across different distribution channels.
Cord-cutting
Cancelling cable or satellite TV subscriptions in favor of streaming services.
OTT
Over-the-Top — content delivered via internet, bypassing traditional broadcast.
Linear TV
Traditional scheduled broadcast or cable television.
Free Tier
A no-cost streaming plan, typically ad-supported with content limitations.
Freemium
A model offering both free (ad-supported) and premium paid streaming tiers.
Paywall
A restriction requiring payment or subscription to access premium content.
Subscription Fatigue
Consumer exhaustion from managing and paying for multiple streaming subscriptions.
Content ID
YouTube's automated system for detecting and managing copyrighted content uploaded to the platform.
Holdback
A contractual restriction preventing content from appearing on certain platforms or in certain regions for a set period.
Exclusivity Window
A defined period during which content is available only on one platform before other services can license it.
Theatrical Window
The period between a film's cinema release and its availability on home video, streaming, or digital platforms.
Output Deal
An agreement giving a streaming service first rights to license a studio's upcoming content as it is released.
Revenue Share Agreement
A streaming deal where the platform and rights holder split subscription or advertising revenue rather than paying a fixed license fee.
SVOD Bundle
A discounted package combining two or more streaming subscription services from the same company or partners.
Bundle
A combination package of multiple streaming services sold together, typically at a discount.
Churn Rate
The percentage of subscribers who cancel a streaming service in a given period, typically per month.
Serial Churner
A subscriber who repeatedly signs up for a streaming service, watches specific content, then cancels — often cycling back later.
ARPU
Average Revenue Per User — the mean revenue a streaming service earns per subscriber per month.
Content Spend
The total annual budget a streaming service allocates to producing and licensing films and TV series.
Ad Tier
A lower-priced streaming subscription plan that includes advertisements in exchange for reduced monthly cost.
Anchor Service
A streaming service a subscriber keeps year-round because it consistently delivers content they want, as opposed to services they rotate in and out.
Streaming Bundle
Multiple streaming services packaged and sold together under a single subscription price.
Technology
DRM
Digital Rights Management — technology protecting streaming content from piracy.
VPN
Virtual Private Network — a tool that masks your location and encrypts traffic.
CDN
Content Delivery Network — infrastructure for delivering streaming video globally.
Adaptive Bitrate (ABR)
Technology that automatically adjusts video quality based on connection speed.
HDR
High Dynamic Range — video format with wider color gamut and brighter highlights.
Dolby Atmos
Immersive 3D audio format available on select streaming content.
Transcoding
Converting video files into multiple formats and resolutions for streaming.
Latency
The delay between a request and the streaming service responding with content.
Buffering
Temporary pause in playback while the player downloads more video data.
Resolution
The number of pixels in a video image — higher means sharper picture.
4K Ultra HD
3840×2160 pixel resolution — four times the detail of 1080p Full HD.
HD (High Definition)
720p or 1080p video resolution offering significantly better picture than SD.
SD (Standard Definition)
480p video resolution — older format with less detail than HD.
Smart DNS
A DNS-based geo-unblocking service that reroutes only location-identifying traffic without encrypting the full connection.
Residential IP
An IP address assigned to a real home internet connection, as opposed to a data centre server.
Streaming Token
A short-lived authentication credential issued by a streaming service that authorizes playback of specific content.
HDCP
High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection — copy protection that secures the connection between streaming devices and displays.
HLS
HTTP Live Streaming — Apple's adaptive bitrate streaming protocol widely used across streaming platforms.
Bitrate Ladder
The set of video encoding profiles a streaming service prepares for each title to support different network speeds.
Static IP Address
A fixed internet address that does not change between sessions, used by businesses and some home internet plans.
Split Tunneling
A VPN feature that routes only selected traffic through the VPN while letting the rest use the regular internet connection.
Casting Protocol
A wireless standard that allows a phone, tablet, or computer to send video to a TV or streaming device.
IP Geolocation
The process of determining a device's geographic location based on its IP address.
DNS Leak
When DNS queries bypass a VPN tunnel and expose a user's real location to their ISP or streaming services.
Streaming Stick
A compact HDMI device that plugs into a TV and runs streaming apps without a set-top box.
HDMI ARC
An HDMI standard that sends audio from a TV back to a soundbar or AV receiver through the same cable.
Smart TV Platform
The built-in operating system on a connected TV that runs streaming apps natively without an external device.
Streaming Passthrough
When an AV receiver or soundbar sends an audio or video signal directly to the TV without processing it.
WebRTC Leak
A browser vulnerability where WebRTC reveals a user's real IP address even when using a VPN.
IP Blacklist
A database of known VPN, proxy, and data center IP addresses that streaming services use to block non-residential access.
Obfuscation
A VPN technique that disguises VPN traffic as ordinary HTTPS web traffic to bypass VPN detection and deep packet inspection.
AV1 Codec
An open, royalty-free video codec developed by the Alliance for Open Media, offering better compression than H.264 and H.265.
HEVC / H.265
High Efficiency Video Coding — a video compression standard that delivers roughly twice the compression efficiency of H.264 at the same quality.
Manifest File
A playlist file that tells a streaming player where to find each video segment and which quality levels are available.
Edge Server
A CDN server positioned geographically close to end users to deliver streaming content with lower latency.
Playback Session
A single continuous streaming session from the moment a user starts playing content to when they stop.
Rights & Licensing
Geo-blocking
Restricting access to streaming content based on geographic location.
Geo-restriction
Limiting content availability based on geographic location.
Streaming Rights
The legal licenses that allow streaming services to show content in specific territories.
Licensed Content
Movies and TV shows a streaming service pays to host but does not own.
Geo-spoofing
Making your internet connection appear to originate from a different country than your actual location.
Multi-Territory License
A single content deal granting streaming rights across more than one country or region.
Exclusive Distribution Rights
A content deal that prevents any other platform from streaming the same title in a given territory.
Territorial Waterfall
The sequential licensing of content across different territories, each at different times and price points.
Blackout Restriction
A broadcast rule that prevents a sports event from being streamed in the local market to protect in-person attendance or local broadcast deals.
Sports Broadcasting Rights
Legal agreements that determine which TV channels and streaming services can show specific sporting events in each country.
First-Run Syndication
TV programming produced specifically for syndication to multiple stations or platforms, bypassing the traditional network model.
EU Portability Regulation
EU law requiring streaming services to give subscribers access to their home-country content library when traveling within the EU.
First-Run Rights
The rights to premiere content before any other distributor or platform in a given territory.
Catch-Up TV
An on-demand service letting viewers watch recently broadcast TV episodes they missed, typically free and available for a limited window.
Sports Rights Cycle
The recurring process of sports leagues auctioning broadcast and streaming rights, typically on 3–7 year deals.
Sub-Licensing
When a streaming service or rights holder that holds a content license grants distribution rights to a third party.
Content
Simulcast
Streaming episodes simultaneously with their original broadcast in Japan.
Content Library
The total collection of movies, shows, and other content on a streaming platform.
Original Content
Films and series produced exclusively by or for a streaming platform.
Subtitle
Text displayed on screen translating or transcribing dialogue.
Closed Caption
Synchronized text that includes dialogue and audio cues for accessibility.
Audio Description
Narrated description of visual content for blind or visually impaired viewers.
Binge-watching
Watching multiple episodes of a TV series in rapid succession.
Co-production
A production financed and produced jointly by multiple studios, broadcasters, or streaming platforms, often across countries.
Global Simulcast
The simultaneous release of content across multiple countries or platforms at exactly the same time.
Prestige TV
High-budget, cinematically crafted television prioritizing narrative complexity and production quality over broad appeal.
Showrunner
The person with combined creative and production authority over a TV series — typically the head writer and executive producer.
Anthology Series
A TV series where each season tells a completely new story with a different cast or setting, unconnected to previous seasons.
Limited Series
A TV series planned from the outset to run for a finite number of episodes, with a complete narrative arc and no ongoing seasons.
Docuseries
A multi-episode documentary series exploring a single subject, story, or theme across several installments.
Streaming Models
VOD
Video on Demand — the ability to watch content at any time of your choosing.
Live Streaming
Real-time streaming of events over the internet as they happen.
Multiscreen
The ability to watch streaming content across multiple devices simultaneously.
Simultaneous Streams
The number of devices that can stream at the same time on one account.
Offline Download
Saving streaming content to a device for watching without internet.
Household Verification
A process used by streaming services to confirm that multiple devices accessing an account are located in the same household.
Password Sharing Crackdown
Policy changes by streaming services to restrict or monetize account access from outside the account holder's household.
Regional Sports Network (RSN)
A cable TV channel carrying local professional sports team games for a specific geographic market.
Content Aggregator
A platform that brings together content from multiple streaming services into a single browsable interface.
Streaming Index
A ranking or report that measures streaming service performance, catalog size, viewership, or market share.