Read original story on: The Verge
This past Saturday night, the welterweight boxing championship match between Mayweather and Pacquiao captured the nation’s attention. Yet the pay-per-view content providers HBO and Showtime weren’t happy when they found out that a handful of paid viewers used live-streaming app Periscope and, to a lesser extent, rival app Meerkat, to re-broadcast the fight to thousands of non-paying fans. Twitter CEO, Dick Costolo, even declared Periscope the “winner” of the night via a tweet, but the obvious piracy issue here no doubt undermined such victory.
Despite the complications it causes in re-broadcasting live events, the rise of live-streaming apps also brings content creators new channels to connect with an increasingly fragmented audience. HBO itself used Periscope to offer a behind-the-scene look into Manny Pacquiao’s dressing room via Twitter. When it comes to live-streaming, like many new media platforms before it, there may be more potential that could be utilized by media owners than its downsides.
