Streaming is a part of everyday operations for many businesses. Even if content isn’t what your business does, it’s nevertheless an effective way to spread brand awareness and establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry. Several platforms known for real-time streaming, however — such as Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook — are limited to their own systems and aren’t designed to branch between. Is there a way to stream to multiple platforms at once? The good news is that yes, there is.
If you want to reach a broader audience, that’s where multistreaming comes in. What is multistreaming, though? It refers to the process of broadcasting a live stream to multiple platforms at the same time instead of just one destination. With centralized multistreaming technology, you could stream content to all of those platforms mentioned above without having to host your event more than once or record it for later. Let’s explore how this strategy works and how it maximizes your content’s visibility and engagement across different communities.
What is multistreaming vs. re-streaming?
First, we want to clarify something before we go any further: the difference between multistreaming and re-streaming. You’re likely to see both of these terms online and feel confused, but not to worry — they mean exactly the same thing.
Multistreaming and restreaming video (sometimes called multicasting, too) are synonymous, including in a Dolby context. Using this process empowers your business to expand its global reach and tap into varying audiences that might prefer different platforms. People who watch videos on Instagram might fall into different demographics than those who enjoy watching on YouTube, so multistreaming/restreaming allows you to broadcast to them both.
What is a multistream vs. simulcasting?
You’re also likely to come across the term “simulcasting,” which sounds similar but does mean something slightly different. We define simulcasting as a method of streaming during conferences or meetings to participants who use different devices and have varying network conditions. So, not the same as streaming across YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, but you are accounting for multiple streams that have different conditions to be met.
How does multistreaming work?
Multistreaming leverages software or cloud-based services that take your single live stream and redistribute it to multiple platforms. Essentially, you create one live feed and send it to your multistreaming service (such as Dolby), which in turn broadcasts the stream to various destinations like social media platforms, websites, or custom servers.
Here’s a basic overview of the process:
- Capture: Capture the footage for your live stream with a camera, microphone, and encoding software.
- Encode: Your software encodes the raw video and audio data into a digital format suitable for transportation over the internet.
- Stream to a multistreaming service: Instead of sending your stream directly to a single platform, you send it to a service like Dolby.
- Redistribute: The multistreaming or restreaming service redistributes your broadcast to your chosen platforms, ensuring it’s compatible with whatever necessary codecs and protocols to reach your audience wherever they are.
Benefits and challenges of multistreaming
Re-streaming has obvious benefits, but what is multistream technology’s downside? There aren’t many, but let’s cover a few pros and cons to the process.
Benefits of multistreaming
Increased audience reach: By broadcasting your content on multiple platforms, you can reach a larger and more diverse audience. Each platform has its own user base, so re-streaming allows you to tap into these communities simultaneously, saving you time and effort.
Enhanced engagement: Different platforms offer unique engagement tools, such as chat functions, reactions, and comments. Multistreaming empowers your business to interact with viewers across them all, boosting fan engagement and fostering community growth.
Improved content discoverability: The chances of viewers discovering your content increases when it appears on multiple platforms. This is especially important for growing your brand and expanding your online presence. You don’t want to become known as an Instagram-only brand; you want people from all digital corners to know who you are.
Cost-effective marketing: Multistreaming can be a cost-effective way to maximize your content’s impact without the need for additional marketing spend. You can reach multiple audiences with a single stream, reducing the need for separate marketing campaigns in each channel.
Challenges of multistreaming
Technical complexity: Multistreaming requires a certain level of technical knowledge and can be especially difficult if you use a patchwork or custom solution. It’s important to ensure you have a strong internet connection, functioning hardware, and robust software capable of handling multistreaming’s demands. Fortunately, multistreaming services like Dolby reduce the need for in-depth technical skills.
Multistreaming Bandwidth requirements: Streaming to more than one platform simultaneously can put a significant strain on your internet connection. Make sure you have sufficient bandwidth to maintain a high-quality stream on all platforms involved.
Platform limitations: Even if your multistreaming solution or service is excellent, you still have to navigate limitations that platforms themselves may enact. For example, Twitch enforces specific rules regarding multistreaming, which we’ll discuss later in this article.
Content management: Managing engagement, comments, and feedback across multiple platforms can be a lot to juggle, especially during live broadcasts. Make sure you have the manpower to monitor and respond to viewers on whatever platform they’re watching.
How to start multistreaming
Starting your multistreaming journey isn’t nearly as daunting or as complicated as it sounds. We’ll walk you through some of the general steps to begin multistreaming and how Dolby can simplify the process.
Step 1: Create streaming accounts on all platforms
Before you can begin, make sure you set up accounts on all the platforms you intend to stream to. This includes popular channels like YouTube, Twitch, and more. Remember to fully set them up with necessary branding, descriptions, and settings to optimize your presence.
Step 2: Choose your multistreaming solution
The right multistreaming solution can make or break your success. There are a few options on the market, but Dolby offers a robust streaming platform that simplifies the technical aspects of multistreaming and optimizes your content’s quality for when it reaches viewers.
Step 3: Configure your stream settings
Open your streaming platform and configure your settings such as resolution, bitrate, and audio that are appropriate for your content and audience. Select your destinations, too, which could include YouTube, Instagram, Twitch, and more.
If you’re using Dolby, you can configure your multistream from the dashboard when updating or creating a publish token. Depending on your plan, you’ll also be able to remove, add, or update any target endpoints where you want to forward your stream.
Step 4: Start your stream
Once everything is configured as you like, initiate your stream and trust your solution to deliver it smoothly to all of your selected destinations simultaneously.
Step 5: Monitor your stream
Keep an eye on your stream’s performance using its monitoring tools. Your chosen solution’s analytics tools should provide real-time feedback regarding stream quality, latency, and other critical metrics.
Step 6: Engage with your audience
Don’t forget to engage with your audience across all platforms. One of the benefits of live streaming is two-way interaction, so respond to comments and accept feedback to ensure a positive viewing experience.
Multistreaming FAQs
Multistreaming can be incredibly beneficial for reaching a broader audience and boosting engagement. It’s not without its challenges, and it may not be necessary depending on your content goals — you just need to evaluate the advantages vs. the disadvantages first (and in our opinion, the benefits far outweigh the technical complexities!).
Twitch updated its multistreaming policies in 2023. Affiliates were previously restricted from streaming to other platforms simultaneously, but the brand relaxed those rules and now allows multistreaming to short-form video platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
However, if you’re curious about whether it’s bad to stream on YouTube and Twitch at the same time, the answer is that doing so — along with multistreaming to Facebook Live — is still against Twitch’s terms of service for both affiliates and partners.
Yes, multistreaming is definitely legal. There may be instances where you cannot multi or re-stream on a particular platform, like Twitch mentioned above, but that depends on different platforms’ rules. There is no law against multistreaming.
If you decide to re-stream to three additional platforms, such as YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram, it will require three times the egress bandwidth.
Yes, there are free multistreaming tools and resources available, but they often come with limitations such as reduced stream quality, platform restrictions, or limited customer support. A paid solution like Dolby’s offers a range of plans, including options for organizations new to streaming and streaming pros, to ensure you have access to the highest quality tools you need.
Start streaming with Dolby
Multistreaming is a powerful tool for maximizing your content’s reach and engagement. Whether you’re an individual content creator or a business, the ability to broadcast your message across multiple platforms simultaneously can drive growth and visibility.
If you’re ready to start using multistreaming technology, Dolby offers a comprehensive solution that streamlines the technical process and ensures high-quality, low-latency broadcasts with minimal hassle. Contact us to learn more about how our multistreaming solution can help you broadcast to multiple platforms at the same time.
