A lot of people think that when you're doing live-streaming video, you connect directly to the audience. To do that with more than a few people, you'd need incredible upload speed.
Some local cable companies max out the upload speed at 5 Mbps. Only a few have “Google fiber.”
Streaming at 1mbps, at that 5 mbps, you could serve a live-stream to 5 people…max. That's not a lot. Lower the quality to a 500kbps stream and that still only gets a possible audience of 10.
Even those who do have access to gigabit internet would likely be limited by the terms of service. Typically they state that you are forbidden from running a server of any kind. Some have had internet service disconnected for this type of behavior.
One option is to order an industrial connection with adequate speed and bandwidth, --- one without service limitations. The problem is that option could easily cost thousands of dollars per month (if you could even get it in your area). It would only make sense for very large churches with dedicated staff to run a dedicated data-center.
As a result, churches and businesses use live-streaming servers that run out of data centers, not onsite. Let's look at some things to consider when choosing one.
There are really three categories here. You still can do a DIY set up with rented space on Amazon EC2, Rackspace, Google Compute Engine, or others. You could use a CDN (content delivery network) like Akamai or Limelight. Finally, you could go with a live-streaming host, which handles the backend work and makes things easy.
Staffing
If you don't have access to someone with the technical expertise to set up a DIY live-streaming server or a CDN, remove that from the list.
It's not that someone couldn't figure it out eventually, but it can be a daunting task.
In this category, the advantage goes to the live-streaming host.
Cost
Most churches don't have money to waste. There are always other priorities that would love to step up into the place left vacant by a better deal.
Consider whether your church is able to deal with fluctuations in the bill. What could save you money one month might take away that savings the next.
When the weather is particularly bad, like last winter, more people might stay home and attend online. When people are away on vacation, your numbers could spike.
What happens if your streaming program becomes popular and blows the budget? Shouldn't more people watching be a blessing? Some live-hosts are going to have a flat-rate option while CDNs and rented servers won't, so in that way, they have an advantage. If you budget for the spike, not the lull, any solution you choose would work. Don't let the budget decrease over the years and make sure to account for future expansions in audience.
Hidden costs
Is there a set-up fee? Does the service need special hardware? Do you need a software plug-in that you don't have?
In this category, the edge goes to the DIY solutions, if you already have the expertise.
Reliability
Outages should be the rare exception, not the rule.
Smaller services might have more problems in this area than larger ones. Amazon EC2, which is basically spare cycles on their servers, is less likely have this problem.
The edge here goes to either the DIY solutions or the CDNs because they've got the resources to prevent most of these problems.
Advertising and embedding
Free services often interrupt the live-stream for ads.
That kind of interruption could be costly to the audience depending on where it came in the service.
Another service prevents you from embedding the video in your website. As a result, all web traffic that should go to your church's site goes to this service.
When that church decides to switch to another provider, what happens? The audience might not be able to find it anymore.
Paid services trump free ones here; consider how you want to use the service to see if it permits what you need.
Server and software costs
With DIY route, the live-streaming software license costs could eat into any savings you my have. Some have monthly fees and when other costs are added, alternatives start to look better.
Amazon EC2 instances can be very inexpensive. Assuming five hours of streaming a month, it could be as little as $15.70 (monthly subscription + hourly rate for five hours). Left running for an entire month, though, an instance could cost over $1,000. The range of possible server configurations and cost per usage varies that much. Be sure you get what you need, not too much.
In this area, managed hosts win. You're not paying for software or industrial server usage all the time. There's less chance of error. Depending on the CDN, you might also get a good deal with less chance of expensive errors.
Customer service
Consider what happens when you find the perfect service and something goes wrong.
You're likely to notice the problem Saturday or Sunday. Will you be able to get a hold of someone to help you fix the issue or will you have to wait until Monday?
Should you pay a little extra to know there's an expert ready to help? It depends on whether savings or reliability is your priority.
Here, smaller companies might have the edge. You might get fast responses from owners while you'll wait “on hold” with larger companies.
This isn't that clear though. Larger companies do have dedicated staff and are available at all hours, so it could go either way.
Flexibility
Is the stream mobile-friendly? More and more people are watching from mobile devices, so you might want to consider that in the calculation.
You need to make sure it's supported and that you configure it properly.
Ability to leave
Do you have a long-term contract? Are you locked in because you made a hardware investment that you can't use on another service?
Moving from one solution to another should be a simple process that you could finish in a day or two. Be dubious of any streaming host that tries to lock you into their service.
The biggest culprits in this are some of the “big names” in live streaming. Your DIY solution won't have this problem, but neither will some of the smaller hosts and the CDNs.
Other features
What kind of analytics does the service provide? Can they get your live stream onto Roku and other set-top boxes? Do they offer DVR playback or the ability to schedule prerecorded services for people in other parts of the world? Do they provide any storage of media so that people can watch services from previous weeks?
Here you're going to get the most add-ons and analytics from a live-streaming host. Look for features you need, though. If the feature increases the audience size or saves you money, then it's worth it.
Analytics are the biggest thing that I think all churches should look for here. It's easy to justify the live-stream in the next business meeting if you can show 1,246 unique visitors from 52 countries.
Choosing a live-streaming host isn't easy. Do you choose ease-of-use or power? What about low cost versus customer service?
Because there are so many factors, I've chosen not to do a head-to-head comparison, but to just give you questions to ask.
Each church is different. Each will demand a different mixture of these factors as you choose whether to go with a DIY, CDN, or hosted solution.
