With NAB Show 2016 nearly upon us, here's a review of Yospace's activity since the last show and a glimpse of what's to come.

Is it really time for NAB again? The head says surely not, but a glance at my Inbox and the broadcast media makes it clear NAB season is well and truly upon us.

Yospace’s presence at the event has grown year-on-year since our first appearance in 2011, but this one sees our largest presence yet – more space, more people – and it comes on the back of our busiest and most exciting year to date.

In the last 12 months Yospace has launched with 15 customers, including Sky, DIRECTV, Channel 4, ITV and firsts in France (BFMTV) and Chile (Canal 13). We now operate over 300 live channels across 4 continents – a figure that’s set to grow significantly with 5 more launches scheduled in Q2.

So what’s been the main the factor in the rise of server-side ad insertion since NAB Show 2015? The answer lay in the realisation that huge untapped audience exists for live television. Many live streaming projects, though by no means all, have been driven by major sporting events, such as the Copa América soccer tournament or Rugby World Cup, and these deployments, of course, have required an effective monetisation solution.

Yospace was very well placed to capitalise with our leading personalised ad replacement system, and the results of these deployments have been fantastic for broadcasters. Not only has an appetite for live television been discovered that many thought was on the wane, but view-through rates of ad breaks consistently passed 98% - a figure higher than the typical network average. Not only are huge audiences ready and waiting for live streaming, but when it comes to advertising it’s an incredibly valuable audience too.

"Live TV is precisely what Netflix, Amazon and YouTube cannot offer," said Kelly Williams, Commercial Managing Director of ITV, in a statement that reveals the true extent of broadcaster enthusiasm. Live streaming is not just another form of consuming content, it is the lifeblood of broadcasting, and Yospace is helping mould a future in which it thrives.

Put in that context, it’s no surprise that Yospace has experienced a bumper twelve months since NAB Show 2015. We’re already set to cover major events in 2016 including UEFA EURO 2016 and the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, but if NAB Show has anywhere near the impact it had last time then we’re set for our biggest year yet again.