How Publishers Win the Live Sports Streaming Era | David Dembowski, Streaming TV Architect

Streaming Delay Sets The Stakes

Tim Rowe, State of Streaming 0:45

Football season is here and the NFL is going more global than ever in 2026. But did you know that if you're streaming the game online, you could be almost a minute behind your neighbors who are watching on the traditional broadcast? So why is this streaming delay such a massive business problem? And how is it impacting the live sports experience for fans and advertisers? Today, David Dembowski joins the show to break down the business of live sports streaming. With the NFL expanding its global footprint, we discuss the 5Ds of modern media, how tech giants like Amazon and YouTube are pulling NFL market share, and what publishers need to do to actually delight fans this season. Make sure to hit subscribe to stay ahead of the game all season long. We've got a very special NFL All-Pro Legend coming up. Let's get into the episode. During Super Bowl 60, research firm Stats Perform placed spotters inside Levi's Stadium and measured the delay between an on-field event and when it appeared on screen across every major distribution platform. Viewers saw as much as a 62-second delay, depending on which streaming service they used, while the best performing streaming platform, Peacock, ran 48 seconds behind the live action. However, no one came close to touching broadcast with only a 19-second delay. David, why is the gap between the game and the screen a business problem? And how the heck do we solve it?

David Dembowski, Streaming TV Architect 2:23

Hey,

The 5Ds And Consumer Delight

David Dembowski, Streaming TV Architect 2:24

Tim. Well, first of all, thanks for having me. It's great to be on the State of Streaming. Thanks for being here. Of course. Yeah, well, it's a business problem. It's a business problem in a lot of ways. You know, one of the things I talk about with customers are the five D's, right? What are the five D's? Well, being digital first. Yeah. Let's be digital first, right? So all of your planning and strategy, your innovation should be focused on digital. And you couple that digital, if you will, with data, right? Why is data important? Data helps you with the planning and the programming. It also helps you with reach and frequency, targeting and measurement, right? So outcomes. So that's a big part of data distribution. Like to your point, the fact that there were a number of platforms that people could consume the Super Bowl on, well, it only heightens the point of distribution and that importance. The next D is discovery. Now for the Super Bowl, it's not a problem, right? But for programming outside of that, if you can't reach your consumer audience, it becomes a bigger challenge. And a lot of the work you put in goes by the wayside. But to the point, and I don't want to belabor it, but to the point is delight, right? Delight is the fifth D. And why is delight important? Well, you've got to delight the consumer. At no point in the history of entertainment and media Tim has the consumer had more power and more choice. When I was a kid, I was the remote control. My grandfather had the choice to change the channel, and he'd remind me. But today I think it's super important for all brands and all publishers to look at everything through the eyes of the consumer. Right? So that'd be my first point. And that's why it's a business problem. If your most forward technologies, your digital and your data platforms, are creating a lag in the real-time experience. Well, that's going to show up in the user experience.

Tim Rowe, State of Streaming 4:16

Well, that has certainly been a theme recently here on the podcast, which is this is kind of a consumer thing. If we solve this for the consumer, down funnel of that, we all really benefit. So there's some other D's in that. We we like the delight for ourselves. We're all consumers at the end of the day. We want to sit down, find the game, turn it on, be watching the same product, right? As our friends and family that might be watching on a on a different platform. So maybe we can unpack the other four digital first.

Going Digital First Without Breaking Revenue

Tim Rowe, State of Streaming 4:46

What does it mean to be digital first?

David Dembowski, Streaming TV Architect 4:50

Yeah, digital first really it really starts with the foundational design of your offering. It's the infrastructure that you build your platform on that allows it to ingest data, that allows it to predict reach and frequency, and ultimately allows it to drive outcomes, right? We are in the outcomes business today. TV traditionally has been considered a large brand play, awareness, affinity, and intent. Today, with the promise of the big screen coupled with the data and the measurement, we become much more of a performance-laden environment.

Tim Rowe, State of Streaming 5:31

So when we're thinking about this digital first, we're really looking at this through the lens as a publisher, transitioning our business from a broadcast business to a digital first business. What are the what are some of the most common challenges that come along with that?

David Dembowski, Streaming TV Architect 5:48

I mean, I I would say number one is an organizational structure, right? A lot of these traditional businesses who've housed these consumer experiences are set in their ways. And not just mentally, but the way the organizations are structured, I think first and foremost. The second would be they're risk averse, right? These are typically, you know, very big tent pole events. Most of my clients, most of the work we do is what we call directly sold premium inventory.

Tim Rowe, State of Streaming 6:20

Okay.

David Dembowski, Streaming TV Architect 6:21

What does that mean? So as a result, it means it's not programmatic. You need to have a one-to-one relationship, right, between the agency and the brand and ultimately the publisher to get access to the inventory.

Tim Rowe, State of Streaming 6:32

And this is like the first slice, that's the first cut of the inventory, if you will.

David Dembowski, Streaming TV Architect 6:37

It is the foundation of the upfront. It is the bulk of the media company's bookings or revenue for the year. Yeah, and it's the most sought after. It's also the most scarce. And as a result of which, yeah, this inventory comes with a really high, high price tag and a real competitive marketplace. And in some cases, even competitive separation, where if you're not the first brand in, you might not get in at all.

Tim Rowe, State of Streaming 7:04

Why does that why does that present such a challenge?

David Dembowski, Streaming TV Architect 7:07

Well, you know, in instances like the Super Bowl or even more recently, the World Cup, I mean, the world is tuning in. So it gives you a very unique opportunity to reach people around something they're incredibly passionate about. And it allows you to impart upon them your brand message when people are typically more likely to be receptive. So I think that is important.

Tim Rowe, State of Streaming 7:31

So a company like like Netflix, Global Footprint, really more of almost more of a technology company, if we peel back the onion on Netflix, is is that is that more of the methodology? Is that the approach that we are kind of expecting to see over the coming years?

David Dembowski, Streaming TV Architect 7:50

Well, first of all, it's long been debated in Silicon Valley. Are you a technology company or are you a media company? And there was this always this great divide that you could be one but not the other. I think that's true. Right. It's I think it's less true today in the advent of Netflix and Prime and YouTube and YouTube TV who operate independently, still, I think for strategic reasons. But that that is the case that that we see that,

Data Addressability And The Privacy Line

David Dembowski, Streaming TV Architect 8:17

yeah.

Tim Rowe, State of Streaming 8:18

All right, the data. We hear about walled gardens. You just made the point there about YouTube TV strategically. Obviously, it makes sense, right? Walled gardens, the publishers looking more like technology companies, Amazon, Prime, DSP, right? There's only one way to get access to it. It's through Amazon. Same for Google, DV360, Netflix, really kind of scarce with who they want to give control to. The data becomes a big piece of this conversation. How does that tie in to the five D's here? And what do you see on your side?

David Dembowski, Streaming TV Architect 8:52

Yeah, well, addressability, super important, right? You want to not only serve the right ad to the right household, but the more you know about the household, uh, maybe the better you can deliver a personalized experience. It's a thin line between personalization and privacy. Most consumers are willing to give up a little bit of something if they see a more seamless, you know, advertising experience. And in some cases, there's value in pragmatism. You know, if you're in the market for a running shoe or an automobile, or you even want to know what the latest, greatest film is, having that serendipity, right, in the moment is something that can be very rewarding for both the consumer, the brand, and the publisher.

Tim Rowe, State of Streaming 9:34

That's interesting. Can you can you paint that picture? One, I love the word serendipity. We've we've we've got serendipity and delight already on a podcast about streaming. What does that look like in practice?

David Dembowski, Streaming TV Architect 9:45

Yeah, well, serendipity uh in practice is the ability to anticipate. So even before the ad runs, the ability to plan, right, and find partnerships. And a lot of this data has been available for a long time, but it does start there using research, right, to identify where your audiences will most likely be. And sometimes that's aligned by content, right? Like you might find a sports enthusiast in the sports section, but you also might find the sports enthusiast uh checking on their stocks as well. So being able to use data to identify contextual alignment as well as relevancy. So it starts there in the planning. That planning enables you to not only buy content, but to buy targeting to reach those individuals. And the targeting is only as good as the returns. So the measurement, or what I call outcomes, or another big part of B, right? Like who did I reach? How did they perform? And what outcome did I drive?

Tim Rowe, State of Streaming 10:43

Thinking about a recent conversation that we had with Emily Williams from MRI Simmons. She shared this nugget and it really stood out to me in the conversation. 90% of Instagram users shop on Amazon, 50% of Amazon shoppers watch Hulu, 50% of Instagram users are booking international travel this year, and 50% of Hulu viewers are in the market for a car. Kind of articulating the point that you just made, which is really thinking about the audience first. Where are they? How can I create these strategic partnerships? The point that Emily goes on to make is that oftentimes we think we're adding channels and thus we think we're adding incremental audience when really we're not. And inevitably we could be missing some of those

Distribution Partnerships And Walled Gardens

Tim Rowe, State of Streaming 11:28

serendipity and delight moments that you're describing.

David Dembowski, Streaming TV Architect 11:31

Yeah, very much so. I mean, that's the third D, right? Distribution. And I believe, and interestingly enough, you know, NBC Peacock announced uh recently, I believe as recent as this week, their partnership to distribute on YouTube, right? Well, again, the generational shift in consumption. You have a younger audience, my kids included, who rely heavily on YouTube for their entertainment. So you meet the consumer, you know, on the platform on which is their preference, and that's where the intersection occurs, right? And I think that's super important. For many, many years, you talked about wall gardens. These wall gardens aren't just the social media platforms that we you and I know today. These wall gardens are, yeah, the distribution of content through certain channels, and we're seeing some of those walls come down. And I think again, it's not only generational viewership, but generational leadership at these organizations that understand that, yeah, there has been a fundamental shift in consumption, and it's critical to meet that, right?

Tim Rowe, State of Streaming 12:31

Thank you for setting up the question you didn't see coming. You you said generational and how we meet that expectation. The streaming viewership, I'm thinking about even just in my household, my son's 13. To him, YouTube is default, that is where streaming starts. I can't imagine him actually paying for a subscription for anything. If it's not on YouTube, he's not really going and looking for it. So, how do you or how do the conversations that you're having with folks, how how are they talking about or thinking about serving multiple generations of streamers and consumers?

David Dembowski, Streaming TV Architect 13:10

Yeah, it's gonna come down to partnerships, distribution partnerships, and in a lot of that there'll be revenue sharing, right? So I think organizations will need to focus on particularly the top line, right? The incremental reach and frequency they get on these buys, right? I'll give you an interesting example. Let's just go back to sports for a moment. Yeah, we're and and this speaks to both Netflix and I think Amazon and YouTube and to and their foray, right? By the way, YouTube TV and its relationship with the NFL, YouTube and its relationship with FIFA and the World Cup, two very different offerings, right? That provided ancillary content, but improved a better experience. So we're starting to see that that these relationships involve this distribution and reimagining what success looks like.

Tim Rowe, State of Streaming 13:59

Very

Discovery Barriers And Streaming Access

Tim Rowe, State of Streaming 14:00

good. All right, so discovery, which is maybe one of the biggest challenges. I think as a consumer, it's funny just mentioning my son's streaming journey. The other day, he was hanging out at summertime. We're recording this uh over summer break, and he said, Dad, I can't find anything to watch. And I thought to myself, gosh, I feel like 13-year-old me had that same complaint when there were only 35 channels to watch. Discovery. It's the it's the one D that we haven't gotten to yet. How important is Discovery? How do we solve Discovery? Coming back to the gap between the game and the screen being a business problem, discovery not an issue for the Super Bowl, but discovery a broader issue for streaming in general, and especially especially sports, with being able to find it at the right place at the right time when it's on.

David Dembowski, Streaming TV Architect 14:54

So I think ubiquitous distribution is the first point. You know, universal discovery is the next problem I think the publishers need to solve for. To your point, Apple TV, for example, does a doubleheader on Friday night for Major League Baseball. If your team happens to be on Apple TV, you've got to subscribe that night to get access to it. So there are barriers to entry, right? Beyond just the discovery. There's the discovery and there's the access to. Some of those barriers have come down, right? As SBOD markets had saturated in future growth is coming from ABOD. So I think I think that's a really important part of the conversation. And yeah, I think the metadata that's in this content needs to be published in a way, again, in a very different way. But also more recently in the headlines was you know, Fox's acquisition of Roku and very much the operating system model where you know Fox can now leverage Roku's operating system that had incredible household penetration to both aid in not only promoting this programming, right, but also enabling better discovery of the programs they have. So interesting people, yeah.

Tim Rowe, State of Streaming 16:08

Yeah, I I I was having a healthy online debate with someone, right? Because those are generally always productive. And uh the debate had come to is just days before the Fox and Roku announcement, but the the conversation centered around Roku not having content. Was that a disadvantage? And I was personally of the the thought that it was not a disadvantage. Now we know that Fox intends to acquire Roku. Well, content problem solved kind of overnight. And then also distribution, ubiquitous distribution of all of that content. Roku's such an interesting business on its own with the the operating system, the subscription business via Howdy, so many layers and another global technology company. Who's winning and

Winners Trends Watch Parties Betting

Tim Rowe, State of Streaming 16:56

who's losing from your perspective?

David Dembowski, Streaming TV Architect 16:59

I, you know, it's a double-edged sword. I think from a cost standpoint, you can definitely be more economical. You can pay for what you want, right, as a consumer. You don't necessarily get what in the past the MVPDs or virtual MVPDs forced upon you, right? And you're not burdened with that, which inherently had a pretty steep cost. So I do think the consumer is winning in many ways. I think the distribution companies are winning, and that they're getting more access to content and new ways of doing business have opened up. Who's winning on the media company side? Tough to say, but I would say this. I think Prime is incredibly innovative. I think what they did with Thursday Night Football was incredibly novel, right? Taking what was traditionally an on-demand platform, right, and injecting this linear-like experience, then again augmented with data, resulting in a consumer experience. I think everybody wins there. You know, another great Amazon example would be the partnership with the NBA. The NBA doubled the amount of national games they had, very simply by picking a new partner and adding a new partner to the equation. And that changed the paradigm for the NBA. They went from about 75 national games to almost 150. So that opens them up to a new audience, new exposure, new advertisers. I think it was upwards of 30 new advertisers that were traditionally on Amazon but not on TV, right?

Tim Rowe, State of Streaming 18:29

Interesting.

David Dembowski, Streaming TV Architect 18:30

Got access to that audience level data, which again, that combination of distribution and data delivered digitally, resulted in a boom for everyone.

Tim Rowe, State of Streaming 18:40

What other interesting trends are you seeing?

David Dembowski, Streaming TV Architect 18:43

You know, viewing parties, right? So the way the way people consume content, we're seeing it's particularly, you know, not to belabor the point on sports, but the barrier to entry to enter the stadium, right? You know, just in and of itself, that you have a limited number of seats. Yeah, you have a limited number of seats, which drives the cost. There's people who want access to that. But what people do want to do, and what people do want to experience, is a shared viewing experience, right? And so we're seeing we're seeing watch parties. Uh, this is very prominent during the World Cup, whether those are in local neighborhoods and in in movie theaters or even bars and restaurants, we're definitely seeing more and more of that. That's definitely a trend. The other thing we're seeing, there you go.

Tim Rowe, State of Streaming 19:27

Yeah, yeah, that was that's for Love Island, like right FIFA World Cup, like that made so much sense. That's a piece we covered earlier this year. We said social appointment viewing is is kind of the moniker that we gave it, but watch parties for Love Island that you can only see live, Peacock doing a really great job of kind of merging the small screen, the big screen, and then the social element in person.

David Dembowski, Streaming TV Architect 19:52

Well, and I and I think that's just it, right? The the I would say the next trend we're seeing is yeah, there's there's um, and it goes back to your initial point, right? It's like this bad for business latency, the relationship between now sports betting and sports, right? Or even even the prediction markets, if there's latency, how does that affect the user experience, right? Are you unable now to make a halftime bet on a platform if that platform is running behind? And then, of course, there's all the legality around that. But you know, I think that's that's definitely something you need to pay attention to. Most people that enjoy content enjoy it with dual devices, and I think it's important to understand the relationship, right? Like what was social 10 years ago is very different than what's social now, and social can be in real life, right? But it can also be extended after that onto platforms.

What We’re Watching And How To Connect

Tim Rowe, State of Streaming 20:45

Very good, David. What are you streaming? We like to get a recommendation, we're always looking for something new to watch. What are you streaming right now?

David Dembowski, Streaming TV Architect 20:53

I'm like a spy and war movie guy. The most recent program I watched was uh Jack Ryan, right?

Speaker 20:59

Oh, yeah.

David Dembowski, Streaming TV Architect 21:00

Yeah. The movie?

Speaker 21:01

The the Jack Ryan movie. Yes.

David Dembowski, Streaming TV Architect 21:03

You know, most of what I what I stream is live sports, right? I'm very fortunate. I have partnerships with Major League Baseball and the NBA, and I use both those platforms.

Tim Rowe, State of Streaming 21:13

Call it a job requirement.

David Dembowski, Streaming TV Architect 21:15

Yeah, whatever it is. I'll tell you a funny story. That's my excuse. Yeah, we were watching, we were watching a Friday night baseball game one time, and my son was complaining that the ad was interfering with the game, and I exclaimed, the ad is the game, son.

Tim Rowe, State of Streaming 21:32

Uh so David, that is a great place for us to leave off. The ad is the game, and we will live to play another day. David, if folks want to get in touch with you, learn more about you, you've got a website, you're on socials. We'll make sure to link to things nearby, but tell the folks where to go.

David Dembowski, Streaming TV Architect 21:50

I have a Twitter, David.dembowski, or I'm sorry, I should say X. And I recently launched a new website, DavidDembowski.com, where I talk a little bit about my experience in media, share some of my publications, and there's a leadership tab too that I encourage everyone to utilize. If you lead a team, there's some great stories there that involve history and sports and technology, and they're a great toolbox.

Tim Rowe, State of Streaming 22:14

I I now see the the spy history war buff. Now I'm seeing it all weave throughout. David, this has been an awesome conversation. I'm sure that we'll have a part two in the future. Thanks so much for being here.

David Dembowski, Streaming TV Architect 22:28

Thanks, Tim.

Tim Rowe, State of Streaming 22:29

And if you found this to be helpful, please share it with a colleague or a client. Start a conversation yourself today, and we'll see you all next time.