Live Streaming & Broadcast Production Software
The buyer population — Radio and television broadcasting stations
Base industry report for 5161 →- Establishments · CanadaA
- 1,189
- Under 10 employeesA
- 57%
Of 1,189 Canadian establishments with employees, 57% have fewer than ten — mostly small operators. Each of those is one potential account, before any filter for size or fit.
Entry signal — what decides who wins here
One thing must be trueEntry turns on a single condition that can be named and tested before much is spent. Clear it and this becomes an execution question; fail it and no amount of operating skill helps.
Prove the value in money the buyer already counts. The need is real; what is unproven is that this buyer moves budget for it. That is a priced test with real customers, not a product problem.
Measured, not forecast: the share of US establishments opening in one year that were still active later. It counts good operators and bad ones together, which is exactly why it is the honest answer to “what are the odds”. It is for the whole sector rather than this market, and the ten-year figure comes from an older cohort because no younger one has reached ten years.
This is not a probability of success, and it is not a verdict on you. No survival probability is published per market, and inventing one would be worse than saying so. What the bar reads is how much of the outcome sits inside an operator's control: green means the hurdles are ones a better operator clears, red means the binding constraint is capital, an asset or a permission rather than execution. Someone arriving with an advantage this screen did not assume can win a market shown in red.
Companies named in this market · 23
The binding constraint — willingness to pay
The customer here is 5161 as it now exists: licensed radio and TV stations, and the far larger number of creators, churches, schools and companies who broadcast online with no licence at all. The software does in a browser or on a desktop what a control room did: switch scenes and cameras, bring in remote guests, lay on graphics, send one programme to YouTube, Twitch, Facebook and LinkedIn at once, and, for audio, run an internet radio station's playlist, automation and stream. This record is the production tool; the licensed station itself is 5161-commercial-radio-station-licence, creator analytics and sponsorship tools are 5162-creator-economy-and-streaming-analytics-software, podcast hosting is 5122-podcast-hosting-and-monetisation-platforms, and post-production pipeline tracking is 512110-video-production-pipeline-software.
The price of the core product is zero, and the platforms keep it there. OBS Studio is free and open source (about 77,000 GitHub stars) [A], and its sponsor wall lists Twitch, YouTube, NVIDIA, AMD, Intel and Logitech [C]: the platforms and the hardware makers pay to keep the default free. Twitch gave up its own tool, Twitch Studio, on 30 May 2024 because it carried under 4% of hours streamed, and pointed users to OBS, Streamlabs Desktop, XSplit, vMix and others [B]. Streamlabs is itself a free OBS-based desktop with paid add-ons; Logitech bought it in 2019 for about $89M cash plus up to $29M in stock tied to revenue targets [B], and runs it as part of Logitech G.
The paid layer is held by owners with deep pockets and a habit of raising prices. StreamYard, the browser studio, was bought by Hopin for $250M in January 2021 and sold with Hopin's remaining products to Bending Spoons in April 2024, terms undisclosed [B]. Its pricing page now shows Core at $44.99/mo ($35.99 annual) and Advanced at $88.99 ($68.99 annual) [C]; reports of large post-acquisition rises come only from rivals and are UNVERIFIED. Restream (Austin; multistreaming plus a browser studio) raised a $50M Series A led by Sapphire Ventures and Insight Partners in 2020, claiming 2M+ streamers then [B]. Riverside, recording-first but with live, raised $47M to April 2022 [B]. Desktop switchers are owner-run and profitable-looking but publish nothing: vMix (StudioCoast, Australia; perpetual licences $60–$1,200) [C], Ecamm Live (Mac) [C], and Wirecast, still a Telestream product (footer: Telestream 2 LLC, 2026) [C].
Internet radio is the same pattern, consolidated into broadcasters. AzuraCast is free, self-hosted and open source [A]. RadioKing (3,000+ stations in 170+ countries) was bought outright by NRJ Group's towerCast in June 2023 [A]. SAM Broadcaster's maker Spacial says it was acquired in 2009, by Triton Digital per its earlier pages [C]. Live365 sits inside SoundStack and sells by bundling US music licensing (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, SoundExchange) [C], which is the real lock-in for a small station — the royalty paperwork, not the software. Centova Cast (a Canadian control panel sold through hosting resellers), Radio.co (UK) and mAirList (Germany) are small private vendors [C].
Willingness to pay decides it. Hobbyists and most creators use the free tool; the professional buyer who will pay is already served by four or five well-funded or corporate-owned products, and the internet-radio buyer pays for licensing and hosting, which broadcasters (NRJ, SoundStack) already bundle. The one open seam is a narrow one — a Canadian-licensing bundle for small internet stations (SOCAN/Re:Sound/CONNECT tariffs) analogous to Live365's US bundle — and it was not tested at screen.
The incumbent
Who owns this market and who is coming for it. Fields a screen never reached say so rather than guessing.
The field
Every vendor named on this record, and what each one discloses. Most disclose nothing, which is why the market is not sized.
Competitor set · 17 named · 0 disclose revenue
| Name | Revenue | Share | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| OBS StudioA | not disclosed | — | The default. Free and open source (GPL); ~77,000 GitHub stars [A]. Funded by sponsors and backers — Twitch, YouTube, NVIDIA, AMD, Intel, Logitech, Yamaha, Steinberg on its home page [C]. Sets the price of desktop production at zero |
| Streamlabs (Logitech)SIX: LOGN / NASDAQ: LOGIB | not disclosed | — | Free OBS-based desktop plus paid Ultra tier, tipping and overlays. Logitech agreed to buy it 26 Sep 2019 for ~$89M cash plus up to $29M in stock on revenue targets [B]; 'not expected to materially impact' Logitech sales [B]. Not broken out since |
| StreamYard (Bending Spoons)B | not disclosed | — | Browser studio with guests and multistreaming. Hopin bought it for $250M (Jan 2021); Bending Spoons bought Hopin's StreamYard, Streamable and Superwave in April 2024, undisclosed [B]. Core $44.99/mo, Advanced $88.99/mo [C] |
| RestreamB | not disclosed | — | Best-funded independent. Multistreaming plus Restream Studio. $50M Series A led by Sapphire Ventures and Insight Partners, Aug 2020; Austin, founded 2015 in Ukraine; 2M+ streamers then [B] |
| RiversideB | not disclosed | — | Remote recording first, live streaming second. $35M Series B led by Oren Zeev with Lachy Groom and Seven Seven Six, Apr 2022; $47M total [B]. riverside.fm now redirects to riverside.com [C] |
| vMixC | not disclosed | — | Windows live production switcher by StudioCoast Pty Ltd (Australia); perpetual licences listed at $60, $350, $700 and $1,200 [C]. Private, no funding disclosed |
| Wirecast (Telestream)C | not disclosed | — | Desktop production/streaming; 'A product by Telestream', footer 'Telestream 2 LLC' (2026) [C]. Telestream was bought by Genstar Capital from Thoma Bravo in 2015 [B]; current ownership after the renamed entity is UNVERIFIED |
| Ecamm LiveC | not disclosed | — | Mac-only live production app by Ecamm Network, LLC [C]. Private, no funding disclosed |
| Twitch StudioB | not disclosed | — | Twitch's own broadcast tool, discontinued 30 May 2024 — under 4% of hours streamed [B]. Shown as evidence that even a platform cannot charge for, or win, this layer |
| YouTube LiveC | not disclosed | — | Platform with free in-browser and mobile go-live; a destination and an OBS sponsor [C], not a paid tool |
| AzuraCastA | not disclosed | — | Free, open-source, self-hosted web radio suite (AutoDJ, Icecast/Shoutcast, scheduling); donation-funded; ~4,000 GitHub stars [A] |
| RadioKing (NRJ Group)EPA: NRGA | not disclosed | — | Hosted internet-radio platform; 3,000+ stations in 170+ countries. towerCast (NRJ Group) completed the purchase of 100% on 7 Jun 2023 [A] |
| Live365 (SoundStack)C | not disclosed | — | Hosted internet radio with US music licensing bundled (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, SoundExchange); part of SoundStack, 'not owned by a major network' [C]. Revived from bankruptcy in 2016 [B] |
| Radio.coC | not disclosed | — | Radio.co (UK) Ltd; hosted station software, claims thousands of stations and ~3M daily listeners [C, vendor] |
| Centova CastC | not disclosed | — | Centova Technologies Inc.: SHOUTcast/Icecast control panel sold through hosting resellers; described by resellers as Canadian [C] |
| SAM Broadcaster (Spacial)C | not disclosed | — | Long-running radio automation software; Spacial says it was acquired in 2009 by a digital-audio technology company, named elsewhere as Triton Digital [C]. Current parent UNVERIFIED |
| mAirListC | not disclosed | — | German radio automation software for community and commercial stations [C]. Private |
Nobody here publishes revenue. The market is not sized for that reason — an estimate built on nothing would only look like knowledge.
Startups & challengers
Newer and smaller vendors going at the incumbent — funded challengers first. Named, not researched to the depth of the field above; a company with a page here links to it.
| Company | Stage | What it does | Raised |
|---|---|---|---|
| StreamElements | Funded challenger | Free overlays, alerts and sponsorships for streamers; covered on the 5162 creator-economy record | — |
| Castr | Startup | Multistreaming and live video hosting; competes with Restream on simulcast | — |
| PRISM Live Studio | Startup | Free live streaming and recording app (desktop and mobile); another free floor under the paid tools | — |
| XSplit | Startup | Windows live streaming and recording software, one of Twitch's recommended Twitch Studio replacements | — |
| RadioDJ | Scrappy competitor | Free Windows radio automation software used by small internet and community stations | — |
| VDO.Ninja | Scrappy competitor | Free open-source browser tool that brings remote guests into OBS — the free answer to a paid browser studio | — |
Evidence
Evidence. Opened 2026-10-10. OBS: obsproject.com home page ('Free and open source software for video recording and live streaming'; sponsor logos Twitch, YouTube, NVIDIA, AMD, Intel, Logitech) [C]; GitHub API for obsproject/obs-studio (~77,255 stars, 10,570 forks) and AzuraCast (~4,064 stars) [A]. Streamlabs: Logitech release of 26 Sep 2019 via Yahoo copy ('approximately $89 million in cash', additional '$29 million' in stock 'subject to the achievement of significant revenue growth targets') [B]; Nasdaq copy timed out; streamlabs.com structured data names Logitech G [C]. StreamYard: Skift Meetings, 15 Apr 2024 (Bending Spoons to acquire Hopin's StreamYard, Streamable, Superwave; terms undisclosed; Hopin paid $250M in Jan 2021) [B]; Business Wire original returned 403; streamyard.com/pricing (Core $44.99/$35.99, Advanced $88.99/$68.99) [C]. Price-rise claims (rival blog; a release for Livid, a startup backed by StreamYard's founders) were not opened and are UNVERIFIED. Restream: Insight Partners' copy of the release, 27 Aug 2020 ($50M Series A, Sapphire Ventures and Insight Partners; Austin; founded 2015; 2M+ streamers) [B]. Riverside: Globes, 26 Apr 2022 ($35M Series B, Oren Zeev lead; $47M total) [B]. Twitch Studio: Tubefilter, 20 May 2024 (support ends 30 May; under 4% of hours streamed; alternatives listed) [B]. Wirecast: wirecast.io ('A Product By Telestream', 'Copyright © 2026 Telestream 2 LLC') [C]; Genstar's 2015 purchase of Telestream from search summaries of TV Technology/SVG [B]; whether 'Telestream 2 LLC' reflects a recapitalisation is UNVERIFIED (no coverage found). vMix: vmix.com (StudioCoast Pty Ltd) and purchase page ($60–$1,200) [C]. Ecamm: ecamm.com footer (Ecamm Network, LLC) [C]. RadioKing: NRJ Group regulatory release (AMF/DILA PDF), 7 Jun 2023 — towerCast completes 100%; 'plus de 3 000 radios… plus de 170 pays' [A]. Live365: live365.com/about (SoundStack; US licensing bundle; 'thousands of broadcasters') [C]; 2016 revival from RAIN News/Radio World search summaries [B]. Spacial: spacial.com/about-us ('In 2009, Spacial was acquired by a global technology and services leader to the digital audio and podcast industry') [C]; the Triton Digital name comes from search summaries of Spacial's own older page and RAIN [C]. Centova, Radio.co, mAirList: their own home pages [C]. Market size and every vendor's revenue are UNVERIFIED — no vendor here publishes revenue, and Logitech, Bending Spoons, Telestream and NRJ do not break the lines out.
Where the industry talks
The associations, forums and events where people in this trade actually talk shop — where to listen before entering, and where the first customers are found. Each link was opened on the date shown.
Trade association for US radio and TV broadcasters; runs NAB Show (nabshow.com blocked automated fetches)
Professional society for broadcast engineers, with certification; members include Canadian engineers
Twitch's creator convention; the largest gathering of live streamers
Amsterdam broadcast and media technology show, with its year-round IBC365 news site
Online video news and analysis; also runs Streaming Media conferences
Trade news on internet radio, streaming audio and podcasting
Official OBS Studio support and plugin forum
Canadian Association of Broadcasters (cab-acr.ca), NAB Show and Radio World returned Cloudflare blocks and are not listed. Reddit (r/obs, r/Twitch) not fetched.
The businesses it sells to
Operating-business records filed along the same branch of NAICS — the customers of this software, screened as businesses in their own right.