National Streaming Day Date in the current year: May 20, 2024

The term “streaming media” refers to multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source. It is usually viewed as the opposite of file downloading, where you need to obtain the entire file or files before consuming media, as well as to inherently non-streaming media formats such as books, tape or CDs.

The development of streaming media became possible due to the development of the World Wide Web and growing accessibility of an Internet connection good enough to stream video content. Streaming online video began to gain popularity in the mid-2000s with the advent of YouTube and Netflix (the latter was actually founded in 1997 as a mail-based rental business and switched to streaming in 2007).

The world’s biggest over-the-top (OTT) video on demand services, i. e. media services that allow viewers to stream video directly from the web, are Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Tencent Video, iQIYI, Youku, HBO Max, YouTube Premium, Hulu, Paramount+ (formerly known as CBS All Access), ALTBalaji, Apple TV+, Peacock, iflix, Discovery+, Curiosity Stream, Showtime, and ESPN+.

Although the term “streaming media” is typically associated with video-on-demand services, it also encompasses streaming television services that distribute the content that has been previously aired on TV, music streaming services and Internet radio, and various social media services that allow live streaming.

One of the pioneers of modern streaming was Roku, a company credited with popularizing low-cost, compact digital players for OTT media consumption. Roku developed their first model of a digital media player in collaboration with Netflix and unveiled it on May 20, 2008.

Six years later, Roku launched National Streaming Day to commemorate the anniversary of the Netflix Player and celebrate streaming services. In celebration of the holiday streaming platform users were encouraged to stream at least an hour of their favorite entertainment and let others know about their selection on social media using the hashtag #NationalStreamingDay.

In recent years, many streaming services have joined the celebration of National Streaming Day, including Disney+ and ESPN+. They use the occasion to announce the release of new content, offer deals and discounts on their services, and offer free access to exclusive content that would normally require subscription or even payment in addition to monthly subscription fees.

How can you celebrate National Streaming Day? Be sure to make the most of the deals offered by various streaming services and spend the day consuming the content they offer, be it movies, television shows, documentaries, music, podcasts, or audio books. And don’t forget to raise awareness about the holiday on social media by posting about your favorite streaming content and including the hashtag #NationalStreamingDay.