A Brief History of Streaming
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1993
The band Severe Tire Damage performs live online to demonstrate emerging technologies. The 152x76 pixel video featured audio that was "at best, a bad telephone connection".
1995
RealNetworks, Inc. broadcasts a baseball game (NY Yankees vs. SEA Mariners). Access was limited, and it was audio-only, but it successfully garnered attention for the technologies involved.
2002
The popularity and widespread use of Adobe Flash allows for the development of Flash streaming media players, utilizing servers with RTMP communications protocols. Prior to YouTube's switch to HTML5, it too relied on Adobe Flash.
2006
Justin Kan and his partners form Justin.tv in 2006, just a year after YouTube. The site initially aspires to broadcast Kan’s life over streaming technologies; the attention this draws to the site allows it to branch off into content-specific areas, all focused on the streaming of live events.
2011
Gaming content quickly takes a front seat at Justin.tv, so much so that the company expands to create a purpose-built site just for streaming gameplay. This site is… Twitch!
2014
Amazon acquires Twitch and Justin.tv, to the tune of $970 Million. Justin.tv is quickly cut in favor of Twitch, which has become an industry heavyweight.
2015
At this point, we’re entering recent history. In 2015, with Amazon’s backing, TwitchCon was introduced as a convention devoted to video game streaming. As of 2018, TwitchCon resides alongside Comic-Con as one of the largest gaming and comic related conventions currently operating.
2017
Inclusivity. Diversity. Collaboration. Twitch Student encourages a healthy environment and gaming clubs at educational institutions. In addition, Twitch Student assists with administrative support and infrastructure guidance in the creation of clubs and in organizing competitive and friendly tournament environments.