Transmitting digital audio or video content while users listen or watch. Material can be streamed from a private network or the public Internet, the latter now the streaming capital of the world. To the user, streaming is the same as listening to radio and TV over the air or on cable, except that most streaming services (Netfilx, Hulu, etc.) offer only on-demand content rather than regularly scheduled programs.
Streaming vs. Downloading
Unlike downloading files, which remain in the receiving device until the user deletes them, streaming content is not retained after being played.
Streaming and Broadcasting
Broadcasting used to mean free over-the-air network TV channels such as ABC, CBS and NBC. However, as local channels are increasingly offered via streaming services, the term streaming has become synonymous with broadcasting.
Streaming and Wireless Transmitting
Athough it significantly stretches the original meaning of the term, streaming has evolved to become a synonym for transmitting anything wireless. See
network TV,
stream,
audio streaming,
video streaming,
adaptive streaming and
home theater streaming.