--- title: "What Is a Live Event in Streaming? Definition and Examples | RentAnOTT" description: "A live event is a one-off stream with a start and end time, such as a match, concert or premiere. See how to plan capacity, access and replays." url: "https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/live-event" markdown_url: "https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/live-event.md" category: "Live & linear" updated: "2026-10-05" --- # What is a live event in streaming? A live event is a single scheduled stream with a defined start and end, such as a match, a concert, a conference or a premiere. Unlike a linear channel it does not run continuously, and unlike on-demand video everyone watches it at the same time. ## How a live event runs - Schedule the event and publish its page so viewers can find and buy it - Test the encoder, the connection and the stream ahead of time - Open a holding screen or countdown before the start - Go live and monitor quality, concurrency and payments - End the stream and publish the replay ## Capacity planning An event's audience arrives in a spike, most of it in the ten minutes around the start. Sign-in, checkout and DRM license requests all peak together, before video delivery does. Estimate peak concurrent viewers from tickets sold or expected attendance and confirm in advance that your plan covers it. Encourage early arrival with a pre-show so the load is spread. ## Access and pricing Limit each ticket to one simultaneous stream, restrict the stream to licensed regions, and decide how long the replay stays available to buyers. - Free with registration, to build an audience - Included in a subscription - Pay-per-view ticket, with early-bird and on-the-day prices - Season or series pass covering several events ## Live event on RentAnOTT Live events are included on the RentAnOTT Growth tier, with 2,000 concurrent viewers, and on Scale with custom capacity. On Launch, live is a $119/month add-on. One-time sales carry no platform cut. [See pricing](https://www.rentanott.com/pricing). ## Related terms - [Live streaming](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/live-streaming) — Live streaming is delivering video over the internet as it is captured, so that viewers watch an event while it is happening, with a delay of a few seconds rather than after a recording has been uploaded. - [Live pay-per-view](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/live-ppv) — Live pay-per-view is selling access to a single live stream for a one-time ticket price. The buyer can watch that event as it happens and usually a replay for a limited time afterward. - [Pay-per-view](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/pay-per-view) — Pay-per-view (PPV) is a model where a viewer pays once to watch a single program, most often a live event such as a fight, a match or a concert, rather than subscribing to a channel or catalog. - [Linear channel](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/linear-channel) — A linear channel is a continuous stream of programs played in a fixed schedule, like a traditional television channel. Viewers join whatever is on at that moment rather than choosing a title to start. - [Concurrent viewers](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/concurrent-viewers) — Concurrent viewers is the number of people watching a service's video at the same moment. The highest value reached, peak concurrency, determines how much streaming capacity the service needs. - [Peak concurrency](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/peak-concurrency) — Peak concurrency is the highest number of viewers watching a service at the same moment within a period, such as a day, an event or a month. It is the figure that capacity, and many platform plans, are sized against. - [Live-to-VOD](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/live-to-vod) — Live-to-VOD is converting a live stream into an on-demand video, either while the event is still running or as soon as it ends, so that viewers who missed it or joined late can watch from the start. ## Further reading - [Pay-per-view for IPTV and OTT](https://www.rentanott.com/blogs/iptv-pay-per-view) - [Choosing a live streaming player](https://www.rentanott.com/blogs/live-streaming-player) - [Streaming bandwidth cost calculator](https://www.rentanott.com/tools/streaming-bandwidth-cost-calculator) ## Frequently asked questions ### What is the difference between a live event and a live channel? An event happens once and ends. A channel runs continuously to a schedule, mixing live and recorded programs. ### What should happen if the stream fails during an event? Have a backup encoder and a second internet connection ready, show a holding message rather than an error, and decide beforehand how buyers will be compensated if the event cannot continue. ### Should a replay be included with the ticket? Usually yes, for a limited period. It serves buyers in other time zones and those who had connection problems, and reduces refund requests. All 163 terms: [Streaming and OTT glossary](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary). ## Book a demo Tell RentAnOTT what you are launching. The team walks through the platform and maps the path to go-live around your catalog, markets and revenue model. Book a demo: https://www.rentanott.com/contact ## More from RentAnOTT - [Home](https://www.rentanott.com/index.md) — What RentAnOTT is, what every plan includes, and how launch works - [Features](https://www.rentanott.com/features.md) — Every core feature and optional add-on - [Pricing](https://www.rentanott.com/pricing.md) — Platform tiers, apps, add-ons, usage rates and example bills in INR and USD - [Free tools](https://www.rentanott.com/tools.md) — OTT app builder and calculators for streaming revenue, bandwidth, bitrate and pricing - [Insights](https://www.rentanott.com/blogs.md) — All streaming business articles - [Glossary](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary.md) — Definitions of streaming and OTT terms - [Book a demo](https://www.rentanott.com/contact.md) — Talk to RentAnOTT about your launch Full site in one file: https://www.rentanott.com/llms-full.txt