• by Ben Frederick , Staff Writer @mp_benfred, April 7, 2016

I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say that live video will reshape the manner in which the next generation experiences the Internet.

In 2015, mobile video traffic accounted for 55% of all mobile data traffic, according to Cisco. If the bellwethers in the industry are any indication, that number is only going to become more pronounced, and much of that traffic will be dedicated to live broadcasts. It seems to be a natural progression for many of these companies—from text to images to videos, and now to live videos.

There’s been a number of stories in the news the past couple weeks that have had to do with various companies announcing forays into live mobile video (or the extension of already existing capabilities). Facebook is the latest, with a new video tab in its Messenger app.

The NFL recently announced that it will be broadcasting all its Thursday Night 2016 season games live over-the-top on Twitter’s platform.

And, as live sporting events embrace the format more and more, it will have a profound impact in some markets outside of the U.S. as well, where mobile users tend to be mobile-only.

Consider the viewership that the 2014 FIFA World Cup got: 3.2 billion people watched—and soccer is only getting more popular in the U.S. (Our women’s team is extremely dominant internationally, in case you didn’t know.)

With Facebook now paying publishers to start producing live content, any kinks in the format will get worked out in short order.