At last, media streaming is beginning to make its mark and moving gradually. in to the mainstream. Big Brother ― the annual summer benchmark used by everyone involved in the television industry to proclaim the success (at last!) or failure (not again!) of not only streaming, but also of interactive television and SMS applications ― came up trumps. Not only did this year's Big Brother show that streaming can, and does, work, it also proved that if the content is good enough then people are prepared to pay for it. 2002 was the year that Channel 4 began to overcome the eternal chicken-and-egg situation of viewers being put off streaming by poor delivery, but at the same time not being prepared to pay the subscription charge that would ensure better quality. Tens of thousands of people subscribed to the 'paid-for' Big Brother streaming service. This is a small chunk of Big Brother's total audience. but it proves that, if handled properly streaming is a medium that could grow and grow. Similarly BBC Technology recently announced that it is successfully managing levels of streaming averaging approximately 10,000 concurrent streams a day for bbc.co.uk, with levels peaking at 24,000 during Budget day 2002.
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