IPTV World forum 2010 - 160 speakers including 101 service provi. Level 3 Communications. Streaming media. A typical webcast, streaming in an embedded media player A client media player can begin playing the data (such as a movie) before the entire file has been transmitted.
Distinguishing delivery method from the media distributed applies specifically to telecommunications networks, as most other delivery systems are either inherently streaming (e.g., radio, television) or inherently nonstreaming (e.g., books, video cassettes, audio CDs). For example, in the 1930s, elevator music was among the earliest popularly available streaming media; nowadays Internet television is a common form of streamed media.
The term "streaming media" can apply to media other than video and audio such as live closed captioning, ticker tape, and real-time text, which are all considered "streaming text".