Stickam Looks to Cash in on Its APIs

Live-streaming company Stickam announced today that it has released its APIs, which will allow any site to incorporate Stickam video streaming services. The APIs are also an attempt by Stickam to monetize the live-streaming space, which has struggled to find a viable business model.

According to Stickam, the API release is to enable the “common man” to build his own live-streaming site. Stickam will handle all of the hosting and streaming and charge on a pay-as-you-go model, based on the number of video requests and how much bandwidth is used. While Stickam wouldn’t reveal the exact pricing, the company said it could be less than $100 a month.

Stickam’s live-streaming APIs are already being used by MTV, Logo and VH-1 for the I’m on MTV and MTV’s Soundtrack.

Live-streaming companies are under pressure to turn their cool technology into actual businesses. Earlier this year Stickam announced a pay-per-view service to monetize live-streamed events. And just the other week, live-streaming rival Mogulus rolled out its pro service.

Stickam says that, despite the economic downturn, the company is in a good position and hasn’t laid anyone off (it’s actually hiring). It claims to have 3 million registered users, 3 million streams served per day, with the average session time for people watching video clocking in at 70 minutes. Because the site is monitored 24 hours a day, Stickam says it’s created a more advertising-friendly environment, allowing shows to get more sponsorships.