This January marks the ten-year anniversary of the establishment of the Consumer Technology Association’s Web Application Video Ecosystem (WAVE) Project. Over the past decade, WAVE members have worked tirelessly to enhance the seamless distribution and playback of streaming media across consumer electronics by fostering industry collaboration and adherence to established standards. They have written technical specifications, stood up test suites, given presentations, participated in PlugFests and worked with standards organizations around the globe. Though the work continues, it’s important to pause and recognize the many accomplishments of this ambitious project over the past ten years.

The WAVE Project was originally founded as the Global Internet Video Ecosystem (GIVE) Project, established to develop specifications ensuring cross-platform interoperability for internet-delivered media and web applications. Its foundational goals included enabling manufacturers to produce devices compatible with content providers without technical negotiation, providing a consistent web application environment and allowing consumers to confidently purchase devices with broad content access. The project further aimed to support content providers by minimizing the need for extensive platform testing or certification and reducing technical barriers for simultaneous service launches.

Though the name changed, the mission remained clear: streaming media should be seamless, standardized and accessible. WAVE continues to serve as a key advocate for streaming interoperability, developing specifications and test infrastructures, and spearheading collaborative efforts with other standards organizations to support essential media delivery technologies like CMAF and MSE/EME. In more recent years, WAVE has expanded to define Common Media Client and Server Data formats as well as a common access token.

Since its inception in 2016, WAVE has made substantial contributions to the streaming media ecosystem. It has published 29 new and revised standards, developed two open-source test suites and played a significant role in the development and maintenance of a CMAF content validation tool. Notably, the ATSC adopted WAVE’s Web Media API Snapshot for NextGen TV, and HbbTV incorporated WAVE specifications and the Streaming Media Test Suite – Devices into their standards. The WAVE Streaming Media Test Suite – User Agents has seen significant usage, averaging 400,000 hits from 7000 visitors in a single quarter of 2023. Additionally, WAVE conducted a survey on CMAF awareness and adoption in 2021, followed by an analytical report offering insights into industry trends.

WAVE plans to continue its vital work with several specification updates in the next year. These include the annual Web Media API Snapshot, revisions to the Device Playback Capabilities specification and updates to the Common Media Client Data specification. Although there are no concrete plans in place currently, members have spent considerable time discussing potential future updates to the WAVE Streaming Media Test Suite – Devices to include the addition of tests for HEVC, AV1 and VVC content as well as for commercial DRM.

The organization’s 10-year milestone will be celebrated at CTA’s Technology & Standards Fall Forum in October, marking a significant occasion for community engagement and recognition.