Streaming media is also known as RealMedia, or separately as RealAudio® or RealVideo®. Before the advent of streaming media, your audience had to wait for your media file to download from the Internet or a network server in order to experience it. With streaming media, your audience can see and hear your media almost instantly.

A streaming clip consists of small packets of information that are sent over a network connection. The user receives these information packets in a "stream" and, using a player, experiences your media piece by piece. Thus, the streaming is almost invisible to the user. The process is similar to viewing a film; each frame of a filmstrip is like each data packet. When they are pieced together by a projector, you see the film as one continuous piece.