A method of managing streams when a talker (130, 131, 132) requests reservation of bandwidth for a new data stream to be transmitted over a network, the method comprising: receiving, with a controller, information associated with the new data stream; determining, with the controller, that a sufficient bandwidth is not available for transmission of the new data stream over the network; in response to determining that the sufficient bandwidth is not available, performing, with the controller, a first check, where performing the first check comprises: determining, with the controller, whether reducing bandwidth consumed by one or more existing data streams transmitted over the network yields the sufficient bandwidth for the new data stream to be transmitted over the network, by registering, with the controller, information associated with the one or more existing data streams, and identifying, with the controller, one or more eligible data streams of the one or more existing data streams that are eligible for bandwidth reduction, where identifying the one or more eligible data streams comprises identifying the one or more eligible data streams based on the registered information associated with the one or more existing data streams; and in response to determining that bandwidth reduction on one or more eligible data streams will not yield sufficient bandwidth for the new data stream, then performing, with the controller, a second check, where performing the second check comprises: identifying, with the controller, whether one or more of the existing data streams has a lower priority than a priority of the new data stream; and in response to identifying that the one or more of the existing data streams has the lower priority, determining, with the controller, whether terminating the one or more existing data streams having the lower priority yields the sufficient bandwidth for the new data stream to be transmitted over the network. receiving, with a controller, information associated with the new data stream; determining, with the controller, that a sufficient bandwidth is not available for transmission of the new data stream over the network; in response to determining that the sufficient bandwidth is not available, performing, with the controller, a first check, where performing the first check comprises: determining, with the controller, whether reducing bandwidth consumed by one or more existing data streams transmitted over the network yields the sufficient bandwidth for the new data stream to be transmitted over the network, by registering, with the controller, information associated with the one or more existing data streams, and identifying, with the controller, one or more eligible data streams of the one or more existing data streams that are eligible for bandwidth reduction, where identifying the one or more eligible data streams comprises identifying the one or more eligible data streams based on the registered information associated with the one or more existing data streams; and in response to determining that bandwidth reduction on one or more eligible data streams will not yield sufficient bandwidth for the new data stream, then performing, with the controller, a second check, where performing the second check comprises: identifying, with the controller, whether one or more of the existing data streams has a lower priority than a priority of the new data stream; and in response to identifying that the one or more of the existing data streams has the lower priority, determining, with the controller, whether terminating the one or more existing data streams having the lower priority yields the sufficient bandwidth for the new data stream to be transmitted over the network. determining, with the controller, whether reducing bandwidth consumed by one or more existing data streams transmitted over the network yields the sufficient bandwidth for the new data stream to be transmitted over the network, by registering, with the controller, information associated with the one or more existing data streams, and identifying, with the controller, one or more eligible data streams of the one or more existing data streams that are eligible for bandwidth reduction, where identifying the one or more eligible data streams comprises identifying the one or more eligible data streams based on the registered information associated with the one or more existing data streams; and in response to determining that bandwidth reduction on one or more eligible data streams will not yield sufficient bandwidth for the new data stream, then performing, with the controller, a second check, where performing the second check comprises: identifying, with the controller, whether one or more of the existing data streams has a lower priority than a priority of the new data stream; and in response to identifying that the one or more of the existing data streams has the lower priority, determining, with the controller, whether terminating the one or more existing data streams having the lower priority yields the sufficient bandwidth for the new data stream to be transmitted over the network.