Watching full-length TV program online is increasingly popular, say some studies. Nielsen notes that ABC.com (50 percent), NBC.com (41), CBS.com (37), and Fox.com (24) were the most watched, with other Internet-based alternatives YouTube (17) and iTunes (15) used less often.
However, old television is still the preferred delivery platform, with 70 percent of Internet user saying they watch TV online because they missed an episode on television. Some watch a show on TV, then watched it again on the Internet.
Flash Media Server drastically reduces its price
Adobe will release Flash Media Server 3 in January 2008, and it will be come in three versions, ranging from free to $4,500 –a price drop of 90 %. The drastically reduced price, from its cost-prohibitive endeavor (up of $45,000 per license) is the most striking change to Flash Media Server. This high price led many to seek out alternative media servers like the open source Red5. (It supports multi-user video chat, video streaming and real-time, multiplayer gaming).
The developer version that supports up to 10 concurrent users, will be offered for free. And for single server deployments, the $995 version should be sufficient and could be attractive for smaller media publishers.
In addition to the Flash Media Server 3, Adobe also announced Flash Player 9 update that supports the more efficient and open industry standard H.264 codec. It is available as a free download in this address. Adobe Flash Player content reaches over 99 percent of Internet-enabled desktops.
Online video usage on the up
Nearly 75 percent of U.S. Internet users watched videos online, and the average viewing time per-month is three hours, according to the lastest comScore Video Metrix report.
In July 2007, Google/YouTube leaded the market (67.8 million users, 37.6%), with Fox/MySpace in second place (35.8 million users, 19.9%), followed by Yahoo Sites, Times Warner Network, Viacom Digital, Microsoft, Disney Online, ESPN, MLB.com, Photobucket.com, Veoh.com, and Comcast Corporation.
The average online video viewer consumed 68 videos, or more than two per day, and the average online video duration was 2.7 minutes –evidence that in terms of watching video in a web browser, short-form content is key.
Hiring a Content Delivery Network
When hiring a CDN to serve video from multiple locations in the U.S., and Europe or Asia, a lot of firms are signing contracts at higher rates than they should.
Two years ago Akamai was the only big player for certain-sized deal as 100TB a month, but today there are more options for video content delivery, like Limelight Networks, Internap, Mirror Image, CDNetworks, EdgeCast, or Panther Express (who, by the way, undercuts all the CDNs out there on pricing, supporting only HTTP delivery, not content delivered via streaming media protocols).
In many cases, Akamai is still getting paid twice what the going industry rate is for charging customers on a monthly per-gigabyte-delivered model.
These are some figures of prices in the last year.
- 1TB: High $2.00/GB, Low $1.50/GB
- 5TB: High $1.60/GB, Low $0.95/GB
- 10TB: High $1.20/GB, Low $0.89/GB
- 20TB: High $0.95/GB, Low $0.75/GB
- 50TB: High $0.50/GB, Low $0.40/GB
- 100TB: High $0.24/GB, Low $0.15/GB
Above 100TB, it could be as low as $0.12GB
Lecture-capture software for students who study during a commute
Students who miss an important point have a second chance. Some universities, like the Universtiy of Central Florida, offer their students lectures to their laptops or MP3 players. According to an article in the New York Times, at least two companies (Tegrity and Echo360) sell software to universities and other institutions that index every word shown on the computer screen during lectures in a database and syncs them with the digital images used during the talk –usually PowerPoint slides and animations.
Those lectures are stored on a server so that students can retrieve them and replay the content anywhere on their iPod or other devices. Students can locate the exact spot they want just typing in key words doing a search.
Fees of Tegrity –used at 90 institutions- are based on the number of students, and annual fees typically run $25,000 to more than $100,000. Echo360 charges universities $10,000 for an annual site license for audi-only podcasts, and $20,000 for enhanced podcasting with visuals. A new $50,000 podcasting service that includes dynamic displays like computer animations will be launched next month.
