Oeztunali, Sebnem wrote: > You could have clicked the "about" page for example to read about their > monetization concepts for broadcasters -
I did. After removing vacuous phrases such as 'monetization concepts', I managed to boil it down to the question: "Is it just lower-cost live streaming for broadcasters, dressed up as a new consumer platform?" > it is basically for broadcasters that do not have the resources > inhouse to build a very expensive player and see how it works out... But why would anyone even be considering writing their own player these days, when low-cost or free players are already available? An application has to be *really* compelling to gain traction with a downloadable client, and there are abundant examples that such clients are not required to watch video online. This is especially true now that handheld video watching is practical. Where are their downloadable clients for phones and video iPods, never mind Playstations and networked media players? Compare their "8 million client downloads in one year" figure, which places an optimistic maximum on their total worldwide potential audience, with the number of views YouTube and their ilk get every day. Why do they think that there is a business in servicing the demand for streamed content on the broadcasters' schedules, when the overwhelming move now is towards downloadable content on the viewers' schedules? Do you see what I meant by "pre-YouTube thinking"? It's like they joined the race to stream video to the desktop without realizing that Flash was getting drunk in the Winner's Enclosure, Real's name was engraved on their trophy, and the crowds had left anyway to go to iTouch Stadium. If their business model is getting small broadcasters to pay for some kind of back-to-front content-delivery network, I think they'll have trouble paying the bills, unless they can find a lot of small companies who absolutely must deliver live video of something to the web, and who are philosophically opposed to existing solutions. I hope there's something fundamental that I haven't grasped about what they're doing, because I can't even think of use cases from the porn business to support them, which can't be a good sign. -- Frank Wales [EMAIL PROTECTED] - Sent via the backstage.bbc.co.uk discussion group. To unsubscribe, please visit http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/archives/2005/01/mailing_list.html. Unofficial list archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
