RichWeb Streaming Video creates streaming media or provides Tutorials in streaming production for video.

What Exactly IS Streaming Video?

Streaming video is a sequence of "moving images" that are sent in compressed form over the Internet and displayed by the viewer as they arrive. Streaming media is streaming video with sound. With streaming video or streaming media, a Web user does not have to wait to download a large file before seeing the video or hearing the sound. Instead, the media is sent in a continuous stream and is played as it arrives. The user needs a player, which is a special program that uncompresses and sends video data to the display and audio data to speakers. A player can be either an integral part of a browser or downloaded from the software maker's Web site.
Major streaming video and streaming media technologies include RealSystem G2 from RealNetwork, Microsoft Windows Media Technologies (including its NetShow Services and Theater Server), and VDO. Microsoft's approach uses the standard MPEG compression algorithm for video. The other approaches use proprietary algorithms. (The program that does the compression and decompression is sometimes called the codec.) Microsoft's technology offers streaming audio at up to 96 Kbps and streaming video at up to 8 Mbps (for the NetShow Theater Server). However, for most Web users, the streaming video will be limited to the data rates of the connection (for example, up to 128 Kbps with an ISDN connection). Microsoft's streaming media files are in its Advanced Streaming Format (ASF).

Streaming video is usually sent from prerecorded video files, but can be distributed as part of a live broadcast "feed." In a live broadcast, the video signal is converted into a compressed digital signal and transmitted from a special Web server that is able to do multicast, sending the same file to multiple users at the same time.

Who's watching streaming video?

5% of Web users watch streaming video daily Posted by ZDNet Research

74% of Web users have viewed online video at least once; 51% do so a minimum of once a month; 27% watch streaming video at least once a week; and 5% view Web video streams daily, according to Online Publishers Association.

FUELED BY THE RISE IN high-speed Web access, the majority of Internet users view at least one streaming video feed per month, according to a study released Tuesday by the Online Publishers Association. The organization reported that nearly three out of four Web users--74 percent--have viewed online video at least once; 51 percent do so a minimum of once a month; 27 percent watch streaming video at least once a week; and 5 percent view Web video streams daily. For the report, "Drivers & Barriers To Online Video Viewing," the Online Publishers Association and Frank N. Magid Associates surveyed more than 27,000 Web users age 13 and older last October and November. The researchers intercepted respondents from 25 news, information, and entertainment Web sites, including USAToday.com, GameSpot.com, and Weather.com.
In fact, not only do many Web users regularly watch streaming video, but they would apparently watch even more, if additional clips were available. "One of the major takeaways is that there's more demand for video than consumers can find," said Michael Zimbalist, president of the Online Publishers Association. That conclusion is based on the finding that 59 percent of respondents discovered online videos via random Web surfing, while only 43 percent of respondents said they had previously watched a streaming video on the site where they were intercepted--mainly because they didn't know videos were available on the site. If more video was available--and respondents knew where to find it--they would presumably watch more.

Most survey respondents--70 percent--reported having watched an online video ad, and many indicated that the spots spurred them to action. When asked what they did, if anything, as a result of viewing the ad, 34 percent said they investigated a Web site, while 15 percent requested additional information, 14 percent visited a brick-and-mortar store, 10 percent forwarded the ad to another person, 9 percent made a purchase, and 3 percent ordered a subscription. But more than half of the respondents--56 percent--said they hadn't done any of those activities in response to the ad.

Can streaming media unlock new sales?

Immature technology has limited the widespread adoption of streaming applications to larger enterprises, but analysts and some early adopters forecast a boom during the next few years.

by Garry Kranz

For Steve Waterhouse, the decision to add streaming media applications to his company's Web operations has paid off handsomely.

"During the past six months, we've seen a 300 percent increase in Web traffic as a result. Streaming media definitely has been a revenue generator for us, because the applications enable us to add 50 percent more content to our training programs through follow-up services. We're also adding streaming media training courses on a subscription basis, and project that could increase our revenue 20 percent to 30 percent," said Waterhouse, founder of sales-training company The Waterhouse Group in Scarborough, Maine.

Early adopters of streaming media are found in the financial services, training and health care industries, according to Christine Perey, president of Perey Research and Consulting in Placerville, Calif. "In these industries, the actual content of the file is the asset being sold. Companies in which knowledge transfer is a core competency are better able to make money from streaming media technologies," said Perey.

Streaming media is common among large, widely dispersed enterprises, according to Lou Latham, an analyst with Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner. But a growth boom is on the horizon.

"By 2004, we expect that one-third to one-half of all companies will be using streaming media applications for training, virtual announcements and for business-to-business portals for help desks, customer service and marketing," Latham said.

Assess potential advantages

Although few companies are making money from streaming media, many are realizing cost savings and other benefits, said Philip Graham, vice president of the Internet Streaming Media Alliance, a nonprofit industry consortium.

"If your CEO needs to be in two places at once, he could do so by streaming a live broadcast to both sites. Aside from savings on travel costs, this actually helps the company seem smaller to employees, not larger," said Graham.

Enterprises can boost employee productivity by streaming training programs, including video on demand, to all who need it simultaneously. "Instead of spending days in a classroom, streaming video and audio training enable new employees to get training on site and be productive the very first day on the job," Graham said.

Streaming media commonly is used for interactive customer service demonstration videos. "These can help cut down on expensive customer service calls to your call center, which adds to your bottom line," he said.

Selling your content on a recurring basis is a promising feature of maturing streaming technology, said Dale Sorenson, president of streaming media consulting firm Sorenson USA in New York City. "Most videos are promotional in nature, and companies want to give them away as often as possible. But streaming video will make a new range of applications available in which the video becomes the product that you sell," said Sorenson.

Quantify costs

Adding streaming media to your Web operations requires technical expertise but generally can be done at minimal cost, users and industry observers say.

"The scary thing is how low cost it is," said Waterhouse, who estimates his company invested around $1,000 for software licenses, hardware and production equipment to establish streaming media as a recurring service offering.

Equipment purchases and contracting with creative talent are the main costs, according to Latham. "Aside from content creation, you'll have to invest in infrastructure upgrades and buy dedicated servers. You don't want to use your Web server to stream, since this is a very data-intensive activity," said Latham.

Sorenson said enterprises should implement cautiously, gauging the marketplace to see how technology is evolving. Proprietary authentication systems that are imposed on existing enterprise architecture often are "deeply flawed" and some don't prevent data from being decrypted once a file is opened, he said.

Nonetheless, enterprises ought to ponder streaming media strategies in anticipation of massive deployment during the next few years. According to Perey, businesses spent $600 million to $700 million through 1999 for products that enable streaming media applications. By 2003, she predicts that figure will grow to around $4 billion. "A great many companies are running pilot projects to try and improve streaming media technology," Perey said, "because they sense a heartfelt and proven need for it within business units."

About the author: Garry Kranz is a freelance business and technology writer based in Richmond, Va. Contact him at gkranz@ureach.com