What's the best format for your video? The Fifth Network's director weighs in.
There is nothing quite as graceful or engaging as watching a professional athlete do what he does best, and lately, none seem as enthralling, accessible or streamed online as OJ Simpson.
Hundreds of respected local news reporters, AP news reporters, and (not surprisingly) Geraldo Rivera, have been letting their inner-paparazzi go wild all over the web. There are seemingly whole video players populated with OJ-centric content. Commentary and hourly updates on this latest fiasco, interviews with OJ, his accomplices, the guy who got robbed, the guy who sent a taped conversation to TMZ, a reciprocal interview with the guy at TMZ who received the tape are all being streamed to, and ingested by, the masses on their computers.
According to the results of the recent InsightExpress-Advertisting.com study, 62 percent of online video viewers regularly watch news clips, and this is the news du jour.
As it appears that judging what kind of a person OJ is has once again become a national past time, I'd like to do some judging of my own about the video formats his impending trial will probably be streamed in.
Flash v. Windows Media
Any company with at least five years of experience can tell you that, not long ago, the future of online video and online video advertising hinged directly on Java. Windows media video (WMV) wasn't easy to stream, manage or track and Flash video hadn't yet arrived. QuickTime and AVI video, while superior in quality, were just too heavy or restrictive to program and stream at scale.
When Flash 6 came out and supported video, the entire topography of the industry changed. Unlike Java or WMV, Flash video worked seamlessly with Macs, could be integrated with Flashes rich media graphics, could be tracked more thoroughly and didn't really buffer (hiccup mid-stream). The only thing holding it back was the size of the user base.
Today, Java has been eclipsed by Flash, and according to the latest research from Adobe, Flash 7 has a 99.4 percent market penetration in the U.S., Flash 8 has a 98.7 percent market penetration in the U.S. and the latest version, Flash 9, is said to have just above 90 percent penetration.
As a platform built with much more than video delivery in mind, Flash also has the great benefit of allowing for user interaction. Advertisers and content producers can add clickable "Hot-Spots," to video, creating very robust environments where users can interact with actual elements in a video.
But is Flash the best format for publishers pushing long-form content?
Presently, Flash video can produce fairly good quality, and this fall the platform will integrate the H.264 video codec, an open source video format compatible with several mobile device and with truly amazing quality. Conversely, Windows Media currently offers WMV HD and is in the process of pushing Silverlight, a program that competes head-on with Flash, to the market.
WMV, the video format native to the hundreds of millions of windows users, can now offer an immaculate video experience in high-definition. Granted, the technology that delivers the video has a lot to do with the end user-experience, but using second generation peer-to-peer technology, especially when combined with traditional Content Delivery Network (CDN) technology, we've been able to see WMV video load as quickly as Flash, without buffering, while offering a lossless fullscreen playback.
This type of hybrid delivery, which utilizes different technology systems for their different strengths in speed, profitability and scalability, is similar to how the first in-banner "Full Screen" video ads utilized in-banner Flash video for their expanding/interactive features, but launched WMV video when users initiated full screen mode in order to maintain quality.
While not available to Macs, and thereby not very thrilling to countless creative/Hollywood types, the WMV format can be ideal for immediate long-form, large screen viewing.
For content producers, in addition to wanting massive reach, it is also optimal or necessary to have a significant level of Digital Rights Management (DRM) to limit the use of their content and protect if from pirating. Adobe has been taking great strides to add DRM to their Flash Media Player, but WMV has always been built on the basis of content security.
Where WMV has traditionally faltered is in its ability for interaction and detailed tracking, but with the advent of the Silverlight platform, the potential for a highly measurable viewing experience and extremely interactive ad experience is soon to be realized.
What's very exciting about this evolution in online video is that no matter what video format is used, Flash and Silverlight both offer advertisers ways to go beyond pre-roll to allow for next generation in-video ads that encourage interaction, aren't as intrusive or jarring and continue to collect the valuable data that our industry is known for.
The Verdict
Flash is presently the leader in the video space. It's the player of choice for the largest UGC publishers, and as far as video advertising goes, Adobe is platform-agnostic, catering to PC and Mac programmers. Also, Flash's programming tools have a seven year head start on Silverlight's.
For the discerning videophile and concerned content owner, though who wants his or her video in 480p (DVD-Quality) and 720p (HD-Quality), WMV video currently stands as the champion of the lighter-weight professional video formats. Keeping an eye on the near-future, when internet video makes its way to the living room, this video format is poised to have a big impact.
Like any debacle involving OJ and the law, nothing in online video is simply black and white. Both of these video formats are working to better their products while other players like Real, DivX and QuickTime are hustling to make their mark in the space as well, and all parties involved have their pros and cons.
With all the opportunity in online video, I, the jury, find that the winners will actually be those video distributors who build platforms that are compatible with both Flash's AND Silverlight's video codecs and of course, their respective ad formats. Bet you didn't see that coming!
Bradley Werner is the director of marketing for The Fifth Network. Read full bio.