It should be no surprise that the popularity of online video is growing. What might be shocking is how much focus online video will have in 2009. Back in late December, eMarketer.com wrote and article on a survey conducted by PermissionTV. The results suggested that more then 2/3 of marketing companies will focus their 2009 marketing budgets on online video. This is well ahead of social media, search and traditional banner ads.
So this begs the question, how powerful is online video?
Last months presidential inauguration marked a shocking trend in people’s choice to watch streaming video. What was even more shocking, was that nearly every primetime television network was broadcasting the inauguration live, nonetheless people still flocked to the Internet to get their fix! Here is what CNN was willing to share about the event:
- Cnn.com served more than 25 million live video streams in less then 12 hours on inauguration day.
- Cnn.com served 1.3 million simultaneous live streams just prior to the start of President Obama’s speech.
CNN stated that this was the highest number of live video streams they have ever serviced in a single day.
Until recently, the quality and performance of online video has left much to be desired. A live event of this magnitude would have certainly produced a questionable viewing experience. Users want high quality, full screen and they want it immediately. With the advent of adaptive streaming and new ways of compressing video, users have access to qualities that are comparable to television. More importantly, businesses are not being forced to spend a fortune just to provide this level of quality.
A great example of this is ABC.com HD video player. If you have not tried it, please do. Watching an episode of Lost or Grey’s Anatomy is a really great experience. The quality is superb and surprisingly, a whole HD episode is less than a gigabyte download. What that means to the viewer is no more starting a download and coming back later to watch it. What that means to ABC, is that for less then a dime they can give each of their viewers an entire episode of their favorite show in HD and allow their viewers to experience it on demand!
