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Streaming Media's Big Boom: Programming That's Cookin'
Streaming Media's Big Boom: Programming That's Cookin' |
Now that you have a cable modem, DSL or wireless link to the Internet, what's all this talk about "broadband content?" A lot of it is just that -- talk.
But not streaming media, which taps broadband's capacity to move a lot of data very fast to deliver full-motion audio and video -- movies, TV shows, special events, games, sports, concerts, you name it.
Technologically speaking, streaming media sends moving video images, coupled with sound, over the Internet to a user who views it as it flows into his/her computer. On another level, you could call streaming media TV or stereo on steroids … with a keyboard and a computer screen, to boot.
Thanks to the power of broadband and digital technology, streaming media is opening up a new world of entertainment, education and interactive applications that:
- Give you right-here, right-now access to movies, news, sports and music -- a good deal of it original content.
- Deliver a TV-at-your-computer experience, especially in the news and current events arena, where Web sites like CNN and MSNBC are bridging the gap between television and computerized programming.
- Add a multimedia dimension to online shopping -- think Victoria's Secret and its online fashion shows -- and Web surfing.
- Download data-heavy video and audio files in the blink of an eye.
- Open up an enormous library of digitized content produced over the last 80 years, including old radio shows, movies and filmed historical events.
Today, a handful of Big Media Kahunas, like Sony, Warner Brothers and Disney, as well as a lot of smaller, independent outfits, are producing movies, entertainment and news keyed to broadband's power. As the number of broadband households grows in the U.S. -- today, there are about ten million -- you can bet you'll see a lot more content as the computer, TV set and stereo converge in the digital kingdom.
Getting Started
To view streaming media, you need a "player" -- the computer software that processes the media streams as they enter your computer from a Web site. That player also sends video elements to your computer's screen and audio elements to the speakers. The units that handle audio and video:
- RealNetwork's RealPlayer comes in a free version or an upgraded version, RealPlayer Plus, that costs $29.99.
- Microsoft Windows Media Player
- Macintosh's Quicktime
- eSynch's ChoiceCaster
On the audio-only front, the most popular players are:
- RealNetwork's RealJukeBox
- America Online's Winamp
- Lycos' Sonique
- MusicMatch's Jukebox
- LiquidAudio
- Yahoo Player, which is based on Microsoft's Windows Media Player technology
Their playlist editors help manage your audio collections, offer CD-encoding capability, and carry equalizers, visualization modes and support for skins, among other features.
Here are some examples:
Top: Real Jukebox
Above: Sonique Player
Left: Winamp
The Future
Today, there are no streaming media standards. That means companies in this increasingly crowded field are doing their own thing. Some of the larger, more popular players, such as the pioneering RealNetworks, are leading the way. But competition will continue to foster innovation, which for consumers will translate into sharper pictures, crisper sound, more interactivity and a lot more content.
Want evidence? Look at what's going on in the broadband movie space, where Web sites are engineering new distribution channels for Hollywood and independent fare, as well as fostering a surge in Internet-specific productions. For example, Sightsound (www.sightsound.com) recently released the first Web feature film, Quantum Project. Also marching into the broadband future by offering downloadable or streamed original movie clips, shorts and full-length films:
Streaming media content can arrive in poor shape at times due to the vagaries of the Internet. But the programming will continue to get better, production-wise. What's more, the Internet will morph into a major platform for original content, which is always in high demand. What may be too quirky, provocative, daring or retro for mainstream mediums like broadcast TV and the local multiplex will find a home on the Internet. Recycled news, sports and movie content won't.
For a longer look at who's doing what, try these sites:
