Microsoft to launch UK ad-funded online video player Microsoft plans to launch an online TV player in the UK next week, which serves up telly shows long after they've aired on the box. The software giant's ad-funded MSN Video Player will be made available to Blighty broadband customers and will feature TV programmes from BBC Worldwide and All3Media. Strangely, though, MSN Video …
"However, the shows will only appear on the MSN service, which is streamed via Flash ... "
When will it change to streaming via Silverlight, MS? Because that's what this is really about isn't it?
"Microsoft's online video player will be wrapped in ads served up by media agencies MediaCom, MindShare and MEC Interaction, during a six-month pilot phase to see if British punters are happy"
Microsoft, apart from some of "your" games, I've not been happy with anything you've had a hand in. You are an abusive bunch of sods and I aim to give you as little revenue as possible.
"if British punters are happy to view stale telly shows"
It's called Dave, and due to the parlous state of most British TV, I tend to watch its broadcasts of QI et al until I'm effectively drinking my own audiovisual urine.
This is interesting. It depends on how they do the ads really.
I'm more than happy to have a couple of adverts in the middle of a program (for example watching Peep Show on 4OD) if it's something not available elsewhere, but if they take the same stance as ITV and decide to inject five minutes of advertising every fifteen minutes I'll be ignoring this service completely.
Also, I guess, it depends on the quality. If it's 4OD or ITV-Player quality, I'm probably not going to watch a huge amount of things on it. For example, Hustle, a program which I've loved the last couple of series of, but always wanted to see what the earlier ones are like (I remember being utterly lost until the very end when they explained everything and finding it wonderful in the few older episodes I;ve seen). If I can't get it in at least the same quality as iPlayer's larger stream (the middle one, not HD but not low-quality) I'm not going to bother with it much at all.
In short; I hope they've got it right.
General unfocused heamorrhaging of money (by selling things like xBoxes at a dead loss) becomes difficult in these economically hard times, when fewer people have enough readies, to buy your loss-making products from you. You have to be proactive, these days, in order to turn a consistent run of poor quarterly results. The only real option is to jump into a business model which That Other Competitor has demonstarted to reliably cost money, even if nobody uses it (with cost that rise, exponentially, the moment anyone does). Waht's that? It uses Flash, you say? Why, of course it uses Flash! You don't expect anyone from Entertainment and Devices to actually develop anything for themselves, do you? They'll have bought it off some Mid-West startup like that one Scoble ran off to.
I hope the folks in Windows division who've been pulling all-nighters. recently, to meet the demands of their benign overlords, appreciate seeing how their cash cow is getting carved up by those E&D jokers.
P.S. the BBC, reporting on this, say that "Programmes... will only be available to people with a UK web address." A web address? Really? Well, I guess I'm covered, then. Do they mind if we use an Apache server, at this 'web address'?
Possibly because they intend to make some money out of it. With Silverlight, it would keep more away. Somehow I doubt they will tie it to the browser and media player like they tried to do with the BBC iPlayer during the first rollout.
Silverlight is only used for high visibility PR projects. Not actual money making propositions.
There are upmteen Satellite(UKGold etc) and several Freeview stations (like Dave) who broadcast this stuff I frankly don't see the need for this especially with the services like iPlayer, 4OD etc all working quite well. That coupled with the ever larger numbers of PVR's in use, I think Microsoft have well and truly missed the boat here.
As for the Flash/Silverlight debacle? Flash I can just about put up with but Silverlight? No thanks.
I'm just waiting for the volumes to get to the point where the script kiddies unleash all sorts of nasties that attack it.
Will have to wait and see what it's actually like but to make the argument that on-demand TV content isn't neccesary because people already have PVRs is a bit silly. It's a shame it's not in Silverlight though as Silverlight is actually a very good product, especially compared to Flash.
Nope, under current rule no TV Licence needed, as you would not be watching a Broadcast; the position would be the same as iPlayer - which tells you on its own site, no licence needed.
Much better deal for me is my local library, who will get in a boxed set of a whole series, and rent it to me for a pound for a week. Insane, but brill!
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