Online video at NAB 2009

In two days at NAB, I met with 18 companies operating in and around the online video space to hear their announcements and catch up on their progress. Multi-screen delivery was a lead initiative for many companies I met with, as they work to perfect transcoding workflows and device specifications to be able to deliver content wherever and whereever consumers want to receive it.

Accenture released a report about video consumption habits that stressed the need for a "digital supplyline" that takes a master piece of content and uses business rules and metadata to deliver it in the most efficient and effective way. The report also advises companies to be in touch with their end-users to be able to quickly iterate or modify strategy with real-time behavioral information.

Limelight Networks stressed its efforts to anticipate pain points in content delivery to mobile devices. It has compiled an extensive database of mobile devices and their specific capabilities, trying to assure that the right content mix is delivered based on the the devices' capabilities. Its work with MLB.com and the NCAA March Madness mobile offering is providing valuable experience to prepare the company for an anticipated boom in live and on-demand video delivery to mobile phones, according to company spokesman Paul Alfieri. 

Move Networks provided the most impressive demo by far: an interactive, customizable, and programmable linear channel workflow for its virtual set-top box that is intuitive, web-based, and non-CPU intensive. Move announced the acquisition of its partner company in this product, Inuk Networks, Wednesday. Ralf Jacob, senior vice president of engineering, brought up a superior quality video feed from the BBC during the demo, drawing the content from a server in London using only a wireless dongle across a hotel room broadband connection. Move is also doing interesting things with ad units, including an interactive "mosaic" ad that lets users choose from video of several features of a product with an accompanying virtual guide that elaborates on the stream the user chooses.

EveryZing CEO Tom Wilde gave me a product demo on a major implementation of the company's video SEO and universal search functionality it can't release quite yet. Look for an upcoming announcement soon.

HD Cloud officially launched last week, and CEO Nicolas Butterworth told me the company is currently profitable and is boot-strapping without VC or angel investment. As part of its launch, it demonstrated the ability to transcode one hundred 100 MB files simultaneously in 5 minutes, according to Butterworth. The company is also discussing innovative ways to use idle capacity during off-peak hours globally to drive down costs for CPU-intensive transcoding and delivery of HD content.

Finally, I spoke with Irdeto VP of marketing Jan Steenkamp about the company's recent launch of an end-to-end security and payment system for cable companies seeking to take video content online. Steenkamp said he foresees an increased shift to some sort of pay model for online video content, especially premium content, to make online video business models work. The company is powering global sports network Setanta's online offering, keeping the content secure while providing an easy to use payment system.

NAB provided a lot of interesting news and you'll see more as we get it posted over the next few days.

- Pete