CBS Testing iPad-Friendly HTML5 Video Delivery Methods

[MacRumors]

CBS is continuing to move forward with its plans to deliver streaming video of its television content in an iPad-friendly HTML5 format, eliminating the networks existing reliance on Adobe's Flash Player for serving content. In March, we noted that the company appeared to be preparing HTML5 versions of its streaming content, and CBS Interactive Senior Vice President Anthony Soohoo confirmed last month that the company plans to have its full CBS.com lineup available in HTML5 by the start of the fall television season.

mocoNews caught up with Soohoo recently and reports that CBS is currently engaged in testing its HTML5 delivery using episodes of Star Trek Enterprise as the network seeks to reach "parity" with Flash delivery methods.

"What you see right now is a small, little experiment," Soohoo explained, with Star Trek Enterprise as an "ideal" subject, in part because of its fan base and because CBS owns it. "We're currently just testing for the time being." CBSi plans to move towards HTML5 parity with Flash video but first Soohoo and his team need to find the right mix of tools. It's not hard to offer the video in both versions but it's far more complicated than that.

"Our goal is over time at some point having content parity. The tools aren't mature yet - security needs to be there, second thing we need is all the tracking and measurement. If we can't track, we can't monetize.” Adobe Flash is still the way most CBSi users get their video; as important, it's how ads are served.

While stopping short of a commitment, Soohoo notes that CBS is currently leaning toward offering both browser-based video streaming and dedicated apps, choosing to "follow where the audiences are".

ABC made a splash with its early launch of a dedicated iPad application for its streaming content, and while CBS had initially appeared to be focusing on browser-based delivery, it now seems that the network will be taking a more fluid approach and remains open to multiple possibilities.

Not all networks and content providers are following ABC and CBS in jumping on the iPad/HTML5 bandwagon, however. A number of media companies, including NBC and Time Warner, have pledged their continued support for Flash streaming, pointing to the format's continued dominance on the Web and shortcomings in HTML5 feature offerings.

Article Link: CBS Testing iPad-Friendly HTML5 Video Delivery Methods

 

[dxp4acu]

I love Star Trek Enterprise!! Great photo.

 

[GeekLawyer]

Any movement, from any content provider, in this direction is welcome. ABC has really set the standard, though.

 

[Edunwody]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; PPC Mac OS X 10_5_8; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.16 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0 Safari/533.16)

This is good news. ABC owns the iPad now though.

 

[saxon48]

Very nice! We're slowly getting away from Flash, one website at a time.

 

[antiprotest]

Die, Flash, Die!

 

[nnash]

Are there any case studies on ABCs iPad app that go in depth on their development strategy?

 

[manhattanboy]

Does it really matter anymore if it's HTML5 or not?

Flash (including Hulu!) is running smooth as butter on the new custom 2.2 mods.

 

[manhattanboy]

Very nice! We're slowly getting away from Flash, one website at a time.

Why do you hate flash?

I personally like the ability to stream free TV shows and movies and internet radio all through Flash. Do you not like those things? I don't get some of the people here...entertainment is a good thing!

Die, Flash, Die!

Wow, I would hate to be your kid. How brutal are you?
Adobe makes some great products.
Dreamweaver is pretty much the gold standard for web development.
Photoshop and illustrator are too for their respective areas. Come to think of it so is Indesign.

 

[bmturney]

NBC/Time Warner are pathetic....

"A number of media companies, including NBC and Time Warner, have pledged their continued support for Flash streaming, pointing to the format's continued dominance on the Web and shortcomings in HTML5 feature offerings."

Translation: "We've done it this way for years... and it would be too hard to switch.... we just don't have the talent to expertise to pull it off... "

Weak!!!!!!

 

[nnash]

Why do you hate flash?
Dreamweaver is pretty much the gold standard for web development.

Dreamweaver is a horrible bloated WYSIWYG application with so much redundancy in the interface that I don't even bother with it. There are much better applications like Coda and Textmate for web development.

You're right about the rest of the creative suite applications you mentioned though.

 

[nnash]

"A number of media companies, including NBC and Time Warner, have pledged their continued support for Flash streaming, pointing to the format's continued dominance on the Web and shortcomings in HTML5 feature offerings."

Translation: "We've done it this way for years... and it would be too hard to switch.... we just don't have the talent to expertise to pull it off... "

Weak!!!!!!

Since Apple has made it obvious to the world that it loves HTML5, and has created a market of millions of mobile device users you would think that a company as large as NBC or Time Warner would want to capture that audience as well instead of leaving ABC (and now CBS) to be the sole pioneers in that market.

 

[qbert]

"CBSi plans to move towards HTML5 parity with Flash video but first Soohoo and his team need to find the right mix of tools. It's not hard to offer the video in both versions but it's far more complicated than that."

Reading between the lines:

HTML5 is a P.I.T.A. for developers - even those with deep pockets. And these guys are trying to replicate old tech - basic Flash features which have been around for years.

Bottom line: Apple needs to work with Adobe on Flash 10.1.

PS. For the many kids here: "Parity" means equal, not better.

 

[sigma8]

Why do you hate flash?

Why do you like it?

I personally like the ability to stream free TV shows and movies and internet radio

I like that too.

all through Flash.

Why Flash, specifically? It's not the only way. I mean, seriously, for radio too? I'd vastly prefer an mp3 stream.

Do you not like those things? I don't get some of the people here...entertainment is a good thing!

I love those things, and guess what: I'm getting them without Flash.

You talk about Flash like it's the only way, but it's not. Of course, Flash is one way...but then you fail to tell us why it's better than any of others. Allow me to tell you why it's worse:
1) performance is bad on the mac -- I've gotten the latest "Gala" preview release...things are a little better for video, but it's still bad
2) Flash sites break the standard web browser controls...forward/back navigation breaks, mouse scroll-wheel doesn't work, sometimes even the UI elements (like scrollbars) are replaced with crappier equivalents
3) Flash sites are not very portable -- by this, I don't mean that they don't work on ANY current smartphone, but that they don't play well with dynamic browser window sizing, they don't play well with browser extensions (except the admittedly awesome ones that block it entirely), you can't save any of the media (a boon for some...but jpegs being rendered unsavable is a bit over the top...plus they become extra compressed and crappy)

there's more reasons but i just got a phone call

Wow, I would hate to be your kid. How brutal are you?
Adobe makes some great products.

true..

Dreamweaver is pretty much the gold standard for web development.

Frighteningly...not a good example of one of their best..

Photoshop and illustrator are too for their respective areas. Come to think of it so is Indesign.

i love photoshop

 

[wlow3]

Star Trek Enterprise may be the only HTML5 video available in full episode
length, but there are a lot of clips on the CBS site presently available in HTML5 - namely Letterman's comedy bits, monologue, and clips from guests. Same for Craig Ferguson. Can't wait full the full episodes of these.

 

[topmounter]

Why do you hate flash?

I personally like the ability to stream free TV shows and movies and internet radio all through Flash. Do you not like those things? I don't get some of the people here...entertainment is a good thing!



Wow, I would hate to be your kid. How brutal are you?
Adobe makes some great products.
Dreamweaver is pretty much the gold standard for web development.
Photoshop and illustrator are too for their respective areas. Come to think of it so is Indesign.

It's interesting that you did not include Flash among Adobe's "Great products".

Flash is the proverbial VCR of Internet delivered entertainment... still functional (to a point), but outmatched by newer and better technologies.

 

[blackpond]

Is it just me or does the location in that photo look shockingly similar to the beryllium mine on Galaxy Quest?

 

[manhattanboy]

It's interesting that you did not include Flash among Adobe's "Great products".

I do not think Flash is one of their great products.

That said, the rest of their products have made using Flash easier than would otherwise be required.

I think the deeper debate is really about control. Flash and Hulu can run smoothly on a cell phone (thankfully so I have something to do at the gym). Everyone is upset because nobody (cough Apple) wants to support Flash. However, if Flash was "So terrible" to begin with why have everyone and their mother been utilizing it for years!??

I'm not backing Flash; I'm backing the ability to see great content for free on a cell phone. I can do that with Flash right now. If I can do that without Flash then that's great too. But more than anything, I just want the ability to do that, right now.

[r/g internet radio: yes I prefer mp3 streams, but in locked down computers sometimes you don't have the ability to install iTunes for PC, etc. It's so quick to be able to run internet radio in a separate tab on the browser and just click X when you're done.]

 

[dwtd]

Has anyone else tried out the site on their iPad? It doesn't work for me yet. When I click on "PLAY VIDEO" nothing happens. Then if I tap on the video it gives me the crossed out play button.

I know it's in testing, so we'll probably see it fixed soon...

 

[Rafterman]

I love Star Trek Enterprise!! Great photo.

Unfortunately, an underappreciated Trek version that deserved a seven year run like the other three got.

 

[munkees]

Does not work for me either on my ipad

 

[4nNtt]

I was surprised how cheap Enterprise is on iTunes. I realized I never watched this series and looked it up. $23 for HD versions of all 26 episodes in the first season. That is less then $1 each. Great deal!

 

[Cameront9]

Does it have subtitles or captions though? All three of the big networks do NOT subtitle their online video. it's useless to me without subtitles.

 

[Jaro65]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; PPC Mac OS X 10_5_8; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.16 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0 Safari/533.16)

This is good news. ABC owns the iPad now though.

They do, but it is still great to see others moving in this direction.

 

[Westside guy]

At least the CBS spokesman didn't dance around the issue - it's not a question of delivering high-quality movie content, that's easy. What they're complaining about when they say "reach parity" is specifically the stuff like ad tracking, disabling skipping commercials, and the like. Nothing the consumer cares about - it's all about money.

I don't begrudge them that, because they have to make their money somehow - but let's not try to obfuscate what the issues are. It's not about video quality, and it's not about coding. Delivering HTML5 video is easy. Heck, if you don't care about out-of-date Flash player installations you don't even need a different encode to support HTML5 with a Flash fallback. It's just a few lines of javascript to deal with the Firefox issue, if you don't want to offer Theora as well.