NBC and Time Warner Continue to Back Flash Over HTML5

[MacRumors]

The New York Post reports that a number of media companies, including NBC and Time Warner, have informed Apple that they plan to continue offering their content in Flash formats, opting not to follow the lead of other companies like CBS that are rolling out iPad-friendly HTML5 versions of their Web content.

Sources said several large media companies, including Time Warner and NBC Universal, told Apple they won't retool their extensive video libraries to accommodate the iPad, arguing that such a reformatting would be expensive and not worth it because Flash dominates the Web.

Media companies embracing the iPad have typically taken one of two routes to ensure compatibility: Serve HTML5 browser-based video as CBS is doing or release dedicated applications as ABC has done. The Post's report seems to suggest that NBC and Time Warner are not open to either option at the present time, although their decisions could obviously be revisited in the future.

Article Link: NBC and Time Warner Continue to Back Flash Over HTML5

 

[briankwest77]

Thanks for making my mind up... guess I won't be watching any of their content.

/b

 

[Rojo]

Very disappointed in this (especially since Time Warner is the parent company of the place I work at). Just seems like they're shooting themselves in the foot by not embracing the future of web technology.

 

[Santabean2000]

Six months max before they sing a different tune. Short sighted fools.

 

[ChazUK]

If NBC/Time Warner come out with "an app for that" would that be okay?

Delivery through an app would be fine in my eyes.

EDIT: Looking at it again, it seems that an app wont be an option.

 

[GFLPraxis]

Have you ever used NBC's video player? It stalls and locks up all the time. At the slightest provocation, it restarts the video (playing through the commercials again in the process). Absolutely terrible.

It's a pity these companies won't update to modern web standards- or even provide an alternate method of viewing (via an app).

I stopped watching NBC on the web a long time ago just because the player was so buggy that I considered it unwatchable using Flash on a MacBook. The performance was also terrible- 720p H.264 videos play much smoother.

 

[batchtaster]

Oh gawd. We've been Flash thread-free for a while, and now it's starting again...

 

[rdowns]

Everyone loves to bash the media companies but no one wants to pay for the content. The fact is, they'll redo their libraries if and when they see a way to make money off of it. [/Devil's advocate]

 

[anthonyjr]

Do they not realize that it isn't about the iPad anymore? Almost every major browser is adding in full HTML5 support. It's more about moving to a new standard that will work across multiple platforms and won't require another engine to decode the information.

 

[Yamcha]

lol haha , not surprised, I knew people wouldn't make the transition that quick.. now I understand that HTML5 is the new standard, and its important that everyone follows web standards, BUT it takes some time to make the change, and that is exactly why I feel apple should support flash on iphones/ipods/ipads aswell as HTML5.. I think even if according to Apple flash causes most of the crashes on their platform, I would still like to see flash support then no support at all.. I wouldn't mind the crashes.. that way at least I can watch online videos on sites other then youtube..

Also the thing I don't understand, if flash is truly that bad, then why does apple have a youtube application.. isn't it based on flash? I mean there has been a youtube app since iphone was released.. at the time there was no HTML5 version of youtube, and even now the current firmware doesn't support HTML5..

Why support youtube at all?

 

[Lesser Evets]

Thanks for making my mind up... guess I won't be watching any of their content.

/b

Serious.
NBC and TW are yesterday's media dinosaurs. I'd rather watch paint dry.

 

[I WAS the one]

Even if HTML5 is the next big thing, it is not smart drop everything and start all over again, transition is a world that fits this era more than ever, we have been stuck without any tech evolution since 1980. I have a picture of myself side by side with a PC taken in 1978. My 2 years old daughter is in my desk sitting beside an iPad, it took more than ten years to change a keyboard and a mouse... And it still is a first step, so, today Flash is what bring content to the web, and it's also true that is old ugly and messy, maybe the html5 will fill that gab or will bring a new kind of media experience in our life, but Flash will be here for a couple of years more, like it or not. So, please stop being childish and work togueter for nice tech evolution that runs faster... Please?

 

[Ambrose Chapel]

Also the thing I don't understand, if flash is truly that bad, then why does apple have youtube application.. isn't it based on flash? I mean there has been a youtube app since iphone was released.. at the time there was no HTML5 version of youtube, and even now the current firmware doesn't support HTML5..

Why support youtube at all if your so against flash..

The reason they had a youtube app and not just let people use safari is b/c the app accesses youtube content encoded in h.264 (or another non-flash codec)

 

[wizard]

Sucks to be NBC.

Obviously the poor management at NBC is showing through. It appears that living in the past and ignoring the future is the common mode of operation at NBC.

As to Time Warner who even cares anymore about them?

If color TV was the new technology of the day both of these companies would avoid supporting the new standard. After all Black & White dominate the broadcast industry. Simply put they are the authors of their own destruction.



Dave

 

[pvfan6450]

No surprise there...

As Microsoft is a co-owner of NBC, I'm not surprised by their position on the use of Flash. Time-Warner's reaction is a little puzzling. One would think that going forward they may change their tune. Especially if they want to enter into the subscription market.

 

[kutsushita]

Six months max before they sing a different tune. Short sighted fools.

+1 for this. This (iPad) thing isn't some sort of fad and won't disappear so easily. I see the iPad as a start to not only the end of flash but a start to Apple ending flash support for their products. Sometimes bandwagons are a good thing, NBC and Time Warner

 

[GFLPraxis]

lol haha , not surprised, I knew people wouldn't make the transition that quick.. now I understand that HTML5 is the new standard, and its important that everyone follows web standards, BUT it takes some time to make the change, and that is exactly why I feel apple should support flash on iphones/ipods/ipads aswell as HTML5.. I think even if according to Apple flash causes most of the crashes on their platform, I would still like to see flash support then no support at all.. I wouldn't mind the crashes.. that way at least I can watch online videos on sites other then youtube..

Look at history.

If Apple had supported Flash, companies wouldn't see any pressing need to update to HTML5, and we'd still have Flash EVERYWHERE.

In that respect, the iPad has actually managed to improve the quality of the internet as a whole.

Also the thing I don't understand, if flash is truly that bad, then why does apple have a youtube application.. isn't it based on flash? I mean there has been a youtube app since iphone was released.. at the time there was no HTML5 version of youtube, and even now the current firmware doesn't support HTML5..

Why support youtube at all if your so against flash..

YouTube's videos aren't encoded in Flash, they're just delivered through the Flash player.

The YouTube app just delivers you the videos directly- no Flash in between. So no, there is no Flash on the YouTube app.

 

[raybo]

Not Enought Time Anyway

There is plenty of content available - we don't need NBC and Time. Can't watch it all anyway. Hey NBC/Time: Maybe we'll watch some of your stuff when you come to your senses.

Ray

 

[_Refurbished_]

Justin Bieber does not approve this decision.

 

[Ambrose Chapel]

I stopped watching NBC on the web a long time ago just because the player was so buggy that I considered it unwatchable using Flash on a MacBook. The performance was also terrible- 720p H.264 videos play much smoother.

so true. it's a very poor user experience.

 

[Jason S.]

I always wonder how many of the people who comment on this issue are actually web developers and understand the differences between what HTML5, CSS, Javacript, and Flash can do.

You cannot do everything with HTML5, even though Apple wants to make it sound that way. There are things that Flash can do that HTML5 and Javacript simply can't, and NBC has made that clear with their statement they made about Hulu.

You all are quick to take Apple's side, but I bet most of you don't even know the difference between HTML5 and Flash. (It's not even HTML that would be doing most of the work anyway; It's Javascript.)

 

[Yamcha]

The reason they had a youtube app and not just let people use safari is b/c the app accesses youtube content encoded in h.264 (or another non-flash codec)

Ohh ok, well that makes sense..

But I still think people aren't gonna make the transition so quickly, so Apple should definitely support flash. There are not many websites that support HTML5 just yet.. maybe only a dozen...

 

[Winni]

Very disappointed in this (especially since Time Warner is the parent company of the place I work at). Just seems like they're shooting themselves in the foot by not embracing the future of web technology.

They've already embraced the current de facto standard that's accessible to one BILLION people. The one million iPad users aren't really that important in comparison.

The solution is awfully simple: Steve Jobs just has to get his head out of his butt and let his developers work together with Adobe to get Flash on the iPhone OS. That's a 100% win for everybody.

The world does not evolve around Apple or its iGadgets. It's time that Cupertino wakes up to reality.

 

[iZac]

Is this also an issue that the flash packet can serve up delicious DRM soup for you to gulp down, that HTML 5 currently cannot?

 

[dashiel]

bs. this is more corporate posturing from nbc/universal. bronfman hates jobs and itunes with a passion. don't forget they pulled their content from itunes for 6 or so months.

a) if they haven't been encoding in h.264 for web streaming via a flash wrapper then they're dumb.

b) their video is encoded in h.264 for sale on itunes.

c) cdbaby released info about how they had to upload tracks to itunes and there were multiple encodes required. my recollection is vague, but i think they had to 64kbit stream, 128kbit for sale (not 256) and a alac version. i can't believe that apple doesn't require the same for video - it's far more efficient to have a master source that you can resample as infrastructure supports it.