Too Much Streaming

[0388631]

I remember we were writing code to stream ESPN when 9/11 happened, and I'm pretty sure it took less than a year. So 2009 seems very late to me. You might be thinking of a later ESPN streaming product, not the first one.

Possibly, though AOL had video as well in the late 90s and early 2000s. It doesn't mean having 30 sec. to a few minutes of video was anything remotely like today or back then. That and the only instance of ESPN being mentioned is a radio broadcast over the internet.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_online_video

I'm sure I could find something if I dug deep into Google. I remember radio broadcasts and what was a graphic you'd open up and it would show players on a field with a delay. It was very cartoon-like.

I also remember questioning whether or not people would be willing to pay for sports highlights. This seems humorously naive today, but keep in mind that back then, content on the Internet was free and nobody knew how to make money on it yet. Management had the idea that sports fans were a serious enough crowd that they would pony up, and sure enough they did. For us that was the foot in the door to putting content behind a paywall.

This general business theory was applied to everything, not just sports. A lot of expanded cable used to be on basic; when companies realized they could make money off these, too, they began moving it into a separate package aside from base. And some took it one step further to remove them from a carrier and offer it as a la carte.

I generally agree with your post--I wouldn't expect Disney to be able to out-Netflix Netflix either. But they'll make an adequate streaming service.

I don't know. I have serious doubts about how serious they are. Netflix has invested enough in itself to design their own tech to crunch down video without sacrificing quality visually noticeable to the naked eye.

 

[ActionableMango]

That and the only instance of ESPN being mentioned is a radio broadcast over the internet.

It was not radio, it was video.

Look, I was there in the same Engineering group writing the code and I'm still friends with a few of the principle software engineers, one of which still works there. 9/11 and my layoff shortly thereafter during the dot com bust ensure that I cannot be wrong about the timeline. So I don't care what some Wikipedia editor has or hasn't been able to reference.

But this is getting into the weeds. My point in bringing that up was that Disney isn't just some theme park company getting into streaming technology for the first time.

 

[0388631]

It was not radio, it was video.

Look, I was there in the same Engineering group writing the code and I'm still friends with a few of the principle software engineers, one of which still works there. 9/11 and my layoff shortly thereafter during the dot com bust ensure that I cannot be wrong about the timeline. So I don't care what some Wikipedia editor has or hasn't been able to reference.

But this is getting into the weeds. My point in bringing that up was that Disney isn't just some theme park company getting into streaming technology for the first time.

Did some more digging. There's a few articles about adaptive streaming and carrier spats with ESPN. The majority of the links suggest game action clips, and not the entirety of games at an acceptable quality or live. At the time, QuickTime for Mac and RealPlayer were the leaders of streaming prerecorded media. I don't recall if live feeds were ever available.

Going back to my earlier post, I only recall ESPN streaming fully recorded games and live games with slight delay in 2009 with ESPN3, which was available years prior to that but I'm unsure of the quality. Again, quality is what we're looking for and discussing. If Disney as a whole has had experience in streaming for nearly 20 years, then their current networks shouldn't be suffering from quality issues or delivering a problematic product today.

So while I appreciate you sharing what you did then, which wasn't a pleasant period for anyone in tech, the issue remains. Most stream services don't offer an impactful product that is trouble free. If Disney is serious, they'll need to double or triple their initial $15B budget. Disney is a media conglomerate first. Theme park company second. Tech company last.

 

[S.B.G]

The streaming market is fractured for sure.

I use Netflix the most, and I also have CBS All Access for Star Trek. It bothers me that I had to get CBS for one show, but I really, really like Star Trek. Otherwise It's Netflix and anything I get on iTunes, plus I have HBO Now.

The biggest turnoff for me on services, like traditional cable, over the air, DirecTV Now, YouTube TV and the like are commercials. I really hate them. If Netflix ever introduces commercials into their platform then I'll be done with them.

 

[Mac'nCheese]

The streaming market is fractured for sure.

I use Netflix the most, and I also have CBS All Access for Star Trek. It bothers me that I had to get CBS for one show, but I really, really like Star Trek. Otherwise It's Netflix and anything I get on iTunes, plus I have HBO Now.

The biggest turnoff for me on services, like traditional cable, over the air, DirecTV Now, YouTube TV and the like are commercials. I really hate them. If Netflix ever introduces commercials into their platform then I'll be done with them.

I read that the services are looking into playing commercials when you pause a show. Which I would be fine with. If a commercial plays when I pause a show or a movie to go to the bathroom or kitchen, great, I'm not watching it and they make some money. Win/win. If I pause it because I get a call or something, I'll just mute the tv,

 

[C DM]

I read that the services are looking into playing commercials when you pause a show. Which I would be fine with. If a commercial plays when I pause a show or a movie to go to the bathroom or kitchen, great, I'm not watching it and they make some money. Win/win. If I pause it because I get a call or something, I'll just mute the tv,

So you'll need to scramble to use two different functions when you need to take a call or simply want to put things on pause without something else still going? That doesn't make much sense. Not to mention that pause is used quite a bit to read something on the screen or something of similar nature, and having something play over what you paused completely gets rid of that basic usefulness of it that has always been around. In any case, this is somewhat off topic, and is being discussed at https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...aying-commercials-when-you-hit-pause.2158620/.

 

[Mac'nCheese]

So you'll need to scramble to use two different functions when you need to take a call or simply want to put things on pause without something else still going? That doesn't make much sense. Not to mention that pause is used quite a bit to read something on the screen or something of similar nature, and having something play over what you paused completely gets rid of that basic usefulness of it that has always been around. In any case, this is somewhat off topic, and is being discussed at https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...aying-commercials-when-you-hit-pause.2158620/.

Thank you for the link, I missed that article.

 

[Huntn]

It seems like every week, a new studio or network announces a new streaming service. Its getting to be too much. People cut the cable cord and started using services like Hulu and Netflix to save money. But if there is now going to be a few dozen streaming services, all keeping their own content, what's the point in cutting the cord? Netflix is losing Marvel so do Marvel fans drop Netflix to sign up with Disney or do they keep both and pay both fees. Pretty soon, they will be paying more than they did for cable!

If they oversaturate the market, they will thin themselves out. I’m subscribed to Netflix and Amazon. My wife is subscribed to Acorn. I subscribe temporary to entities like HBO and CBS All Access to watch a single show for a month or two and then unsubscribe.

 

[0388631]

If they oversaturate the market, they will thin themselves out. I’m subscribed to Netflix and Amazon. My wife is subscribed to Acorn. I subscribe temporary to entities like HBO and CBS All Access to watch a single show for a month or two and then unsubscribe.

Speaking of too many services, I was reading an article yesterday on Netflix spending $100M for another year of Friends, and found out Apple is starting their own TV streaming service. It hadn't occurred to me that when Apple announced they were going to develop their own shows over the summer or even before then, that it was for a television service and not exactly their iTunes Store.

 

[Huntn]

Speaking of too many services, I was reading an article yesterday on Netflix spending $100M for another year of Friends, and found out Apple is starting their own TV streaming service. It hadn't occurred to me that when Apple announced they were going to develop their own shows over the summer or even before then, that it was for a television service and not exactly their iTunes Store.

What will Apple’s subscription cost I wonder?

 

[0388631]

What will Apple’s subscription cost I wonder?

Good question, Hunt. Beats me. It would have to be competitive as a standalone, but I suspect Apple Music subscribers may be introduced to a higher priced combo package that allows them access to the streaming hub in addition to music streaming. That said, I wonder if they'll segment the packages in terms of available screens.

Their move is both questionable and good. In the former instance, they need to hit it out of the ballpark with initial licensing of current or ended shows the populace enjoys watching, but they also must introduce in-house shows that are good. For the latter, well, they're diversifying their products and services. A recent article I read based on various reports stated mobile phone growth in terms of sales or moved units significantly slowed down past 2014, with the tipping point being 2016. The year over year exponential gains in power and features have slowed down and consumers are being more smart with their phone purchases. There is still a small segment of those who always need to get the new one, but those numbers are waning. So Apple is doing the smart thing here. At least on paper.