NBC launches new viewer with 07-08 season

Last year was just the test for online viewing of episodes, but now its for real. NBC Universal has dropped Apple's iTunes Store (and visa versa) but with one of the worst streaming viewers on the market the question was how NBC would fare in this new medium. The answer, a few weeks ago was the launching of a revamped NBC.com viewer.

The concept is leagues above last season's. Modeled after ABC.com's viewer, NBC has three sizes including a full screen. Breaking from other networks though, NBC's full screen include a mask around the entire frame that includes the series logo on the top and a logo of the sponsoring brand on the bottom of the screen.

The biggest addition in concept is the adding of ABC styled thirty second advertising units. A 30-second count down also alerts viewers to the time remaining for the break. However, unlike ABC, the show automatically restarts unless you attempt to interact with the ad.

The second season premier of Heroes, for the first 24 hours was sponsored exclusively by Nissan's Rouge which also has a placement inside the episode as well according to MediaWeek (the cheerleader gets the family Rouge [a car not seen in the first season] and she says that her dad is the best dad ever). In sponsoring the streaming episode, a short video of the Rouge drives around an abandon New York City then allows users to look at videos about the different features of car.

The campaign was created by Nissan's OMD Agency.

Hidden in the ads though are also DVD styled extras about Heroes and an easter egg series of videos called "The Maze Master" which are quite fun to watch. Over all the advertisement is engaging and uses the medium exceedingly well. In fact after seeing less than one episode, I now actually remember the name of the car, and a few of its features (Bluetooth hands free phone via the steering wheel) having never heard of the car before.

Other advertisers on the site currently, though not with nearly as compelling ad units are Proctor & Gamble's "Head and Shoulders" brand which simply re-uses an :30 spot and HP which is running a static branding ad that seems to imply interactivity but when clicked on links to an HP promotional Web site.

However, there are major technical glitches. For instance I've still seen less than the first episode of Heroes because after the first ad block of the show never restarted. Then when I tried to reload the browser and start from the second act I got a file not found error.

Other problems also occurred. The first few times I tried to watch the episode, I would hear the sound but the screen was asking me to select an episode again which would re-run the Rouge advert. While trying to watch the Journeyman pilot the same issue occurred before I was able to watch anything at all. Chuck on the other hand played but about half way through just fine, then started to become rather choppy, and never recovered.

In general, the interface is the best I've seen yet. The video quality is good, about the same as ABC's last season, which was already fantastic. The bugs on the other hand are damning. The site has only been live with the new season for about 24 hours as of posting this, but these errors will have to be fixed soon if this update will ever live up to it's potential.

If NBC does manage to turn the reliability around, the player may be the new gold standard. The ability to have extra features and interactive advertising will make sponsorships much more valuable than the mere pennies, or at best dimes networks have been charging for these impressions. NBC should be able to finally see substantive revenue from its online content.

Final Breaths for Bud.TV?

We've talked a lot about Anheuser-Bush's attempt at creating its own branded online channel called Bud.TV. It has a lot of flaws, an aggravating age verification system keeps the content from spreading virally, the funny films were not funny, it is expensive, very expensive.
Everyone in the Ad world was looking to see AB's efforts pan out so that they could finally bid adu to the networks whose ads are being viewed by less and less people. AB thought it might even have a chance (as evidenced by its diverting television dollars to the project). All of Madison Avenue was watching but after its debut the night of the 2007 Super Bowl ratings went in the wrong direction. Receiving after a few months literally onlys tens of thousands of hits a day, viewers of Bud.TV had some of the most highly paid for eyes in advertising history.
Today day though, as Bud.TV takes in their few final breaths they've sent an email to their members looking for some saving wisdom. A poll sent out by Bud.TV this evening asks members to rate the "Swear Jar" film, one of the most viewed videos to come from Bud.TV, on a scale of one to ten.
The poll goes on to if Bud.TV could only have one type of content what would the user want it to be (options including reality content, stand up comedy, humorous ads, ect). Then they are asked their interest in social networking being added to Bud.TV.
The implication of the poll is that AB hasn't given up but that there will be a conservation of resources as they look to build a solid base.
That's right, they'll restrict new content and grow the users.
Well I guess this means that Bud.TV truly is on its last legs.
Smart people learn from their mistakes, brilliant ones learn from the mistakes of others. The next few months of Bud.TV will surely be watched by every genius on Madison Avenue.

iPhone: The Musical -- You just got to watch this one

I'm going to make a prediction here. I blogged about David Pouge, the New York Times technology columnist earlier in the week and his hilarious tech podcast about being one of four people in the U.S. outside of Apple to have an iPhone. Today he has one that tops it called iPhone: The Musical. Pouge sings the song (dubbed "I want an iPhone) then halfway in gets back up vocals from the crowd standing outside the 5th Avenue Apple Store in New York City.

My prediction... Pouge has been living in Wall Street Journal columnist Walt Mossberg's shadow for sometime, these webisodes could just bring Pouge into the sun and make Mossberg's black and white just look old fashion.

An Ad by Any Other Name Would Smell as Sweet

As I may have said a few times one of my favorite ad models for online video is ABC's video player, hands now. The video is beautiful, they'll be launching an HD player with the fall season, and the ads truly take interactive advertising to a new level.

New TeeVee has a great post about their advertising today... read more a NewTeeVee

Free Online Full Langth Classic Films from SciFi

They aren't exactly webisodes, but the SciFi Channel has posted full length classic films on their site under the title "SciFi Drive In", no ads, and uncut. They are some of the greatest B-grade moves of all time like Killers From Space (Mission Impossible's original Mr. Felps) 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916) and who could forget Prehistoric Woman, the only color film among the selections. SciFi has some great descriptions like the one for the 1959 thriller The Killer Shrews.

Not Desperate Housewives, but dogs dressed as huge, ravenous shrews. This is the poor man's Island of Dr. Moreau, and stars James Best, better known as Roscoe P. Coltrane of The Dukes of Hazzard.

Check them out. Most are over an hour long but includes some real treasures. The 1902 French film often referred to as the first SciFi film, Le Voyage Dans La Lune, about a professor's voyage to the moon where he classically crashes his rocket into the moon's eye.

My only complaint is that the sound sync is often a little off. SciFi, owned by NBC|Universal is using the same video player as NBC Rewind, which also has sound sync issues over time, but isn't an issue often when shows are cut into ten minute acts. With these films running sometimes as long as 100 minutes, the delay can get to at least a half second off.

Jaman, now playing on AppleTV

Jaman.com (think iTunes store for HD foreign & independent films w/ faster downloads) has hacked the AppleTV to play their content without losing the DRM and it syncs like iTunes.

read more | digg story

The Webisode Blog Could Use Your Help

So I've been running The Webisode Blog for about a month or so now. Every post that goes up is getting just a few more hits than the last, this month I'm even expecting to exceed a thousand page views, not a ton, but it's a few.

The only thing that is keeping it from growing faster is lack of content. Which is where you all come in. I need a few people who similarly enjoy watching online videos and are willing to share the good, the bad and the ugly with people. Write what you want to write about, I'll write the rest and it will be a big happy family.

If you're interested write to me at webisode.editors[at]gmail.com. Tell me your background and what kind of topics you want to cover.

Cheers!

Everyone’s After YouTube??

The focus and experimentation on IPTV is switching away from watching short clips on YouTube to watching full length shows on downloadable TV applications.

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Could "The Rock" Change the '08 Presidential Race?

It took almost a month for it to really 'hit' but a short video on YouTube uploaded on May 27th could perhaps be the most Earth shattering online political video yet of the 2008 presidential campaign.
For more than a minute, former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel and current candidate for the democratic presidential nomination sternly stares at the camera before turning around throwing a rock into a lake and walking away.
Yes, instead of attacking his opponents or stating political hyperbole, he throws a rock in the water.
What does it all mean? Well it turns out this video wasn't produced by his campaign in the first place. Rather two 24-year-old art teachers in the bay area requested he take part, and without Lew Dobbs beating down his door (Gravel is currently running about 1 percent in the polls) he agreed, and spent a day shooting three segments.
Two of the segments are currently making the rounds on YouTube, The Fire, in which Gravel collects wood from a forest and builds a fire, and the more publicized video, The Rock. Since its release Gravel has been gaining traction on the internet, likely helped by the dozens of policy speeches that are show up next to The Rock on YouTube.
UnknownParameters had a great comment on the message board:

First the rock now a fire. His state of the union [address] would be an hour of silence followed by him taking [off] his right shoe.

Will it help Gravel win the election?
It most likely won't be enough, but this is a former senator with so little name recognition before that newscasters covering the videos have have been mis-pronouncing his name with a hard 'a' yet hardly anyone knows to correct them.
Webisodes are not a new thing to the 2008 race though. At first there was the "Let's Start a Conversation" videos from the client camp, then there was the spoof the iconic 1984 Apple ad featuring Big Sister Clinton (using the conversation videos) produced by Obama supporters. Most recently there were a series of webisodes coming from the Clinton camp leading up to a Sopranos spoof announcing their campaign song that made us wonder why, if he is such a bad actor did we ever believe Bill about the Monica thing.
But Gravel's video is something more than those. They were at best well done political ads that talk about issues directly but quickly turn people off, the best they get is a mild chuckle. Gravel's videos, even if it wasn't his intention, have branded him as the independent free spirit that he wants to be known as. They've given him tens millions of dollars of name recognition, and perhaps the first chance that he has yet had in this race.
Many reports touted his most recent debate appearance as his most impressive appearances yet, which may be--in part--due to confidence gained by a solid online conversation about his candidacy. But now the question is... where to go from here.
Building on a small group of young tech savvy fans, Gravel could create a ground swell by capitalizing on these troops and getting them to spreed his message. Use user generated content to get teens and 20-somethings with too much time to start recruiting their friends and build a base that can shake his black sheep label.
The spots are clever and intelligent and though may not be beating down doors with the issues he cares about, like tax reform and getting troops out of Iraq, but they do make people want to listen. And when was the last anyone wanted to hear what a politician had to say? These webisodes are a job well done.

The Broadsheet Goes Broadband

Now it might not be anything new to most people to hear that the venerable New York Times is putting up videos on its website to support its articles. It has in fact long been the case that small videos of reporters with a face for print journalism would recount the highlights of their story with cadence that made NPR sound like The Price is Right.
What may surprise may though, is that they have some really great original content. David Pouge, The Times famed technology columnist has a particularly exciting companion video series. This week, as part of Pouge's glowing review of Apple's iPhone, he documents how receiving an iPhone from an Apple PR flack changed his life in a webisode. He's chased down on the The Times newsroom at one point, or in another particularly funny moment when his editor, after being denied a preview of the device puts in a call the rival Wall Street Journal technology columnist, Walt Mossberg.
The videos are done very much in tong and cheek and run about three or four minutes long and have fine production values. Pouge, despite his throughly dorky selection in button downs, has great comedic timing. The pieces are equally balanced between humorous and informative.
The episodes come out regularly every week at the same time as his State of the Art column on Wednesdays.

slutty salad dressings: Sprays in the City

Candace Bushnell has so much to answer for. These animated webisodes, inspired by Sex and the City and starring Spraychel, the captivating I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!® spray, and Spritzy, the feisty Wish-Bone® Salad Spritzers® Dressing, are categorically a bad thing. Tim Gunn, heretofore idolized in these parts, shills himself out...

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But Why Is The Rum (Contest) Gone?

While YouTube and hard alcohol might sound like an ideal weekend to you, it’s only been the huge headache afterwards for Malibu Rum. Like so many consumer product companies before them, Malibu Rum conducted a video contest on YouTube, soliciting YouTubers to make a commercial set to that well known Trinidadian folk song, “The Banana Boat Song...

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MySpace Vidoes To Become MySpace TV, YouTube Competitor

MySpace will rename and relaunch its video sharing service as MySpaceTV Thursday, according to the NY Times.MySpace TV will operate as a standalone service and is being billed as a direct competitor to YouTube.

read more | digg story

Kiptronic Adds Advertising Insertion For Video

Advertising insertion service provider Kiptronic has announced support for dynamic ad insertion and campaign management for video content.



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BLOG BRIEF:YouTube Local Lauching Local Sites

YouTube will launch nine country specific versions of YouTube today.YouTube local versions will be available for Brazil, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and the U.K, complete with relative country specific domains such as youtube.fr and youtube.jp.



read more | digg story

This Bud's Not for Everyone - Part Deuce

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is part two of a continuing series about Bud.TV and advertiser generated content. The previous posting in the series is from June 13th.

The underlying question of the whole thing still remains what is the point of Bud.TV for Auhiser-Bush when doled out at a 30 million dollar price tag? How many eye-balls will see this content and will they even deliver the message they are looking for. I’ve scene a lot of online ads looking to find a way around the cost of broadcast, but the truth is that TV is expensive for a reason it has a built in audience that’s be growing for years.

Bud.TV is an attempt at vertical integration but with restrictions on who can access the site (which a number of state attorney’s generals have said aren’t strong enough) there is no way for it to ever achieve the viral status of a YouTube video. The most watched videos that I have found so far on Bud.TV have play counts around 25,000. Bud Cursing jar video on YouTube has achived close to a half million views. Yet despite all that success that number of viewer times ten could be achieved by running during Dr. Phil, times a hundred and it would be on the Super Bowl.

CBS said in their first month of launching their inter tube player they received more than 11 million views. I haven’t seen any metrics since then but we can only assume the numbers have sky rocketed since then. This are established content providers though. Will Bud.TV ever be able to establish themselves?

Well the news from A-B is not good for Bud.TV and the project is expected to be scraped at years end.

But the idea of ad-supplied content is far from gone.

ABC is currently running a fun little show twice a week called Fast Car & Superstars - The Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race and is streaming the episodes via the ABC viewer. One might see the show and think it is just chocked full of product placements, especially for Gillette who the announcers plug about once a minute as they talk about the Gillette Young Guns, a group of young superstar Nascar drivers who guide celebrities like Jewel, Bill Shatner, John Elway and other around the track.

But for those who stick out the credits and stay till the end will see that the show is actually a commercial caulked full of content. In prime time it is a paid presentation of Proctor and Gamble, the owners of Gillette and the largest TV ad buyer in the world.

When judged as a show, I’m not sure if I can say it’s that good, when judged as an infomercial, it’s fantastic. Nascar may be one of the only venues that can support this much product placement while still fooling people into thinking it’s a real show. On the other hand P&G has scored what some might consider a miracle; an ad so attention getting that they can sell ads for it.

What the financial arrangement between P&G and ABC is for the show is not clear though based on the amount P&G paid for the production (co-produced by ad firm BBOD) I wouldn’t be surprised if ABC got the show for free and called it a day.

The ratings haven’t been great but you know that people aren’t fast-forwarding through it on TIVO. These sorts of shows aren't going to be replacing the fall lineup anytime soon, or at least I'd like to hope not, but everyone is pitching their advertiser created content and at some point some of these are going to start sticking to the wall.

Four Eyed Monsters For Free (but you should really pay for it)

One of the best, most original uses of a webisodic for marketing has to be Susan Buice and Arian Crumley, the creators behind Four Eyed Monsters. In a style uniquely their own, they created a movie to retell the story of falling in love with each other without words. But while doing so they also opted to make a webisode chronicling the creation of the movie.

Quickly the webisodic shot to the top of iTunes but their film, sadly, was not as successful. Failing to get into Sun Dance and failure get a distributor in many ways tanked the main stream possibilities of success for the film. But with a cult following of hundreds of thousands because of the webisodic, they've since opted for self distribution.

During the past week they've been offering the full 70 minute film for free on YouTube, where its been watched more than a quarter million times. They are also offering the film, starting at only three dollars, via their Web site.

In a strange arrangement, to say the least, the movie review, social networking start up Sprout.com sponsored the YouTube appearance by paying the monsters a dollar (to help repay the debt from the films production) for everyone who signed up for Sprout as a response to a short plea at the beginning of the film.

When I signed up, on the second to the last day of the film's seven day run on YouTube only about 20,000 people had signed up, far short of the sated goal of 100,000 the approximate amount needed to cover the about of debt the couple cites as having amassed. It appears web celebrity has still yet to come with wealth.

Take a look at their webisodic, it defiantly ranks as one of the top ten defining series of the genre. Episode three is my favorte and it doesn't just have to do with my unexplicible large attraction to Moulin Rouge. If you have a chance also sign up for Spout at www.spout.com/foureyedmonsters. It helps two struggling artists and it's actually a pretty good site.

If you haven't seen the film and missed the YouTube viewing, you can download the film from their site here.

This Bud's Not for Everyone

Bud TV was launched by Anheuser-Bush earlier this year to great fanfare from the advertising world. It wasn’t that everyone thought it was a great idea, it’s just that they were excited to learn how it was going to turn out. A-B, one of the top five advertisers in the country was going to be re-directing a large part of their 2007 ad budget away from conventional TV and putting it into their own online content channel.

So, now, half-way through 2007 is Bud TV paying off?

It terms of content, they’re doing alright. There are some shows that have garnered decent attention, Replaced by a Chimp, is one of the most well recognized series. But it only has a few episodes and they loose their appeal pretty quickly. Swear Jar, has done well after leaving the confines of Bud TV and being seen almost a half million times on YouTube. But it's not anything new, it's just another one of A-B's creative but old school advertisements. There are also accusations that it plagiarizes an early 90's episode of the Simpsons.

Afterworld is one of my favorite shows though it play count only barely breaks 2,000. It’s a post apocalyptic piece that is done in a jumpy animation style. Afterworld's plot is some where between Lost and Jericho but the story telling style approaches noir in tone. Though when placed against boob feasts like What Girls Want, it’s hard to see how it advances Bud Light’s goals at all. Maybe they are trying to depress us into drinking more, but the plot is so depressing I would skip the light stuff and go straight for the scotch.

A new interactive game show called Hardly News is also going to be launching soon which I think is one of the most creative items on the site from a use of the medium standpoint. Using multiple screen video clips provides humorous clues and a host narrates from another screen. The series is light in nature, ties back into the product subtly but most importantly is interactive, it draws people in, it's a show you literally can't fall asleep watching.

One of my biggest issues with Bud TV is not the quality of the content but that the content really is just short snippets that make a larger show. When given such a budget, 30-million dollars to be precise—about the same as an entire prime time season series—you’d think A-B could have come up with something more interesting that what are essentially bad mini-tv-episodes.

Now this may also be what are called webisodes, but websiodes when done well are not one-beat jokes or sixty minutes long stories told in three minute segments. Afterworlds is the rare exception on Bud TV of a webisodic done right and taking advantage of the medium. But shows like Sebastian on the other hand is literally a funny comedy show broken down into 20 three-minute segments. Some of the episodes separated by nothing more than an edit.

Bud TV is on the brink of releasing a desktop player to access their site. Not exactly a novel idea, it may help retain the viewers who are already visiting Bud TV. As that audience has slipped from a few hundred thousand to only a little over a hundred thousand in a few short months, there may not be an audience left to save.

Editors Note: This posting is part one of a series about Bud TV. In the next segment learn how Anheuser-Bush is hoping to bring Bud TV back from certain cancellation.

Insightful Human Dog: Haberek Webisodic Review

In an eight part series, Human Dog Productions has created an insightful and shockingly honest documentary profile of Ben Haberek. Haberek follows a high school math teacher in metro Detroit, Mr. Haberek, as he has become disenfranchised with teaching in the weeks before summer break of his seventh teaching year. Beat down by students, parents and administrators, Haberek takes you to the front of the classroom and shows it's really like for a teacher who has poured his heart in to the job, but doesn't know if he's getting anything back.

In one of the most standout episodes, episode five, Mr. Haberek debates with a student over the benefits of private versus public school students. Is it a conspiracy? Why does the administration keep dumbing down the curriculum? Is free quality education really a right, or a responsibility?

Haberek doesn't paint a politically correct picture of how teachers should think. It even leaves you wondering how a teacher could feel secure enough in their job to go on the record in such a way without some retribution.

In one of the funniest episodes, episode three, Mr. Haberek and fellow teacher Mr. Brown show how they used to patrol the restrooms for smokers, and effectively at that. But when trying to discipline the students, the administration didn't support them. Before long Mr. Haberek and Mr. Brown begin to stop even trying to catch the students. What's the point when the administration doesn't even believe them?

The final episodes flashes forward more than a year. Test scores are still bad, students still aren't paying attention, No Child Left Behind is starting to leave its mark, and to make it worse the teachers union is in a nasty battle with the district.

Haberek is distinctly just one person's story, but an important one for anyone concerned about the future of America's education.

There are eight episodes in all, including the flash forward and run about five to seven minutes each. The files are on the smaller side, but provide plenty of quality. As striking as the images are, what people are saying is the most important part. Editing is simple but effective, it has a very raw documentary feel to it that matching to tone of the context.

You can view the full series here.

Apple Seeks to Rent Movies on iTunes

According to reports from the Financial Times yesterday, Apple, Inc. is in talks with a variety of Hollywood studios to rent newly released films for $2.99 each. The films would then expire after a certain number of days. Studios seem to be worried by Apple's plan to allow videos to play on iPods, fearing a cut into DVD profits.

According to the Wall Street Journal this morning, Viacom Inc's Paramount Pictures seems to be interested though GE's Universal Stuido's is opposed.

Older films are currently available for purchase from Lions Gate Entertainment and MGM (about $9.99 each) but only Walt Disney Studios provide new films via the iTunes store. However, Disney's involvement may have more to do with Apple CEO, Steve Job's seat on their board than true good business sense.

If the deals are made iTunes would not be the first store to allow for online video rental, but with Apple's dominance in the paid online video content sector it would be a dramatic shift.

It's like the Osborns but with God

Strife with biting quips about brimstone miners and Pat Robinson on God's speed dial, Mr. Deity is one of the most well put together webisotics this year. With an undersold, The Office style quality, the expertly crafted episodes focus around a slightly timid and vaguely homosexual Mr. Deity (Brian Dalton) but don't call him God, it's just a stage name.

Featuring stand out performances from the cast of four, Mr. Deity is a well thought out use of the medium. Using minimal locations and scenes lends an intimacy to the show that could be an hindrance for some but has been turned into an asset in this show. Some of the episodes are shot entirely as two person scenes in front of a white wall, but it takes nothing away from them.

Brian Dalton's protrail of the title character anchors the show with a casual yet agitated tone. At times he drifts into an ad-lib state of misdirection, but quickly corrects and pulls off some zinging one liners.

Lucy, short for Lucifer, played by Amy Rohren, portrays one sexy devil. She might consider brimstone to be a great interior decorating accent but she has a more sorted past then that. Her on again-off again boy toy happens to be Mr. Deity himself.

Mr. Deity's assistant, Larry, played by Jimbo Marshall, is a questioning man servant that grounds the absurdities of the series. He also holds one of my favorite lines of the series when he thinks Lucy is calling him while as he leaves an office supply store, "Oh! No way you she-devil!"

Sean Douglas plays, Jesse (Jesus) a fresh out of business school type kid trying to work his way up the corporate ladder who when given a chance to be partners on the Earth project jumps on board. Though after he does, he seems to pick up a grudge against crucifying, but who would blame him?

Episodes run a little over four minutes and there are currently ten posted. The site's FAQ claims they produce an episode every two weeks, though according to the fan blog, mrdeityfan.blogspot.com, the show has been on hiatus since early April as a potential deal is in the works.

Mr. Deity is webcasting at its best. There is no wonder why such creative team is getting interests from the networks, though how the show would translate into a half-hour format is unclear. The episodes - and in a way the creativity of the show - thrive on its brevity. Flushed out, the show would be a whole other kind of series, yet with what I've seen from Mr. Deity so far, I would wait with baited breath to see it on primetime.

You can find more about Mr. Deity at their Web site, or see the entire current series embedded below:

Day Zero is No Go

Heavily run ads on Fox's full episode viewer at MySpace promote a Degree for Men Deodorant sponsored prequel of 24 called Day Zero. Despite fancy Flash graphics leading into the site the four two minute websiodes, (only three of them are currently live) remind us, at best, of the dull moments of 24.

Animated with comic book styling, they follow Jack Bower as he breaks into an office trying to grab information from a computer and discovers a bomb.

It sounds as if the real actors voices are used over the animations, but their hands are tied when trying to build any real suspense in such single beat episodes. The 'previously on' flash backs take up a third of the episode and you have to laugh when Jack says "The follow event take place between 10:19 PM and 10:21 PM."

Their attempt to tie into the actually show is impressive. Though I was skeptical to see that they were being done as animated segments. Yet their style's ability to reflect the show over shadowed my hesitation relating to its lack of live action. Though, in the end, Day Zero fails the story test.

Based on the viewership from Quantcast, Day Zero also has failed the viewer ship test as well. Though released in mid-May and with the June numbers not out yet, it doesn't look like Day Zero will break out of the low tens of thousands of views.

Streaming High Def Coming at ABC

On ABC's development team blog they recently released two screen shot from Lost as shown via their new HD streaming videos. Filling the screen at 1280x720, the new feed, would the highest quality video of any of the big four networks' players.

ABC plans to first release only a few of their top shows in the HD format when the new 2007-08 season starts in September. As the kinks are worked, out the full online lineup will also be made available in HD.

Since rolling out streaming Flash video last May, ABC has kept on the leading edge with the sharpest quality of any of the networks.

However, the viewers was plagued by bandwidth issues causing jumps and pauses often requiring episodes and the viewer to be entirely restarted.

When ABC launched their newest version during the 2006-07 mid-season, most of their bandwidth issues were corrected. Issues do still arise however, though the viewer no longer require restarting to correct them.

While the current 700x394 full screen mode pulls 1.5-megabits per second, when going to HD in September, their full screen 720i will require 2-megabits.

Powered by New York based On2 Technologies, ABC is able to compress the HD video to a usable size for streaming. The data stream is considerably less than required for HD cable signal, ranging from 15- to 20-megabits, yet reportedly will still provide far superior quality to other current offerings.

More detailed technical information can be found at MultiChannel News.