InformationWeek
Defining The Business Value Of Technology
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August 14, 2000 |
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Streaming Media: Online Training, Cost-Cutting, And More
Technology offers content, audio, and video, and lets businesses get to market quickly
By Andy Patrizio
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hen the Internet exploded in popularity, it was often portrayed as competition for radio and television for the attention of consumers. Today, however, as the Internet becomes filled with as many audio and video streams as the airwaves, it's becoming an alternative distribution method.But streaming technology does more than just serve as a way to listen to distant radio stations or view the latest movie promo. Businesses are beginning to make greater use of streaming media. And new technology, services, and tools are making it more useful in the enterprise.
Still, streaming media today is used mostly for consumer applications on news and entertainment Web sites such as CNN.com and Launch.com. These sites use streaming technology to offer content, audio, and video that isn't getting on radio and television. In a business setting, the most common uses for streaming media are business communication, training, product demonstrations, and education.
Internet radio has become a particularly hot commodity, with more than 9,000 stations worldwide streaming their feeds on the Net; some, such as KNAC.com, have set up shop as an Internet-only player. It's such a huge market that Arbitron, the international media research firm whose ratings can make or break a radio station, does a separate ratings book for Internet radio.
There's one thing business and consumer streaming media have in common: They're one-way streams. "We don't have enough bandwidth for good quality one-way video, so two-way video is a ways off," says Sujata Ramnarayan, senior analyst at Gartner Group. "I think ultimately it will be on every desktop, but that's quite a few years away."
Still, that single-direction stream is turning into a torrent. From May 1999 to October 1999, the quantity of streaming audio sent over the Internet grew by 487%, while streaming video grew by 299%, compared with the previous six months, according to Gartner Group. That covers consumer and business use, although most of it is consumer use.
Software to receive and play streams of audio and video has become commonplace, with the best-known being Real Player from RealNetworks Inc. and Microsoft's Windows Media Player, which comes standard in Windows 98 and Windows 2000. But getting high-quality audio and video streams to a PC requires more than just a player; companies employing streaming technology need specialized software, servers, tools, and network connections.
Gartner Group estimates that there are more than 50 million streaming-media users in the United States, of which about 5.1 million use Apple Computer's QuickTime; 10.9 million use Real Player; 11.8 million use Windows Media Player; and 22.8 million use multiple players. It's a race with no clearly dominant player.
For the House of Blues, a chain of nightclubs, the Internet is a way to increase the number of people who want to see a performer who might not come to their town. "The artist is already at the venue and playing anyway," says Stephen Felisan, senior VP of technology and development for House of Blues Digital Inc. in Los Angeles. "If you double or triple the attendance of people watching the show, then you've doubled or tripled the reach of that performance for those people who'd never have the opportunity to see the artist, especially if they don't live in a major metropolitan area."
HOB.com, the online arm of the nightclub chain, transmits a pay-per-view concert nightly from any one of its seven clubs and 20 amphitheaters around the United States. Users who access the concert via a low-speed connection aren't charged because HOB .com doesn't feel the quality is good enough to charge a fee; high-speed access costs $7.99 per concert. In addition, HOB.com offers music videos and has its own 24-hour radio. Because HOB.com is preparing to go public, Felisan wouldn't disclose numbers.
HOB.com has found that it can keep Web-site visitors hanging around longer by offering streaming media. HOB.com has doubled the amount of time people spend on its site since it started providing streaming video and radio, Felisan says.
People who listen to streaming audio and view streaming video are a prime audience. Arbitron found that "streamies," a term used to describe online listeners, are highly responsive to dot-com advertisements and they purchase more on the Web than Internet users who aren't listening online. In a study released in February, Arbitron found that 79% of online radio listeners are likely to visit a Web site advertised on their favorite Internet radio station and 60% have made a purchase from a Web site. They also spend almost 50% more time online than the average Internet user.
"Those who aren't Amazon.com have to find a way to make their Web site more sticky and more entertaining," says Neil Sadaranganey, enterprise segment manager for RealNetworks, in Seattle. The next generation of the Web will be filled with streaming media, he says. "Everyone realizes it's a good way to communicate and capture eyeballs and get people to stay on a Web site."
Illustration by Richard Downs
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