To Flash or Not to Flash

When thinking about content delivery the one thing that always comes up is compatibility. Streaming in Windows Media the past three seasons has given us a good amount of compatibility, but it still lacks the overall reach of Flash. The penetration of Flash is somewhere in the 98% range and also allows for some really exciting possibilities around and within the player.

With that said, Microsoft's Silverlight platform (my last post) is attempting to bridge the gap between WM and Flash. Another area where Flash isn't as advantageous is on the CDN side, where bandwidth charges are still higher for Flash delivery. I truly enjoy the experience that MLBAM has created with the new MLB player. It combines Flash and Silverlight. A good move by MLBAM as it has the functionality of Flash, yet the consistent streaming of Windows Media through the Silverlight plug-in.

As things develop for HLN v2.0, this is one of the major items on the table. We will also be exploring social community, increasing non-sports related content, developing a linking strategy and much more.

HLN Fact: Last weekend, the Horizon League Network webcast its first official non-sports related event with resounding success. Loyola University Chicago had live streaming video available for its 138th annual commencement, and it was watched by over a thousand unique viewers.