This document discusses how streaming media is changing definitions of media, content, broadcasters, and television. It argues that streaming media allows any company or individual to broadcast digital content over the internet. However, progress is being hindered by issues like copyright law, audience metrics, and vendor challenges. The document also examines considerations around profitability, advertising models, and choosing a streaming provider capable of generating demand and scaling to large audiences.

2. Webcaster
An individual(s) misguided enough to
think he/she can change the way the
world is entertained and communicates

3. We’ve come a long way in 4 years….
Streaming Media is causing us to rethink
the big media picture and face
important issues

4. #1
What is Media
 Media used to be defined by its spectrum
– TV by channels
– Radio by stations
 Not in a streaming media world
– All digital media is just a stream of bits
– Whats the difference between Digital Cable and
Streaming Video ?
– Both are just streams of video sent to a
computer output to a monitor !
– Streaming Video can vary its bit rates
– Streaming Video can be inherently interactive
 Streaming Media is already dominant in the office.
– Only 9% of office workers can get TV while more
than 95% can receive streaming media !

5. #2
What is Content
 It used to be defined by its packaging
capacity
– CD - 62 Minutes / VHS - 1 Movie
– DVD - 3.7gb
– Not in a digital world
 Content is now available live or on
demand
 Its defined by its availability as a stream
or transportability as a file
– Do I have to go to a website
– Can I send it as an email or take it on my Rio
 The amount of video content on the net far
exceeds the amount available through any other
medium

6. #3
What is a Broadcaster ?
 Every company is a broadcaster
– Dell, GM, Intel, P&G…
 Everyone is a broadcaster
– For Free you can reach your friends using MP3
streaming or Windows Media from your home
– For 5k a month you can reach a niche
audience using a provider
 This is just the beginning
– within 3 years there will be >1mm
video channels
– within 10 everyone will have a personal
channel

7. #4
What is TV ?
 TV is an alternative to boredom
– Its what you do when you have nothing better to
do
 Cable TV
– is a video monitor connected to a stupid
computer (STB), connected to a wired network
that is limited in what it can provide
 Streaming Video
– is a video monitor connected to a smart, but ugly
computer, connected to a wired network that is
unlimited in what it can provide
 When computers start looking like they
belong in the living room, and broadband
becomes more available, streaming will
change the definition of TV

8. #5
How do Corporations
Communicate ?
 Real Time Communications is having a
profound effect on the business world
– CEOs can now speak to their employees on a
regular basis
– Product Introductions can be held online
– Quarterly earnings conference calls and
Shareholder Meetings can now reach all
shareholders
– Multimedia can be added to product
descriptions
 Applications continue to appear and streaming is
becoming mainstream in many corporations !

9. But our progress is being hindered ….
Not everyone is doing their part…..

10. #1
Digital Millenium Copyright Act
 Webcasters have become the poster
children for record label abuse. What they
couldn’t get from Radio, they try to take in
abundance from webcasters!
 We should have to pay copyright owners
for their work.
– The question is how much
– RIAA is not asking for fair compensation

11. #1
DMCA Economics
 RIAA is asking for as much as .5 cents per
song from webcasters
– There 12 to 20 songs played per hour
– Using .3 x 15 songs = 4.5cents which equals
– $45 CPM per hour of listening
– This is CRAZY Pricing
 Or a Percentage of Revenue
– As high as 15% has been reported
 Penalizes those that have revenue,
rewards those that don’t …
 Corporate Intranets have it even worse
– Company Intranet Radio stations and events could
cost you a fortune !

12. #1
DMCA Programming Politics
 Artist Complement Act
– Limits # of songs from an artist/CD that can be
played in a time period
– Requires that pre-recorded loops be a minimum
length
– Requires us to show title and artist
– Prohibits webcasters from pre-announcing songs
– None are hard, but all put us on uneven ground with
traditional broadcasters
– Only makes it harder for us to compete with
traditional media.
– They can run 24 hour Beatles, we cant
 This might have been OK 2 years ago when this
was being negotiated, but with MP3s and
Jukeboxes everywhere, its ancient, and it needs to
change

13. #1
What you should do...
 Talk to a copyright attorney about your
options
 Join lists like the webcasting.net list to
get educated
 Call your Congressman and Senator…
 Move your servers to Canada
– Laws are realistic
– They are supportive of webcasters
– They are looking for ways to create bandwidth flow
OUT of Canada
– www.iceradio.com for a great example

14. Deep Linking
 Linking directly to Media Files is a way for all of us
to subsidize wanna-be portals.
 Direct Links Deprive webcasters of sales of
Banner Ads, Interstitial ads, Sponsorship and
Branding.
 This is not the same as linking to a webpage.
– The cost to deliver a webpage is negligible
– The cost to deliver a stream is not
– ASCAP/BMI
– DCMA - $30CPM
– Bandwidth
– Stream Licenses
– Server Capacity
– Support
 We need to stop this as an industry
#2

15. Audience Reporting
 We have got to stop playing this game of
my webcast is bigger than yours
– As an industry we are starting to look more clueless
than the reporters who write about these events
 A hit, stream served or visitor is not a
UNIQUE user.
– All of these terms have been misused to mislead
#3

16. Audience Reporting
 May I suggest, that if you choose to report
on the size in terms of users to an event,
that we employ the following metrics
– # of Unique Users
– Ave. time spent on each stream
– Its not hard to capture, its all right in our logs
 This will at least demonstrate that as a
medium we understand our own statistics
and we are able to convey the reporting
advantage of streaming - actual usage
 And to help keep us honest...
#3

17. Audience Reporting
 There are 3rd party ways to at least
qualify numbers to some extent
 All 3rd party streamers include a defining
URLs in their presentations
– http://www.broadcast.com/thisevent.asx
 Media Metrix tracks these URLs
– Media Metrix ratings/uniques per mo.
– Broadcast.com 6.0 - 3.7mm
– RBN.com 1.4 - 864,000
– Intervu.Net .7 - 438,000
– Netaid.org - not enough
– Winloud.com - will be interesting
– All URL driven webcast audiences show up
#3

18. Vendor Issues
 Real, Do Not Mislead Users to a Paid Player
– Too many users are mislead into thinking they must
pay for a player because they cant find the free one.
– It makes the users mad at us, not you
 Its time to offer some server management
tools, any tools
– Its not that we cant create them we can.
– But every time you change your software, client
and server, which is often, our tools and services
are immediately out of date
– Then we spend far too much time figuring out
what to change to match your changes !
#4

19. Vendor Issues
 Stop making ridiculous player download
claims.
– They are meaningless and misleading
– Let us know what percent of new PCs are shipped
with your product to alleviate download fears
 If you say you are compatible with a
particular operating system, please release
compatible versions on a timely basis.
– We are tired of being told we just upset an entire
company because we upgraded a server and their
players are no longer compatible
 Real, please pick a consistent pricing plan.
– Its no fun to compare notes with friends and find out
that pricing is all over the map.
– We don’t mind paying for streams nearly as much as
we hate the fight we go through to buy them !
#4

20. The Business of Streaming Media
Some Observations…..

21. Webcasting -The Business Side
 This industry is just beginning.
– It is probably about a 250mm business in 1999
– I expect it to grow to 750mm the following year, and at least
triple each of the next 3 years
– Streaming media will be expected as part of almost every major
website
 The base of revenue will be services
– EVERY company and website in the world can benefit
from real time streaming communications
– 80% of revenue will be streaming services
– 20% will be advertising around content
#1

22. Growth will be Incredible !
 We will see the number of events broadcast over the
web EASILY TRIPLE each of the next 5 years.
– But this will only increase audience
fragmentation per event.
– The number of Victoria Secret size commercial
webcasts of more than 1.5mm UNIQUE users
will number less than 5 per year.
– Only breaking news will surpass Vic Sec on a
regular basis
 Service companies should focus on selling services
and events, NOT in pushing bandwidth
– Value added services will mean profitability
– Selling needs to be a core competency
– Customers wont show up at your door, you
need to go find them
 The Sky is the limit
#2

23. Profitability is King !
 Webcasters must operate for profitability
 Everyone is a genius in a bull market,
– But the market wont stay hot for ever
– Nor will VC funds always be available
 Within 12 months it will be put up or shut up time
– Investors will have been able to see what
webcasting models work, and which don’t.
 We are starting to see the impact of this with the
lagging valuations of streaming related stocks and
companies like
– AudioHighway
– Tunes.com
– ForeignTV
 They are all underperforming other internet stocks
or private company equivalents
#3

24. Advertising Supported Content
Sites will have it Rough.
 The toughest asset to create on the net is traffic.
– Generating traffic for original content without
any inherent demand is the hardest of all
– Without critical mass traffic its impossible to
generate any level of revenue
 Audience fragmentation will make it far harder to
create hits on the net than on TV
 The best original content model ?
– The 1 minute video that can be sent as an
attachment with email
#4

25. Picking Who Streams Your Content
Finding the Best Solution

26. The Decision Criteria
 Can your provider help you generate
demand ?
 Will your provider stay in business ?
 Can your provider scale ?
– UniCast Networks
– Multicast Networks
– Number of Streaming Events
#7

27. How will you generate demand
 This is the greatest challenge for any content
provider
– Everyone thinks their event is the next Victoria’s
Secret
– The reality is that most events don’t reach 1,000
simultaneous users
 You must be realistic in setting expectations
 The right partner will assist you in determining how
to acquire the most relevant & largest possible
audience
 It’s the key to a successful event, and for content
based businesses, it’s the key to financial success.
– A content based site without eyeballs, wont be
in business very long
 For DiskJockey.Com we increased their audience by
more than 500% in less than 5 months !
#7

28. Will Your Provider be in Business
?
 The best providers establish long term relationships
with their customers
– We get to understand our customers business
– We invest in our customers and provide
ongoing support and resources
– We have customers that have been with us for
four years !
 Many providers are in business to play the stock
market rather than show a profit
– Is your provider profitable ?
– Or are they showing ever increasing losses ?
 Yahoo is one of the most profitable companies on
the net and Y!Broadcast is a profitable contributor !
 Before choosing a vendor, make sure they will be in
business !
#7

29. Scalable Networks - Unicast
 The greatest challenge to Streaming Service Providers
is NOT scaling unicast audience size.
– Anyone can add servers and buy bandwidth
– Regardless of what city the servers are in
– If you connect them in any way to the top 20
networks they will work until you run out of
bandwidth or servers
 At Yahoo!Broadcast we pass 1gbs of unicast
streaming traffic on normal weekdays
#7

30. Scalable Networks - Multicast
 True Scalability for Streaming Media will come from
Multicasting
– There is no limit to audience size
– True Broadcast Model
– The Problem with Existing Distributed Servers Networks
is that they are not MultiCast Capable
 Multicast Streaming is thriving at Yahoo!Broadcast
– Yahoo!Broadcast is the only provider with experience at
multicasting at all bit rates, all streaming vendors
– Yahoo!Broadcast is the only Commercial, Multi-Network,
MultiCast enabled Network in the world
– With more than 50 MultiCast Enabled Partners
– We can reach more than 1mm simultaneous users
on multicast networks !
– Yahoo!Broadcast has done thousands of 100% multicast
broadcasts
– As many as 40k simultaneous multicast users !
#7

31. Multicast Affiliates
52+ and growing
 Accesscom
 ACI
 ATMLink
 BorderNet
 Carrier1
 Cais
 CharmNet
 CoastLink
 CyberZone
 DirecPC
 dotSTAR
 Electric Lightwave
 FlashNet
 Galaxy Star
 Granbury.com
 Great Basin Internet Services
 IDT
 IIJ
 Information Highway
 InLink
 InMotion
 InReach
 Insync
 Jato
 Jump Net
 Level 3
 Lightspeed
 Megsinet
 MicroCore
 Midwest Web
 Mobile Star
 NetCarrier
 NetConcept
 Network Internet
 Nortel
 Nova
 PIXINet
 South West Plains Communication
 Splitrock
 Sprint
 SysNet
 Teleglobe
 Telepak
 The Internet Connection
 The-OnRamp.Net
 Transport Logic
 UniComp
 uniView
 Verio
 WebNet
 ZebraNet
 ZipLink
#7

32. The Real Scalability Challenge
 The reality of the streaming market is that the # of
live streaming events is exploding.
– But most live events are narrowcast events that are
designed for under 100 simultaneous users
– Distance Learning, Corporate Presentations,etc
– Most require multiple BitRates and Multiple Streaming
Formats
– The challenge is to be able to cost effectively deliver
thousands of simulaneous events, each with top level
quality, with out any failures
– The cost issues for doing many events, with multiple
bitrates are very different than doing a couple large
events
#7

33. The Cost Breakdown of a
Broadcast
 A typical live broadcast today requires the following
bitrates to be streamed
– 20k, 32k, 100k, 300k, 1mbs
– In total 1.452mbs
– In two formats, WMT and Real
– Total encoded bits sent to servers - 2.9mbs
 Send these streams to 20 distributed servers across
the net and you are using 58mbs just to reach the
servers before you have served a single stream to an
end user !
– Now imagine if you are streaming 1000 of these
events at once.
– You would be using 58gbs of internet bandwidth
before serving a single end user !
– Its hard to make those economics work
#7

34. The Benefit of a Centralized
Network
 At Y!Broadcast the links between the encoders and
servers are localized to one of 2 networks in Dallas,
or a 3rd Redundant location in San Diego
– This gives us the lowest cost to deliver the
greatest number of events, large or small
– It removes any Internet Risk of the encoded
stream not reaching a server
– It allows us to leverage our multicast network to
scale audience size
– We can deliver any any bitrates, from 6kbs to
more than 1mbs with the equal ease and
reliability.
 So, when chosing a service provider, consider all the
issues, not just meaningless capacity claims !
#7