New Kids in Town: Adobe Media Player and Microsoft Silverlight take online video into new territory

It’s worth noting, however, that while Rockwell remains bullish on Flash, MTV abandoned a nine-month long experiment using a Flash UI to deliver its online content. In late April, the company reverted to delivering Flash Video within an HTML site because, according to the MTV Labs blog, the Flash site was "a headache for some users" even though it was a "technical marvel."

The fact that Flash Video can be both streamed from a Flash Media Server and delivered via progressive download from an HTTP server has long been one of its strong points, and counters the argument that high licensing fees make delivering Flash Video cost-prohibitive. "One gigabyte of Flash Video is going to cost the same as one gigabyte of WMV or MOV when delivered progressively," notes Richter. "Plus, the Flash Media Server is a very versatile server that’s capable of serving up much more than just video streams."

Still, there’s little argument that the Windows Media Server is an efficient and cost-effective way to deliver video. Combined with its scalability, that makes it the clear choice for many content publishers. "There’s only one platform that can support our scale," says Major League Baseball’s Shaffer, "and that’s Windows Media."

Likewise, Microsoft enjoys the advantage of a well-established media player that plays well with others. "There are so many options for personal media management, with the most successful these days being those that tie to device management," says Rockwell. "I’m not sure Adobe Media Player will find its niche. I think Adobe will gradually penetrate the download-to-own and rental markets, but I think it will be difficult, as the Microsoft solution works well and is quite mature."

Both technologies are likely to face a tough road in the enterprise, says Nicole McLane, a webcasting consultant who for several years headed up the broadcast and streaming media development group for JPMorgan Chase. The excitement that new players generates is "nothing more than a burden to the enterprise," she continues.

"The build of an Adobe Media Player will backfire and delay enterprise acceptance and distribution," McLane says. "A simple Flash Player upgrade might have otherwise slipped under the radar. If the enterprise doesn’t adopt the new player, that could deflect clip hits from millions of desktops that reach out into the ‘real world’ from behind the firewall."

She’s equally skeptical of Silverlight. "It will be at least three to five years before the enterprise fully tests and is ready to deploy a significant player upgrade into any of the various enterprise clouds," says McLane. "A codec can be pushed out, but the player functionality is [perceived by the enterprise as] hazardous."

So while it’s easy to get excited about Silverlight and Adobe Media Player, it’s clear that nobody—not content publishers, not content delivery networks, and certainly not the enterprise—is treating either one as revolutionary. As Limelight’s Mike Gordon reminds us, "The adoption of online video is being driven by user interest and the compelling business opportunities it presents to content companies." But as users become increasingly savvy about not just what they watch but how they watch it, these new tools couldn’t have arrived at a better time.