Justin.tv makes it easier to start streaming

It's not spring yet, but Justin.tv is cleaning house. On Tuesday the video host is rolling out a new version of its broadcasting tool that makes it easier to get a live video stream going.

According to the company, a simple change has led to a 700 percent increase in the number of people who make it from clicking the "broadcast" button on Justin.tv's front page to actually beginning a live stream. At least that was the metric for a beta test the company ran on 10 percent of new users who were beginning a stream from Justin.tv's front page.

Now, when a user clicks the large, red broadcast button on the front door of Justin.tv, the site takes them to a page that requires just a few settings to get going--many of which can now be skipped. That quick transition means more streams, and a bigger potential to turn first-time Justin.tv users into frequent live streamers.

Another part of the change entails putting everything in one window, whereas before the options were spread out. For publishers, this means no more jumping back to their channel pages to stay on top of user chat, which now sits to the right of the video player. Also, the publishers now get a better view of what they're streaming since it displays the same sized viewer and chat window their viewers will be looking at. Previously the show controller tools looked akin to an airplane cockpit

Justin.tv's simplified broadcasting controls make the live streaming dashboard look less like an airplane cockpit to new users.

What I think is more interesting than the tweaks to Justin.tv's broadcasting tools is the shift in what its users are broadcasting. A Justin.tv representative told me that one of the biggest changes in the past year has been the growth of people who start live streaming themselves playing video games--be it consoles or on the computer they're streaming from.

For Justin.tv this ends up being a boon, not only for being able to sell the often-lucrative game related ads, but also for its users who can often see a game ahead of its street date release as gamers in "future" time zones can get the title a day early in some cases. More importantly, Justin.tv is filling in the gap left by places like Vimeo, which actually banned video game clips back in 2008, and YouTube, which does not yet offer live streaming with chat.

Justin.tv's revamped broadcasting tool should be out to all users Tuesday morning.

Microsoft Silverlight puts the shine into online TV experience

“An ageing sports star” was how Setanta Sports saw its previous pay-per-view portal — and what drove this Irish Internet and pay-TV sports broadcaster to develop one that would also deliver HD content faster. Setanta, which wanted the new site to provide its subscribers with greater functionality for a more customised engagement, recognised that the portal would need a premium content-delivery system.

In another situation, MTV Network saw that its enterprise asset-management system, ALIAS (Archive Library Information Access System), a static application supporting only videotape-based assets, needed a make-over. It sought to transform the system into one that could support both digital and tape assets. In -addition to this, the new solution would need to enhance system efficiencies and streamline the workflow for users.

Both companies found their solutions in suites of technologies based on the Microsoft Silverlight.

Silverlight is the next-generation cross-browser, cross-platform and cross-device plug-in for delivering Microsoft .NET-based media experiences and rich interactive applications for the Web. The .NET framework is an integral component of the Microsoft Windows operating system that provides a programming model and manages the runtime for Web services, Web applications and smart client applications.


Scoring for Setanta Sports

To create a content-delivery system, -Setanta engaged Microsoft and Microsoft partner EMC Conchango, as well as Irdeto and Swarmcast, to build Setanta-i using the Silverlight, the .NET framework, and partner technologies from Swarmcast and Irdeto.

This new delivery system has a premium front-end interface that is backed by a powerful back-end. It enables Setanta to deliver HD video with cost-effective, advanced streaming and provides subscribers with high-resolution interactivity.

With Setanta-i, Setanta said that its subscribers now have video-streaming services akin to having the best seats in the house. Avid sports fans can now watch their favourite matches in HD Windows Media Video (VC-1) format without the frustration brought on by buffering, espe-cially during the most crucial moments of the games. And, if they have missed a particular match, or simply want to relive the winning moments, a huge library of on-demand content awaits their selection.

This new system also offers a wide array of personalisation options that not only add to the entertainment value but also increase the excitement of watching the games online.

On the UK homepage, for example, subscribers can watch live streams of four channels simultaneously on miniature display or watch one on full screen.

Sports fans following and keeping tabs of various events taking place at the same time can, while watching a live match in one window, open -another window showing real-time scores in other matches. They can also select the games they wish to follow and only the scores from those matches will be displayed. Moreover, these subscribers can -select upcoming sporting events that they would like to record for later viewing and create video playlists of favourite sports moments.

With the modern, slick Setanta-i service developed by EMC Conchango, subscri-bers are not only spoilt for choice, but also enjoy a greater scope to cus-tomise viewing options without detracting from their experience of the content.

Setanta has also added to this sophisticated, feature-rich interface, a second one that presents free content to casual visitors and a third, which can be used for the Web pages of other sites to present syndicated news and content from Setanta.

These front-end interfaces are sup-ported by an effective back-end. With software from Irdeto and Swarmcast, Setanta has upgraded and enhanced the content-delivery infrastructure that would stream content to the new interfaces. The software from Irdeto enabled Setanta to build a new infrastructure for ingesting sports content and preparing it for distribution over the Internet, while the software from Swarmcast optimises streaming media for delivery using hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP).

Setanta, EMC Conchango and Irdeto are thus able to create a client-server connection that ensures a smooth, buffer-free, high-quality video stream. Furthermore, emanating from this powerful back-end content-management system is a linear channel that feeds sports content to external websites using the syndicated Setanta interface.

The software from Irdeto also integrates with the Setanta customer care-and-billing systems, ensuring that customers can access the protected content to which they have subscribed, and are billed appro-priately for the services used.

With its new content-management -system feeding content to the station’s different channels, Setanta has gained better content-delivery efficiency and greater flexibility to bundle services, and cross- and up-sell these services.

Stephen Michael, director of New Media for Setanta Sports, said: “As a broadcaster, I think we’re fairly bold in embracing these new technologies. The Silverlight and Swarmcast are both fairly new, but I think people will see that what we’ve created in Setanta-i is a market-leading product.

“We hope our customers will agree that we’ve built a great interface. One of the things ... really great about it is that it doesn’t get in the way of your enjoyment of the content. That’s one of the things that will make Setanta-i a great service for sports lovers.”