流媒体 Podcast #34: NBC Talks 关于 The Silverlight and 周日橄榄球之夜

I recently spoke with 帕金斯米勒, senior vice president of digital media for NBC Sports & 奥运会, about NBC’s decision to leave the 闪光 platform and adapt Microsoft’s Silverlight Streaming for all of NBC’s major sporting events, 包括周日橄榄球之夜, 奥运会和温布尔登. 在我们哀悼约翰·马登退役的决定之后, 并向克里斯·科林斯沃斯致以最美好的祝愿, we started discussing the parameters of the Microsoft agreement, 这意味着什么?, 以及它没有什么意思.

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帕金斯米勒

Miller detailed that NBC owned many broadcast and film-related sites, and that most used 闪光 and would continue to use 闪光. Only major live events will be moved to Silverlight streaming. The pages that carry these live events will be exclusively Silverlight for both video and statistics, with any 闪光 remaining on the page advertising related.

Miller made it clear that the decision to adapt Silverlight wasn’t based solely on the technology. He commented that it was a broad and deep partnership between NBC and Microsoft, 涉及许多微软组件, 从MSN进行推广, 必应搜索, 在Zune和XBox上进行推广. Clearly the favorable experience from the 奥运会 was a big part of the decision.

When I asked if he felt like Smooth Streaming’s HTTP protocol would be more efficient for NBC to distribute, Miller replied that "we feel like it’s going to be a more efficient way to distribute the video" but "the proof will be in the pudding and we’ll see how it comes out this fall as we deliver these profiles and see the amount of people consuming this high bandwidth video." When I asked if there were any "pain points" with their use of 闪光 for the previous NFL season, 米勒说不, and pointed out that NBC is continuing to use 闪光 in many of their sites. He also reiterated that the Silverlight decision wasn’t a pure technology decision, as they were "able to get so much from the greater Microsoft team."

Regarding Silverlight’s comparatively low installed base, 米勒说这是“一个担忧”," which NBC hoped to minimize by making the download and install as "efficient and light" as possible. He commented that for major events "where there’s a lot of exclusivity and a lot of demand, that users are willing to take the extra step and run through the install process." He also noted that the "vast majority" of users who visited the Olympic site installed the plug-in. 然而, he also cautioned that "I think it would be perhaps a different story if you were trying this on a day to day basis in the news business."

我们花了很多时间在玩家身上 周日橄榄球之夜，由Vertigo软件公司开发. At a high level, the player is designed to put the home viewer in the producer’s seat. 不像许多网络视频播放器, which are streamlined to simulate the television experience, Miller wants the 周日橄榄球之夜 player to be a very hands-on adjunct to the television, as NBC’s research shows that over 90% of their viewers will also watch the game on TV.

玩家将拥有4个专属, 仅限网络摄像头馈送, with a scroll bar that lets the viewers produce their own instant replays, 包括慢动作. Markers on the scroll bar will identify significant plays, 就像长久的收获, 得分, fumbles and interceptions so that viewers can immediately identify and review significant plays. Data will presented extensively to encourage the user to explore the event.

关于Silverlight的实现, Miller detailed that the program will distribute 7 different profiles of up to 720p resolution. I didn’t ask for details about the maximum data rate during our short chat, but Miller commented that their statistics from the 奥运会 revealed that over 30% of viewers were connected at 1.5 mbps or higher, so it's likely that the highest bit rate file will be at least 1.5 mbps. Finally, Miller agreed to chat again after the season to discuss the new Silverlight experience.

的角度来看
One of my goals for the discussion–which was set up by Waggoner Edstrom, Microsoft’s PR counsel–was to understand if the HTTP live streaming experience was more efficient than RTMP, 或者更便宜, 或者提供卓越的体验. Miller stated that while he and his team thought Silverlight would deliver all of these and more, that the proof of the pudding would be the experience itself.

He also made it clear that the decision to leave 闪光 was limited to live events, and that the decision to adapt Silverlight was based on a broad set of technologies and services that Microsoft could deliver, 不仅仅是Silverlight vs. 闪光. Let’s face it: Any time a company like NBC switches streaming technologies, 这是新人的任务. Still, be careful what you read into this particular decision, at least until we chat with Mr. 赛季后的米勒.