On a day that was historic for many reasons, the Inauguration of President Barack Obama proved to be a monumental event for online video. Although TV ratings of the inauguration are expected to break a new record, this was the first time a significant audience would watch an Inauguration live on the internet. Every major news site embraced online video by offering a live stream that was the main focus of each website.
I personally watched the CNN/Facebook live stream of the event while co-workers at my company watched the Associated Press feed. Although the CNN/Facebook feed was behind by a good 10-15 seconds to the Associated Press stream, I preferred the camera angles and commentary on CNN. Unfortunately, my employer blocked access to the Facebook interactivity so I did not have access to the interactive elements of the player.
How did the other sites do? Well, many sources went to each major website and gave their reviews.
Dan Rayburn, StreamingMedia.com- Thought that the CBS stream was the best while Hulu was the worst. He had mixed reviews about the entire performance of the industry at large and was disappointed with how unprepared some of the websites were. USAtoday.com, for instance, was still streaming their event using RealPlayer.
Chris Albrecht, NewTeeVee.com- Also gave CBS’s stream high marks. CSPAN’s stream was apparently a disappointment.
Jennifer Leggio, ZDNet.com-Sent out a survey and with over 500 responses, CNN and Ustream were the best reviewed while Hulu and MsNBC caused the most problems.
Overall, it appears that the event reached many milestones, with Akamai reporting that the Inauguration was responsible for the highest simultaneous streams ever, with over 7 million streams at 12:15 PM. Other CDNs, including Limelight, also reported record viewership.
My take:
Most online viewers watched the Inauguration on the medium that was most convenient for them: either TVs at home or online at work. The future of online video will come with the addition of interactivity to the presentation. CBS and CNN/Facebook both experimented with interactive features. CBS allowed users to choose their own camera angles while CNN/Facebook partnered to allow feedback. These features were arguably experimental and it will be interesting to see how these features evolve in the future. Once this happens, you may see people view live video streams online due to the enhanced experience instead of it just simply being more convenient or accessable.
Regardless of political views or affiliations, I think it comes as no surprise that the candidate who supported new media the most, specifically online video, was the man who was sworn is as the country’s 44th president: Barack Obama. It will be interesting to see how his administration will continue to use online video in the future. Congress implementing Youtube channels for both the House and Senate is a good start, minus the fact that Nancy Pelosi implemented a Rickroll in the channel’s first video, which somehow made the massive phenomenon even more lame.
