There is a post over at FlashInsider that quotes an AccuStream iMedia study saying that SWF is second only to Windows Media in the streaming video space. He wonders about why companies like Viacom aren’t yet using Flash to stream their content.
Flash Video’s rapid growth is largely a result of sites like YouTube and Google Video that focus (primarily) on free content uploaded by users. With the announcement by ABC that it is offering some of its shows free via Flash Video, we saw a big win for Flash. And now that Verizon is going to offer Flash on their phones, content providers can capitalize on their Flash investments in the mobile area. Eventually however, Flash is going to need to answer questions about DRM. Streaming content for free is great, but being able to take that content with you is even better.
Perhaps that isn’t the market that Flash Video fits into, or wants to be a part of, but in order to offer the full package for big companies (like Viacom) Adobe has to figure out how to implement DRM in an un-obnoxious way. I hate DRM and want as little of it as possible, but it’s a huge concern for major companies and the competitors (Microsoft, Real, Apple) have given it a lot of thought.
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