ABC Video Player Goes HD
ABC became the first network to roll out HD quality video online. And while they’re sure to be paying substantial bandwidth fees, the result as you can see below is pretty impressive.
The video shown above is VP7, running at the peak bitrate of 2,020k. The bandwidth meter in the lower right corner adjusts the bitrate to end-user capacity and fluctuates during play. Because it is progressive download, assisted by the Move Networks plugin, playback is very smooth but also highly taxing on the CPU.
While I’m a fan of this from a viewer standpoint, my biggest question is how can they afford to do this? Sure Move Networks is theoretically taking some of the load off of the CDN, but the economics are still hard to swallow.
At 2MBps, a 50 minute show like Lost will be a 6 Gigabyte 750 MB download. Assuming bandwidth charges of $.10/Gb (very low, but they’re ABC) this will run $.075 per (full) stream viewed. If 25,000 viewers watch that’s nearly $2,000 ABC shells out just in bandwidth fees.
When you consider all the costs, even with big-spending sponsors, it’s difficult to see ad-supported HD video online being profitable, at least in the near term. But I hope they prove me wrong.
February 8th, 2008 at 11:31 pm
Who cares about HD if it won’t play? Last season I watched online. Now I can’t get two seconds without the video stuttering… What are ABC’s bandwidth fees if I try three times to watch, get pissed off ten seconds in (when things start to skip), then log off and never watch again?
February 9th, 2008 at 11:38 am
Jesse, I would bet that your issues are technical in nature and related either to your computer or your network connection. If anyone else has had issues like this, let us know.
February 22nd, 2008 at 1:31 pm
[...] It’s something big media companies need to work on. While ABC is ahead of the curve in their online video player for original programming, ABC News still has a ways to [...]
February 22nd, 2008 at 1:34 pm
[...] ESPN will re-launch 360 on Saturday with a new look and 26 live events. Rumor on the street is that like the ABC.com player it will be powered by Move Networks, but we’ll have to wait and [...]
February 22nd, 2008 at 1:54 pm
[...] the interactive agency responsible for the most innovative experiences on the web. Schematic designed the player for ABC and more recently the full episode portal for [...]
February 22nd, 2008 at 2:38 pm
[...] DailyMotion’s decision to offer HD online video delivery is again raising questions about the value of delivering high quality content online. [...]
June 24th, 2008 at 10:31 am
what is the main functionality of your site?
i am not clear
October 19th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
I have the stuttering issue also on streaming. I give up. Not worth the hastle. No problem with any other network, so it’s not my cpu.
October 26th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Ditto on the stuttering issues on streaming. Very frustrating with same issue on both laptops; appears to be an issue with anyone using Move Media Player as have the same problem playing FX full episodes, but no issues with MTV or VH1.
December 16th, 2008 at 9:27 am
I tried to launch the NEW media player only to get a blank screen. It won’t play at all
January 6th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
ARGH!!!!! I am glad to see that other people can’t get this stupid player to work either. That means it is not my laptop or connection. I can get other networks players to work. But ABCs??? All I get is constant stuttering. It is dreadful to watch and I give up in about 1 minute or less!! Sure I don’t have a new computer and I have the cheapest service, but I don’t have the budget for even cable tv. How do I keep up on lost??? I used to by watching it online, but no more. I am mad!! Guess I will just continue to watch The office on nbc.com because I can:-)
January 11th, 2009 at 1:37 am
I can’t get the the ABC videos to play. When I hit launch ABC player all I get is a blank screen. It won’t play at all.
January 22nd, 2009 at 1:52 pm
You’re right this player definitely taxes your cpu. I can’t even watch videos on this player. It spikes to 100% CPU usage and then just freezes. I have a pretty good computer but it’s like 3 years old now. Apparently they only want people with brand new computers to be able to watch their vids.
January 30th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
The commercial plays and blank screen, Nice upgrade abc, you guys suck.
February 7th, 2009 at 8:50 am
ABC’s player blows dogs for quarters … my pc is fine and has no problem running other applications. Once in a blue moon the player will load but 99/100 times it does not. And ABC shows from other sites all link to their player making them impossible to watch.
February 8th, 2009 at 9:44 am
ABC video player in full-screen HD has always run just fine on my macbook. Not fanboyin’, just sayin’.
February 10th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
I can’t even get it to load.. every time I try to launch it, I get the OOPS screen, telling me I need to upgrade my Flash Player, of which I already have FP 10, the latest version.. I also have installed MoveNetorks and still get the OOPS screen… so you guys that have actual video problems with the player are way ahead of me!
February 18th, 2009 at 10:04 am
I really liked your blog!
February 19th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
I get to the online episode site then the commercials play and then a blank screen.
What is this site for if it will not post a fix to the playback problem?
February 27th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
For those of you who can’t get ABC’s player to work, You’re Lucky! It blows anyway. After each segment, there is a commercial. After you endure the ad, you must click “resume” for the show to continue. I think about how much I hate ABC and their advertisers every time I get up from the couch to go to the damn computer to click the freaking “resume” button. I realize you want us all to watch the sponsors messages but this is anal retentive to the max. Boot to the Heads of the programmers that thought up this piece of shit… You’re fired.
March 10th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
getupgetdowncommercialhell, if you goto the settings (upper right corner) it lets you auto resume after the ads. Check it yourself before you blame the “piece of shit”. It also rescales to fullscreen if that is how it was being watched originally.
And lastly, It’s frickin’ free. Quit whining.
Not a fanboy, I just enjoy not having to purchase the seasons DVDs, steam it in crap quality, and/or have half the episodes missing.
March 28th, 2009 at 11:30 pm
Thanks, Liggums! ..still think the player is an over-produced piece of crap tho. Much prefer Hulu’s set up!
April 7th, 2009 at 12:05 am
So I guess no one has any help on how to get this to work? If someone does please post it here. Tks.
May 21st, 2009 at 9:44 pm
I have a dsl connection that consistently clocks at over 9 Mbps. I have no trouble viewing ABC’s shows in standard resolution with the regular browser screen, but when I switch to full screen, the show jumps and hesitates like mad. This is most certainly an issue with ABC’s/Move Player because I can watch an entire Netflix movie at full screen without a single hiccup. This problem did not exist until ABC switched to the new player. Very disappointing…
June 3rd, 2009 at 7:31 am
getupgetdowncommercialhell, if you goto the settings (upper right corner) it lets you auto resume after the ads. Check it yourself before you blame the “piece of shit”. It also rescales to fullscreen if that is how it was being watched originally.