The Democrats have teamed up with Move Networks to offer an HD Silverlight experience at this year’s National Convention which unlike NBC’s 2008 Olympics player, showcases the power of Silverlight as a platform.
Above: DNCC Video Experience Homepage Player
While the excitement of the DNC may not rival the Olympics, the player offers an awesome full screen 16:9 experience, two camera angles and a separate spanish broadcast, (though that one taps into Comcast’s lower quality 4:3 feed) leaving NBC’s player in the dust. If you’re just looking to watch the convention, look no further.
Above: DNCC Move Networks Player - Full Screen in 16:9 HD
If you’re looking for commentary and independent coverage, all the major online video live broadcast companies are partnered with most of the new media sources that have sprung up over the past four years and are now offering their own live feeds. The democratization of media is pretty cool, PaidContent and NewTeeVee have pretty good lists, though there are almost more independent live streams than we can count.
TakePart reports that Alive in Baghdad creator Brian Conley and friend Jeffrey Rae have been detained by Chinese officials along with a number of other activists including the actor Jeff Goldin. The Times reports that they have been in custody since 3AM on Monday.
Like others recently deported from China, Conley was documenting protests by Students for a Free Tibet. Conley texted his wife this morning “all fine” according to Andy Carvin, but unlike earlier detainees, Conley and other citizen journalists documenting these better organized protests, are not yet on a plane back to the U.S. Without the backing of a major multinational news organization they can use all the help they can get.
The gift that keeps on giving. In reponse to John McCain’s ad, comparing Barack Obama’s celebrity status to the celebutards, Paris Hilton shot back with this video on FunnyOrDie.
And continuing to show how 1.0 the McCain camp is, despite using Blip.TV’s player, they have chosen not to allow you to embed their campaign commercials directly from their site. I had to head over to Blip.TV to find it. I’d love to know why, other than to prevent people like us from posting and trashing their commericals.
John McCain’s “Celebrity” ad, though, is currently sitting at #2 on the Viral Video Chart.
If you are from the left or from the right - or somewhere in the middle - don’t let your politics get in the way of voting for your favorite Obama in :30 video.
More than 3 million people voted to nail down 15 finalists. Thanks, 3 million people. I didn’t want to sit through the terrible ones.
A new Nielsen Online report shows that Senator Barack Obama is dominating the other candidates in campaign video views (press release PDF).
The report shows Obama with 518,000 unique video viewers consuming more than 820,000 streams of content, and averaging 16 minutes per user. Hillary and McCain lag behind with 351,000 and 38,000 unique viewers, consuming 551,000 and 66,000 streams respectively. Obama simply trounces his competitors in time spent, with nearly 4x Hillary’s 4.8 minutes per viewer, and McCain’s 1.5 minutes per viewer.
You gotta love when aging bureaucracies get involved in new media. Following an emotional national response to retired steelworker Steve Skvara’s YouTube question at last summer’s AFL-CIO candidate forum, the federation of unions is trying to “start a new kind of conversation” around the question “What’s wrong with America and what will you do to change it?”
The contest which runs through May 20th, offers $2,000s cash award to one overall winner and one “youth activist.” In addition, regional winners in certain cities may have their videos shown in TV ads or appear at AFL-CIO rallies.
The AFL-CIO is no doubt seeking to reassert their relevance in addition to showcasing potential new union leadership. “Turn Around America” does sound a hell of a lot better than “Become the next John Sweeney.“
Social networking consequences. Reuters reports that McCain staffer Soren Dayton’s job was suspended for forwarding a video of Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Sen. Obama’s preacher.
The article says that Dayton “sent out the video via a device used for online social networking.”
While busy attending and covering the world of online video at this week’s OMMA Conference, I missed one of the most important political speeches given this season, and probably one of the most important speeches about race relations in this country since “I Have a Dream.”
Fortunately for all of us, the online video industry has advanced enough to deliver largely on its promise right now. I was easily able to find Sen. Obama’s speech from Tuesday night on MSNBC.com, and using my laptop to control my HTPC, play it on my TV. Just a few short months ago, this may not have been possible, at certainly not with the quality that the professional broadcasters and leading video sites have been able to deliver.
For bloggers of all types, it is becoming easier and easier for them to embed content from various sources, and bring not just opinions, but the content those opinions are based on, directly to readers. How many political bloggers will be embedding the full speech by Sen. Obama along with their commentary? After two days of digesting nothing but online video, it was nice to be able to come home and relish the idea that its not just hype.
This election keeps getting more entertaining. With Super Tuesday (2) upon us Rob Reiner has teamed up with Jack Nicholson for an unauthorized online video endorsement of Hillary Clinton.
