DIY, or Purchase a Turnkey Solution? - Page 15

In today's cafeteria-style economy, a Web site owner can outsource as much or as little of the site development and maintenance processes as desired. Nowadays, any Web design shop worth its salt offers streaming media capabilities as part of its services, and should be able to incorporate a serviceable media front end into a site. But those with more robust streaming needs, such as a radio station or other media company, may consider purchasing a "streaming solution" from one of various companies, even while doing overall Web site development in- house, or through a separate Web design shop.

In last month's column, we discussed outsourcing the "back end" (hosting and media encoding). Now let's take a look at a couple of companies that let you outsource the "front end" (developing a user interface and incorporating it into a Web site) of online broadcasting.

One such company is WEBCASTi, which caters specifically to the needs of radio stations. Apart from the cool domain names (.fm and .am), WEBCASTi offers a "Turnkey Webcasting Solution" that includes developing a custom media player, targeted ad insertion, and access to the iBeam streaming media network.

Another player in this field is RadioWave, which is coy about what they actually do, but has an impressive client list.

The Branded Player

As we've seen in previous articles, offering streaming media on a Web page is not particularly difficult - just link to a media file. When the user clicks the link, the appropriate player (Real, Windows Media or QuickTime) pops up and plays the stream. But oh how boring that is, when you could have your own branded player.

A so-called branded player enables a Web site owner to experience the full benefits of streaming media, and is perhaps the most important component of a turnkey streaming solution. The branded player can pop up in its own window, or it can be embedded in a larger Web page. The examples offered by WEBCASTi are typical of the species.

In addition to its basic function of giving the user control over media play, the branded player provides a certain amount of screen space that can be used to display any or all of the following elements:

• Transport Controls. Obviously Play, Stop and (for non-live content) Rewind/Forward buttons must be provided, but their size and appearance should fit in with the overall look of the player. Other controls, such as Volume and Pan, are optional.
• Web Site Logo and Branding. This is kind of the whole point. Whether you're a radio station, other media company, or even a non media-related organization, you want a custom player that reinforces your brand, not one that acts as a free ad for the company that makes it.
• Web Site Links. The branded player is not intended to replace the Web site home page, but should provide a link to the home page, and possibly another link or two to key sections of the site.
• Graphical Display. This is where video content appears. It can also be used to display related graphics in conjunction with audio-only content. For example, an album cover shot or other artist picture(s) can appear as a song plays.
• Content-specific Links. You can provide links to sites with more information about the currently playing content, including sites where merchandise can be ordered online.
• Banner Ads. You didn't think this wonderful interactive media experience was totally free, did you?

These aren't the only options. Indeed, the sky's the limit. For the site owner, the branded player has two functions: to reinforce the branding of the site, and to offer links to related content while streamed programming plays. The possibilities for related content are vast, so if you have the imagination and the time and money for development, you can create a highly customized and interactive user experience. Consider that, in a world in which the same content may be available from many different streaming sites, whether a user comes back to your site may depend on how cool your media player is.

There are several different ways to create a branded player. Perhaps the simplest is to design a dynamic HTML or XML page which pops up in a custom-defined browser window. Also, the various media players themselves can be customized to a certain extent to create an individualized player. Another possibility is to use Netscape's Gecko to build a custom browser, while yet another would be to use SMIL in conjunction with some scripting. Or how about writing a whole mini-application in Java? The possible technical means by which to create a branded player are almost endless.

What about money?

In a few short years, we've gone from asking "will it ever be possible to make any money from a Web site? To asking "is it still possible to make any money from a Web site?" In the past year, Web advertising dollars have dried up faster than the Floridan aquifer, and many site owners probably think of incremental revenue from ad sales as a mere pipe dream (which is just how many folks saw Internet audio five years ago). But advertising has always been a boom-n-bust business, and online ad sales will eventually pick up.

Anyway, in good times or bad, streaming media does give you an edge, because you can sell two types of ads - audio or video ads embedded in the programming, and banner ads ensconced in the media player. Furthermore, a radio or TV station has another ace in the hole - a pre-existing customer base. Just like a print magazine that also has a Web site, an existing broadcaster already has clients who are buying traditional radio or TV ads. Adding some online ads as a bonus to a traditional media ad buy is often an easy sell.

As we've seen in a previous article, serving banner ads (at least on a full-scale commercial level) is a complicated and expensive proposition, which makes it an excellent candidate for outsourcing. Coordinating audio and banner campaigns adds another layer of complexity, so ad insertion can be a very valuable service for a solutions provider to offer.

WEBCASTi offers ad insertion in partnership with iBEAM and Scott Studios. Touting a "turnkey, full-service advertising solution," they offer ad serving, ad sales and complete campaign management and reporting. Their system uses the Engage Knowledge database, which contains millions of user profiles, to help advertisers target likely marks.

Music and media sites also have another possible revenue source in the form of e-commerce partnerships. Like the music you're hearing? Want to know more about the artist? Buy a CD? T-shirt? Concert posters? Action figures? Cereal? Click right here.

Next Wave of the Web - Streaming Media in Web Sites - Page 14
Next Wave of the Web
Different Strokes for Different Sites - Page 16