Flash not good enough for Summer Olympics, but perfect for NFL
By Justin Montgomery
Flash is a ubiquitous technology on today’s web, so when a company announces its use it shouldn’t necessary be news-worthy. In the case of NBC choosing flash as the primary technology for streaming Sunday Night Football, it’s noteworthy given the recent shift by NBC to use Microsoft’s Silverlight technology for the Summer Olympics- which indicated a possible shift. The recent announcement proves otherwise.
The NBC-Adobe deal marks first time that full-length NFL games are widely available online in the U.S., according to CNet News, and an opportunity for Adobe to one-up it’s recent competitor- Silverlight. Though Adobe holds dominance for its Flash technology, Silverlight has been making waves- primarily with the spotlight being shone on it for the Olympics online coverage.
NBC has said that it initially expected to use Flash for the Olympics, and since has given no real explanation for the Silverlight choice. Many users weren’t happy with the fact that Silverlight requires users to download the software to work properly. Maybe that fact kept Silverlight from being carried on to the NFL coverage by NBC, as well as other possible streaming from other companies. When Adobe issued a press release regarding the NFL deal it subtlety mentioned the benefits over Silverlight when it said; “the widespread, existing installation of Flash on desktop PCs will enable fans to access NFL games on the Web without having to download additional software.”
NBC’s use of Flash technology extended the experience beyond the live streaming. Fans get some interactive extras, including alternative camera angles, in-game highlights, live statistics, and a live blog. Advertising and commercial breaks were far a few between, likely indicating that advertising for streaming content wasn’t fully put to use as it should have been. “We were asked to watch a Sprint pre-roll ad to get to the video, and there were a few online ads within the broadcast, but not nearly as many as on TV. In fact, during most TV ad breaks, online viewers were sent to the NFL network studio for recaps of other games, which is nice but perhaps a sign advertising for the Webcast wasn’t sold out,” noted Michael Learmouth of the Silicon Alley Insider.
Whatever the reason may be for NBC’s decision to switch its streaming technologies, the fact remains that TV content is finally being streamed online as it should have been for a long time now. Hopefully the future looks bright, and this is only the beginning.
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September 8th, 2008
flash also has to be downloaded, but most people have already done so or it was already there. silverlight just needs to be around longer so it well “already be there too”