[Infowarrior] - Why MSNBC.com Needs To Dump MSN's Video Platform

[Richard Forno]

Why MSNBC.com Needs To Dump MSN's Video Platform

Posted on Jul 26th, 2007 with stocks: MSFT

http://internet.seekingalpha.com/article/42423?source=feed

Dan Rayburn submits: I first wrote about this back in March and I am amazed
that even since then, MSNBC.com still can't get its live video streaming to
work for anyone with a Firefox or Safari browser. And the worst part, they
have no problem delivering you a 15 second ad in the player first, BEFORE
they tell you that your browser does not currently support live video. So I
have to sit through a video ad only to then be told that I can't see the
live stream I clicked on.

MSNBC's video player has said it is in "beta" ever since it launched, which
was at least a year ago. And it's still in beta? The technology behind
MSNBC.com's video offering is "powered by MSN" (MSFT) which in my eyes is
even worse. If MSN can't provide the video functionality MSNBC.com should
have, then MSNBC.com should fire MSN and use a platform that actually works.
But of course that won't happen.

MSN is completely clueless when it comes to its video offering if they think
users are going to stay loyal to MSNBC.com as their news source when every
other news site does it better. If MSNBC.com was smart, they would dump MSN
video immediately and or fire whoever manages their video offering. But they
won't do that as Microsoft wants to push their IE browser on you, except
that they don't make IE for the Mac, so Mac users are basically just screwed
as well as PC users who don't want to use IE and prefer to use Firefox
instead.

Last time I posted about this, some readers wrote in to say:

- "It's not just Mac users. I have a PC as well, and many of MSNBC's videos
won't play on it either if I'm using Firefox. If I use IE, then I'm okay."

- "I've also enjoyed using Firefox on my laptop, but i can NEVER get MSNBC
video to ! work with Firefox on my laptop - it is so frustrating!"

- "Come on MSNBC, get your stuff together. If amateur webmasters can make
this stuff work, so can you. You just don't want to."

2007 marks the 14th year that streaming media technology was first used on
the Internet and it's sites like MSNBC.com that make the technology look
like it has barely evolved in that time and gives the entire industry and
technology a black eye. As much as MSN says video is an important part of
their business, clearly their lack of interest in making their videos work
properly says otherwise. It's as simply as being greedy and wanting to push
IE on us, including those platforms they don't even make IE for.

Microsoft as a company has been late to the game when it comes to all
aspects of the Internet and video is no different. MSN, MSNBC.com, Soapbox
etc... are all behind the times when it comes to their video offering. You'd
think they would want to prove the opposite by having a quality video
offering but they are stuck in the politics and red tape of a company that
can't get out of it's own way.

My suggestion to MSN: get out of the video business. You have no concept of
what a good user experience is, you can't provide basic functionality that
ever other major news outlet has been providing for years and you're
insulting users by making them sit through ads when they can't get to the
content they want. You can't even provide a basic player check to see if the
user has the system requirements that are needed - which companies were
doing back in 1998.

Give up MSN. Throw up your hands and move on. You can't win in the video
game.