List Of Video Delivery Networks Now Tops 40 Providers

Back in January, I posted a list of CDN providers for video delivery and since that post, more providers continue to enter the market. Today, the list of video delivery networks continues to grow with the number pushing past 40 providers. To make the list easier to find on my blog, all you have to do is go to www.cdnlist.com for the latest update.

Each time I update this list I get a lot of angry comments on who should or should not be considered a content delivery network. My purpose in making this list is to make it easier to keep track of all the companies in the industry. The term "CDN" is so generic these days, that there is no right or wrong answer on what makes a CDN. Everyone seems to have different opinions. That being said, take a look at what companies analysts and the media write about in the market and see who they do and do not reference as a CDN. Some may not agree with them, but that's reality. The market defines what they think a CDN is.

To use this list to make comparisons of one provider over another without looking at a company's size, products offered, revenue generated, geographic reach of network, number of formats supported etc.. would simply be inaccurate. Some of those companies listed are in beta with their offering and some literally have no customers as they have just launched in the market.

To make things a bit simpler, those on this list are what I would call "video delivery networks", meaning they have some servers they own and operate to deliver video content. I did break out those solutions that are P2P based as I think those need to be listed separately. I also listed those providers who I consider to be regional service providers, classified as those who primarily have a presence in only one geographic location like the U.S. or Europe and who tend to focus on small and medium sized customers. If you think someone from this list is missing, add it in the comments section.

In alphabetical order these are the video delivery networks that I am currently tracking in the industry:

• Accelia
• Advection.NET
• Akamai
• Amazon Web Services
• AT&T
• BitGravity
• Broadmedia
• CacheFly
• ChinaCache
• CDNetworks
• Conviva (formerly Rinera Networks)
• Digital Fountain
• EdgeCast
• EdgeStream
• Highwinds
• Internap
• Level 3
• Limelight Networks
• Mirror Image
• Move Networks
• NaviSite
• Panther Express
• PCCW
• PEER1
• RBN
• SimpleCDN
• Swarmcast
• Velocix (formerly CacheLogic)
• Voxel.net
• Vusion (formerly Jittr Networks)

P2P Based Video Delivery Networks

• Abacast
• BitTorrent
• Grid Networks
• Ignite Technologies
• Itiva
• Kontiki
• Pando Networks
• Rawflow
• Solid State Networks
• Octoshape

Regional Service Providers

When it comes to regional service providers in the U.S, Europe and Asia, there are literally hundreds of providers. Below is just a partial list of providers from those regions that I know or have dealt with in the past. This list is far from complete and if you look at the StreamingMedia.com industry directory, here and here, there are close to 200 companies listed for video delivery services. This list below could go on forever and for the most complete list of regional services providers, you should use the StreamingMedia.com industry directory.

• Arco Stream
• Arkena
• Astream
• AudioVideoWeb
• CTN
• FlyOnTheWall
• Groovy Gecko
• Ipercast
• Influxis
• J-Stream
• PowerStream
• Qbrick
• Severn Stream
• StreamCity
• Stream Guys
• StreamUK
• Stream The World
• StreamingMediaHosting
• Twofour Digital
• UpStreamNetworks
• Weebo
• Westminster Digital
• World Television

Send In Your Questions For George Kliavkoff, Chief Digital Officer of NBC Universal

Next week at Streaming Media East, I'll be interviewing George Kliavkoff, Chief Digital Officer of NBC Universal for the keynote spot on Tuesday, May 20th, starting at 9am. While I have a whole list of question of my own and will be opening up much of the keynote for questions from the audience, I'd also like to find out what topics you want to hear George discuss.

George has nicely agreed to answer as many questions as possible from those submitted and cover as many topics that we have time for during his hour-long interview session. Now is your chance to get your questions in so they can be included. Even if you can't make it to the show, add your question to the  comments section. We'll be recording and archiving the keynote and ever other conference session in video and will make it free for viewing after the event.

While George has done a lot of interviews with the media, spoken at events and has talked about a lot of facets of NBC Universal's business, there is so much more to cover. Please send in all questions via the comments section. 

AT&T Building Out CDN, Preparing To Push Into The Market

Last December, at AT&T's analyst day, their presentation included a few slides about their content delivery build out and capacity planning in 2008 to handle web acceleration, software downloads and streaming based services.

Since December, AT&T has been busy working on the build out and expects to spend between $70-$80 million on infrastructure this year. By the end of 2008, AT&T is aiming to have 400Gbps of capacity online, for all their content delivery services, which would increase their capacity by 4x what they have now. When completed, their content delivery services will be delivered from 32 nodes in 7 countries and they will be Adobe Flash Certified by year's end and will be supporting live and on-demand delivery for all the major formats.

Currently, some customers of AT&T's are still having their content delivered via Akamai, who AT&T has been re-selling and using as one of it's partners for some time. But moving forward, AT&T expects to deliver more content across its own network and rely less on partners for delivery. AT&T has been busy training their direct sales force and re-sellers to sell their CDN services and in the third quarter, AT&T expects to aggressively push into the market.

While AT&T won't have some of the additional CDN services in the content eco-system like content management, transcoding, DRM etc... like most CDNs, they will probably partner with others in the industry who provide these services. Their content delivery services already support some additional functionality like authentication, pulling content from customers origin storage and reporting via their customer portal. While AT&T will not say how many customers they have for their CDN services today, or how much revenue they want to generate from CDN services in 2008, they have listed Forbes.com, AccuWeather.com and the U.S. Golf Association (USGA) as current customers.

While many analysts who cover Akamai were worried when AT&T talked about their CDN plans during their analyst day, AT&T still has a lot of work to do in order to become a major player in the content delivery industry. They do have some advantages going for them, most notable of which is that they are not a startup and not relying on content delivery services alone for their revenue. They won't go out of business in 18 months when the VC money dries up, like some of the other CDNs will, and AT&T has an enormous marketing budget, re-seller channel and plenty of R&D resources. That's not to say those advantages will guarantee AT&T success, as we saw Qwest, MCI and other telcos in the market fail with these same advantages years ago. But with Level 3 now becoming a major player in the CDN market, AT&T making a bigger push, it's only a matter of time before the telcos once again try to dominate this market. 

Some will say that since AT&T, Level 3 and other telcos own the network, that gives them a competitive advantage over CDNs who's don't own the pipe. Others say that owning the pipe is too expensive, requires too much capex and does not allow the telco to deliver traffic from multiple "best of breed" networks. At this stage, the verdict is still out on who is right, but one thing is for sure. The telcos are entering the content delivery market and things are going to get very interesting in 2009 when outsourced CDN services for video alone become a billion dollar market in the U.S.

Keynote Speakers Wanted: Streaming Media West

While the East show is next week, I am already in the planning stages for the Streaming Media West show, which takes place a bit earlier than usual this year. Still located at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center, this year's show will be from September 23-25, with pre-conference workshops on Monday September 22nd.

My early planning thoughts are that I will have four-six keynote spots available at the West show. As always, I am looking for customers, end users and those who are creating, producing and delivering online video content over the web. Ideal keynotes are those who are from well-known companies, are considered thought leaders in their field or are considered a really hot company that is getting a lot of media attention. While I may have one vendor keynote, I am not looking for vendor submissions, but am looking for vendor customers. So if you have a customer who would be a good fit, send me an e-mail ASAP.

I'm also interested in getting introductions to Amazon's Web Services group and Endemol USA as well as all ad agencies.

Evaluating and Choosing The Right Methods Of Video Delivery

At the Streaming Media East show on Wednesday May 21st, we have a session entitled "Evaluating and Choosing The Right Methods Of Video Delivery". With all the various means of distribution and protocols available for video today-CDN, P2P, streaming, progressive download-there is still no single solution that will meet all customers' needs perfectly across all platforms and devices.

Learn the various methodologies for content distribution, as well as the pros and cons of each type. Speakers will also discuss which methodologies apply best to which platforms and geographic locations based on type of content, length and format of video, and target audiences. Panelists will also provide you with guidelines and formulas for determining the best single and/or hybrid solution for your online video distribution needs.

Confirmed speakers include:

• Moderator: Bill McCandless, Executive Editor, Multimedia, TheStreet.com
• Dave Witzig, Sr. Director, Interactive Video Commerce, ShopNBC
• Cynthia Francis, CEO, Reality Digital
• Glenn Goldstein, VP, Special Projects, MTV Networks
• Rose Karpel, Director, Video Products, Reuters

Have a topic or question for any of the speakers you want to see addressed? Submit it in the comments section and we'll add it to the Q&A portion of the session.

Registration is still open and you can see all the various pricing packages, including a one-day ticket on our website. Six years since we took over the StreamingMedia.com business and we've still managed to keep the conference very affordable for everyone to attend. A full two-day conference ticket is only $895.

See Hands-On Demos Of New Advertising Platforms and Networks

At the Streaming Media East show on Wednesday May 21st, Evan Berg, formerly of Brightcove and now with Visible Measures, will be leading a demo session entitled "New Advertising Platforms and Networks". Despite all the talk about how well online video advertising works and the projections that it will be a billion-dollar business this year, the fact remains that many video advertising platforms still leave a lot to be desired.

In the past year, new ad platforms and networks have come to the market looking to solve problems like targeting, analytics, syndication, and inventory management amongst others. This special session will feature demos from some of those new companies—including Yume, VideoEgg and FreeWheel.tv—who will give you an insight into how they are looking to take content monetization to the next level.

Confirmed presenters include:

• Moderator: Evan Berg, VP, Corporate and Business Development, Visible Measures
• Bob Bahramipour, VP, Ad Operations, YuMe
• Matt Sanchez, CEO, VideoEgg
• Douglas Knopper, Co-Founder, Co-CEO, FreeWheel

Have a topic or question for any of the speakers you want to see addressed? Submit it in the comments section and we'll add it to the Q&A portion of the session.

Registration is still open and you can see all the various pricing packages, including a one-day ticket on our website. Six years since we took over the StreamingMedia.com business and we've still managed to keep the conference very affordable for everyone to attend. A full two-day conference ticket is only $895.

Online Video: Should Content Creators Get a Cut?

At the Streaming Media East show on Wednesday May 21st, Eric Rosser Eldon from VentureBeat.com will be leading a session entitled "Online Video: Should Content Creators Get a Cut?". Last year, writers in Hollywood went on strike against movie studios and television broadcasters, in part because they demanded a share of revenue generated by the digital media they helped to create.

Meanwhile, the largest video site in the country, YouTube, barely pays its content producers anything. Some venture capitalists sense an opportunity, and are moving south from Silicon Valley to create new entertainment companies that in many instances put the writers—and directors and actors—in control. Learn what the role of content producers is in digital media, and how working with them can help your business.

Confirmed speakers include:

• Moderator: Eric Rosser Eldon, Writer, VentureBeat.com
• Gordon Castle, Sr. Technology Fellow, Turner Broadcasting Systems
• Justin Day, Co-Founder, CTO, blip.tv
• Bobby Tulsiani, Analyst, Media and Internet Video, Jupiter Research
• Kelly Rodriques, CEO, Blowtorch Entertainment

Have a topic or question for any of the speakers you want to see addressed? Submit it in the comments section and we'll add it to the Q&A portion of the session.

Registration is still open and you can see all the various pricing packages, including a one-day ticket on our website. Six years since we took over the StreamingMedia.com business and we've still managed to keep the conference very affordable for everyone to attend. A full two-day conference ticket is only $895.

The H.264 Convergence: Will Video Standards Finally Take Hold?

At the Streaming Media East show on Tuesday May 20th, we have a session entitled "The H.264 Convergence" that will detail how over the past year, more and more streaming media players are utilizing H.264 and providing support for the technology.

Adobe's recent support for H.264 in their Flash player has sparked industry discussions amongst major broadcasters and online video producers about the role H.264 will play. This session will explain why H.264 is getting so much exposure, what recent announcements have put it into the spotlight, and whether it can really be the one codec that the entire industry can converge on. Attendees will also see real-world examples of sites and services that are utilizing H.264 today.

Confirmed speakers include:

• Moderator: Eric Manchester, Manager Digital Media Distribution, Time Warner Cable
• Kevin Towes, Product Manager, Flash Media Server, Adobe
• Matt Smith, Video Architect, Yahoo!
• Tim Napoleon, Chief Strategist, Media and Entertainment, Akamai
• Greg Smith, CTO, Move Networks

Have a topic or question for any of the speakers you want to see addressed? Submit it in the comments section and we'll add it to the Q&A portion of the session.

Registration is still open and you can see all the various pricing packages, including a one-day ticket on our website. Six years since we took over the StreamingMedia.com business and we've still managed to keep the conference very affordable for everyone to attend. A full two-day conference ticket is only $895.

Learn How To Use Adobe Media Server To Deliver Live And On-Demand Video

One of the four different 3-hour workshops taking place at Streaming Media East on Monday May 19th, is entitled "Learn How To Use Adobe Media Server To Deliver Live And On-Demand Video". This workshop, produced by Adobe, will show how Adobe's Flash Media Server offers a unique combination of powerful streaming and a flexible environment for creating and delivering engaging multidirectional social media experiences to the broadest possible audience.

Attendees will learn about HD-quality video, integrated live video streams, delivery to mobile devices, and deeper interactivity through an extensible plug-in architecture. This session will also cover new features that include enhanced content protection with encrypted streaming, increased performance, and new logging/measurement tools to maximize the return on content investment.

We've kept the workshops very affordable with a morning AND afternoon workshop ticket costing only $225. You can see details on all of the workshops on the website and register online.

Lifecasting: The New Broadcasting Platform

At the Streaming Media East show on Wednesday May 21st, community social media guru Chris Brogan will be leading a session entitled "Lifecasting: The New Broadcasting Platform". In the early days of television, live was the second choice, because of potential pitfalls, cost of production, and a host of other problems. And yet, in the world of Internet video, lifecasting—using Internet video to share moments of our lives or to broadcast personal events and happenings—is the new hot thing.

With platforms like Kyte.tv, Zannel, Mogulus, Stickcam, and many others now available, lots of new options and opportunities exist. Come see some of the hot and upcoming mobile lifecasting options in action and learn if lifecasting will become just a fad or the next big thing.

Confirmed speakers include:

• Moderator: Chris Brogan, VP, Strategy and Technology, CrossTechMedia, co-founder, PodCamp
• Scott Monty, Consigliere, crayon
• Sarah Austin, Founder, Pop17.com
• Brad Hunstable, Founder, Business Development, Ustream.tv

Have a topic or question for any of the speakers you want to see addressed? Submit it in the comments section and we'll add it to the Q&A portion of the session.

Registration is still open and you can see all the various pricing packages, including a one-day ticket on our website. Six years since we took over the StreamingMedia.com business and we've still managed to keep the conference very affordable for everyone to attend. A full two-day conference ticket is only $895.

Ad Networks Vs. Branded Video Sites

At the Streaming Media East show on Wednesday May 21st, Joe Mandese, Editor In Chief at MediaPost will be leading a session entitled "Ad Networks Vs. Branded Video Sites". In the increasingly disaggregated world of online video, who will win share of video advertising budgets?

Branded sites like YouTube, Heavy, Daily Motion (etc.), or the burgeoning market of advertising network players. Buyers and sellers face off on the impact of branding vs. audience reach and the implications for media planning, advertising budgets, and CPMs.

Confirmed speakers include:

• Moderator: Joe Mandese, Editor In Chief, MediaPost
• Fred McIntyre, SVP, AOL Video
• Aleck Schleider, VP, Marketing, Advertising.com
• John Lumpkin, SVP, Sales Strategy and Partnerships, Heavy.com
• Garrett Albanese, Media Supervisor, Carat

Have a topic or question for any of the speakers you want to see addressed? Submit it in the comments section and we'll add it to the Q&A portion of the session.

Registration is still open and you can see all the various pricing packages, including a one-day ticket on our website. Six years since we took over the StreamingMedia.com business and we've still managed to keep the conference very affordable for everyone to attend. A full two-day conference ticket is only $895.

Overview Of Akamai's Application Delivery Customers - Part 2

Last month, after spending the day at Akamai's Cambridge headquarters, I detailed how Akamai's application delivery product works, the types of content it delivers and the importance this product will play in Akamai's revenue for quarters to come. At the meeting, Akamai also gave me an insight into who some of their customers are that use the service which I highlight below. Some of these companies have been featured on the Akamai website in case studies, others haven't.

Of the numerous people I speak to about Akamai, their application delivery product is the one that is least understood in terms of how it works. Lets face it, understanding how content delivery works for video and static content is not difficult, but application delivery is still a new product and the market for the service is only just beginning. While Gartner says that the market for application acceleration products is expected to reach about $2.3 billion in end-user sales by 2009, Gartner does not break out that number to say where that revenue comes from. Hardware based products from the likes of Cisco and F5 for co-location based scenarios are very different than service based solutions like Akamai's. So while there is no way to truly know what the market size is for outsourced application delivery services, it is quickly growing. I'd be willing to bet that we see Akamai do close to $100 million in revenue this year for their application delivery product, up from $40 million last year.

When it comes to retail and e-commerce customers, I really don't need to go into many details on what the value is. Everyone knows that anything that makes e-commerce based searching, shopping carts and checkout faster is a no brainer and Akamai has numerous examples of such customers on their website. A variety of customers in the online advertising space use Akamai acceleration services to accelerate both the end user navigation and delivery of stock images and video to journalist and media outlets. Adify has developed a unique build your own network platform that comprises a hosted application (accessed via a portal) through which customers choose their ads and settings, along with a transactional system that streams ads to customers’ sites.

By using application delivery, Adify is able to serve its ads in less than half a second in North American and in less than one second to users in Europe—even though its data center is based in the US. While Adify looked at an application acceleration based co-location solution, Akamai says Adify would have had to spend close to $600,000 annually to build data centers around the world—and the costs would rise as the company factored in equipment and personnel.

Various customers leverage Akamai's acceleration services to accelerate support, B2B commerce applications to enterprise users and partners. While you read about many of these same companies using traditional Akamai services, like software downloads, etc... rarely are the other applications like supply chain management and extranet portals highlighted. Akamai says they have seen an increase in usage of their application acceleration technologies across industries that are new for the company.

Autodesk uses Akamai's acceleration services for its on-demand Buzzsaw collaborative project management application. Caterpillar uses the application acceleration service to move the configuration of industrial power generators and used equipment sales online, resulting in improved satisfaction for its worldwide dealer network. Phase Forward uses the acceleration services to optimize the Web connection between Phase Forward's hosted clinical trial electronic data capture solution and global trial sites.

While Akamai won't say exactly how many customers they have for application delivery services, they did say that they currently have hundreds of customers in the B2B application acceleration business. And as more companies need to speed up the delivery of all kinds of software, applications, transactions, portals and supply chain management systems, the market for outsourced application delivery is only just getting started. When the market starts to get a little bigger, I bet we'll see additional CDNs other than Akamai enter the market with service based solutions.

Get Hands-On Training With Microsoft Silverlight

One of the four different 3-hour workshops taking place at Streaming Media East on Monday May 9th, is entitled "Deploying On-Demand and Live Media Experiences with Microsoft Silverlight". This workshop, produced by Microsoft, will cover the entire process of creating, managing, and developing rich media experiences with Microsoft Silverlight.

Learn how to encode video and other rich media with Expression Encoder and see how to create media players in Expression Blend. The workshop will also demonstrate the media capabilities of Silverlight 2.0 and will explore, in-depth, how to deploy Windows Server 2008 for both streaming (Windows Media Services 2008) and progressive download (IIS 7 Media Pack) scenarios. Attendees will also have the chance to win copies of Expression Encoder.

We've kept the workshops very affordable with a morning AND afternoon workshop ticket costing only $225. You can see details on all of the workshops on the website and register online.

Learn How To Broadcast Over Mobile And Wi-Fi Networks

At the Streaming Media East show on Tuesday May 20th, Steve Garlfield will be leading a hands-on demonstration entitled "Live Broadcasting Over Mobile And Wi-Fi Networks".

While big media tests the waters of mobile broadcasting, many web video producers are already out there doing it live from the street, with a cell phone. Others are joining in and experimenting with two-way broadcasts via streaming video over cellphone networks and via Wi-Fi, wherever they are. Viewers can chat while the broadcast is going on and affect and sometimes even direct the content being produced. Come to this session to see Steve Garfield and other pioneers in the live broadcasting space show how its done.

Confirmed presenters include:

• Steve Garfield, Mobile Video Journalist, SteveGarfield.com
• Max Haot, Founder, CEO, Mogulus
• Bhaskar Roy, Co-Founder, Qik.com

Registration is still open and you can see all the various pricing packages, including a one-day ticket on our website. Six years since we took over the StreamingMedia.com business and we've still managed to keep the conference very affordable for everyone to attend. A full two-day conference ticket is only $895.

VeriSign Sells Kontiki CDN Business For $1 Million And Stake In New Company

VeriSign just filed its 8-K detailing the sale of the Kontiki business to a new entity, Kontiki Inc., which is a majority-owned subsidiary of MK Capital. "VeriSign received compensation of $1 million and 3,980,000 shares of the Purchaser's Series A Preferred Stock".

MK Capital is already closed for the day so I'm not able to ask them if they will say how many outstanding shares are in the new company and what percentage VeriSign owns. While the rumored price being talked about last month was $40 million, it's really hard to know what the deal is valued at without knowing how many outstanding shares there are and what the new Kontiki is valued at.

As I predicted back in December, I always expected that VeriSign would exit the CDN business once they began to contemplate whether or not they wanted to stay in the market with the service. Come April, it was already clear that a deal would be done to take them private.

The kontiki.com domain now goes to a website with details on the Kontiki acquisition and includes a new Kontiki logo I have never seen before. Don't know for sure if that will be their new logo and brand but I'm sure we'll find out soon enough.

NewTeeVee.com has posted an interview from today with Eric Armstrong, Kontiki's new president.

Save The Date: Online Video Networking Event May 19th, NYC

On Monday May 19th, the Streaming Media East show is teaming up with the NY Video 2.0 Meetup group to host a pre-show networking and reception event at the Hilton hotel in NYC. NY Video 2.0 is giving six promising local startups the big stage for 5 minute product demos. After the presentations, join us in the lobby (Bridges Bar) of the Hilton hotel for some drinks.

Presentations start at 6:30pm and will be in the Murray Hill Room of the Hilton hotel on the second floor. The hotel is located at 6th Avenue between West 53rd and West 54th Streets.

This networking event is free, open to everyone and we invite you to spread the word. We're expecting over 400 people to attend so reservations are required. If you are a member of the NY Video 2.0 Meetup group, you can RSVP via their website. Or, send me an e-mail with your name, title and company and I'll add you to the registration list.

If your company is interested in picking up some of the cost of drinks at the bar, please contact me. We are looking for a few drink sponsors and can give plenty of on-site exposure.

CDN Pricing: The Going Rate For Video Delivery

At the Streaming Media East show on Tuesday May 20th, I will be presenting my latest data in a session entitled "CDN Pricing: The Going Rate For Video Delivery".

With more CDN players in the market than ever before, trying to figure out what you should pay for delivering video can still be quite complex. This presentation will offer real pricing numbers from large, globally focused content delivery networks and show you the average going rate when you outsource delivery to a third party. The session will also cover some of the variables that determine the final price and how you should accurately compare the delivery services of one CDN to another, and it will give you a list of providers in the market today.

Have a topic or question for the session that you want to see addressed? Submit it in the comments section and I'll add it to the Q&A portion of the session.

Registration is still open and you can see all the various pricing packages, including a one-day ticket on our website. Six years since we took over the StreamingMedia.com business and we've still managed to keep the conference very affordable for everyone to attend. A full two-day conference ticket is only $895.

How Old Media Is Embracing Online Video and New Media

At the Streaming Media East show on Tuesday May 20th, the National Academy of Media Arts & Sciences will be leading a panel session entitled "How Old Media Is Embracing Online Video and New Media".

This session will discuss how converging media technologies are redefining traditional distribution methods; how interactive and on-demand services are changing, and how entertainment and news video is being consumed. Come hear from some of the leading publishers, broadcasters, and advertisers about the impact that video and new media is having upon their business models.

Confirmed speakers include:

• Moderator: Peter Price, President and CEO, National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
• Jordan Hoffner, Head of Premium Content Partnerships, YouTube
• Isaac Josephson, Director, Product Management, ABC News Digital Media
• Vivian Schiller, SVP, GM, NYTimes.com
• Richard Glosser, Executive Director of Emerging Media, CondeNet

Have a topic or question for any of the speakers you want to see addressed? Submit it in the comments section and we'll add it to the Q&A portion of the session.

Registration is still open and you can see all the various pricing packages, including a one-day ticket on our website. Six years since we took over the StreamingMedia.com business and we've still managed to keep the conference very affordable for everyone to attend. A full two-day conference ticket is only $895.

Online Video Mergers and Acquisitions: Wall Street's View

At the Streaming Media East show on Tuesday May 20th, we have a special session entitled "Mergers and Acquisitions: Wall Street's View". Acquisitions, partnerships, funding, and failures are all making headlines at an increasing rate.

At times it is difficult to understand why these events occur, what drives them, who is involved, and how they affect the rest of the industry. This panel of venture capitalists, equity research analysts, and others will discuss their views on the state of the markets, what gets them excited, what concerns them, and how it could impact the way you do business.

Confirmed speakers include:

• Moderator: Brian Essex, Analyst (formerly at Morgan Stanley)
• Colby Synesael, SVP, Equity Research, Telecom, Merriman Curhan Ford & Co.
• Kevin Ryan, Co-founder, Chairman, Panther Express
• Neil Squeira, Partner, General Catlyst Partners
• Ray Conley, CFA, Palo Alto Investors

Have a topic or question for any of the speakers you want to see addressed? Submit it in the comments section and we'll add it to the Q&A portion of the session.

Registration is still open and you can see all the various pricing packages, including a one-day ticket on our website. Six years since we took over the StreamingMedia.com business and we've still managed to keep the conference very affordable for everyone to attend. A full two-day conference ticket is only $895.

Financial Analysts: Get The Latest CDN Pricing and See Nearly 20 CDNs At Streaming Media East

If you're a financial analyst tasked with covering the content delivery market, you'll want to come to the Streaming Media East conference taking place at the Hilton hotel in NYC on May 20th and 21st. On Tuesday, May 20th, I'll be presenting my latest data on CDN pricing in a presentation entitled "CDN Pricing: The Going Rate For Video Delivery". On Wednesday May 20th, we'll also have a panel of analysts and investors on a special session entitled "Mergers and Acquisitions: Wall Street's View".

In addition, we'll have nearly 20 video delivery companies exhibiting and or speaking at the show including Akamai, AT&T, Abacast, BitTorrent, CDNetworks, Digital Fountain, EdgeCast, Highwinds, Ignite, Internap, Level 3, Limelight, Mirror Image, Move Networks, Panther Express, PowerStream, StreamTheWorld, VeriSign. Contact me if you want a special discount code for financial analysts.

Vusion, A New CDN/Video Platform Launches Today

This morning, Vusion, a company formerly known as Jittr Networks officially launched their offering to the market. While most people would compare Vusion to Move Networks, instead of using traditional CDNs like Move does, Vusion is also acting as the CDN and is doing all of the video delivery themselves. While the company is not yet willing to say how much money they raised, they have been in stealth mode for a few years and have taken at least a few million. With the launch, Vusion also announced that Island Def Jam Music Group is using the service, but it's hard to know if this is a regular paying customer, or more of customer who is getting some free services in exchange for Vusion being able to have content to showcase at launch.

Like Move, Vusion requires users to download software and is primarily going after high-bitrate and HD quality content with what they call their "patented WARP technology". Specifically going after content owners that require high-bitrate and HD delivery use to be something that newer CDNs in the market were touting as being a real differentiator. But today, the space is already quite crowded with numerous companies focusing specifically on high bitrate delivery. Move Networks, BitGravity, Digital Fountain, Grid Networks and now Vusion all seem to be competing for the same type of customer.

I had a long conversation with the Vusion folks a few weeks back and they came off as being smart and being very focused on the market they want to go after. But that alone won't guarantee success in today's  climate and with the continued influx of new providers on the market, it is getting really difficult to distinguish one provider from another. Many are really trying to focus on how the quality of their video is different, but to be honest, I can't even tell the difference most times. At some point, quality no longer becomes the deciding factor and it will come down to all of the other important elements that go into a quality service offering.

Streaming Media Europe: Call For Speakers Open, New Hire Announcement

After two successful shows in London, we'll be back again this year on October 16-17th with our third Streaming Media Europe conference and exhibition. We've moved the show to the Novotel London West hotel, which gives us a larger location with more exhibit and meeting space to accommodate the shows growth.

I'm also please to announce that along with the new location, we've also added some new employees and some additional help for the Europe show. I will be stepping down from the conference chairman role this year and turning that over to Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen, the editor of StreamingMedia.com. With the success of the U.S. based shows and the amount of time those take to organize, I simply can't be in so many places at once. I will still be involved in helping shape the conference content, but won't be the point of contact for speaker proposals.

We are also happy to announce that we have hired Eileen Broch, a veteran conference organizer who is based in London and will be working with Eric to shape the program and selection of speakers. Eileen has spent many years in the conference business including organizing the first two JavaOne conferences ever produced by Sun. She has also held positions at Yahoo! Europe and Skype.

With the program organizers now in place, the call for speakers and papers is open. The deadline is May 15th and the website has all of the details on what we are looking for in the way of papers, speaker requirements and all the other details. If you want to really get involved this year and moderate or organize your own session, contact Eric or Eileen right away.

I do regret that I won't be able to make it out to Streaming Media Europe this year, but Eric and Eileen will do a great job leading the content focus for the show. Speaking spots go fast, so get your submission in ASAP!

Win Tickets To The 2008 MLB All Star Game At Yankee Stadium

The Streaming Media East conference and exhibition is less than three weeks away and today is the last day for discount registrations. Register today and save $100 off the ticket price.

Six years since we took over the StreamingMedia.com business and we've still managed to keep the conference very affordable for everyone to attend. Registering today gets you a full two-day conference ticket for only $795.

StreamingMedia.com is also giving away an All Star Prize package to one conference attendee at this year's show. To qualify, you must come to the show and subscribe/renew for free to Streaming Media magazine at Booth #410.

Register now and visit the SM booth for your chance to win. The prize package, which is sponsored by Ripcode includes:

- Two (2) tickets to the 2008 All Star Game at Yankee Stadium
- Two (2) tickets to the 2008 Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium
- Three (3) night hotel accommodations at the Courtyard New York Manhattan
- Subway Passes for the week

Starting on Monday, I will be posting a lot of details on the conference, speakers, networking events and other activities leading up to the show.

CDNs Vendors Raised Nearly $300 Million In Past 18 Months

In the past year and a half, more than 15 video delivery vendors, including P2P based providers, have raised almost $300 million in capital. CDNetworks, EdgeCast, Panther Express, Grid Networks, Highwinds, Velocix, Itiva, Move Networks, Pando Networks, Rinera, BitTorrent, ChinaCache, Rawflow and Oversi combined raised $282.85 million in 07' and 08'. And that number does not take into account other CDNs who have already raised money but have not yet announced details. In addition, there are also at least four providers, some new, some not, who are out in the market raising a new round.

When all is said and done, at the end of this year, I expect we'll have over $400 million raised by CDN vendors for 2007 and 2008. And with the market size for video delivery services in the U.S. being around $450 million in 2007, that's a lot of money raised as compared to the size of the market. I'm afraid that many investors are going to need the CDN market to grow a lot faster than it can in order for them to see the kinds of returns they are probably expecting.

CDNs Marketing Message Of "Cheaper Than Akamai" Not The Right Focus

Anyone who reads my blog knows that I have been saying for some time now that CDNs need to do a better job of delivering a clear, concise message to the market of who they are, what they offer and how they are different from other CDNs in the industry. With nearly 40 CDNs now in the space, it's never been more crucial for CDNs to stand apart from one another. Yet, with more new entrants, and more vendors all vying for much of the same business, few CDNs are really delivering any clear message at all. And don't take my word for it, ask customers. They still don't know the differences between vendors and in many cases, I don't think the vendors do either.

For starters, this whole sales/marketing pitch of "we're cheaper than Akamai" is pointless. Can someone please show me who isn't cheaper than Akamai? Enough already. If all it took was a CDN to say they are cheaper than Akamai to get business, then Akamai would be losing a lot of CDN business right now, which they aren't. So when nearly every CDN in the space is all saying the same thing, "we're cheaper than Akamai", how is that a marketing message? I hear so many CDNs lead with that and I get so many e-mails from CDNs highlighting that. Ok, great to mention to a customer, but when every other CDN is saying the same thing to that customer, how is that making you stand out? It's not. At this point, it would be unique if a CDN said we are more expensive than Akamai.

Why aren't CDNs leading with propositions that customers want to hear? I keep saying that customers are complaining that they want better reporting and better customer service, and while some CDNs do highlight that as part of their offering, they are still not leading with that as the message. I challenge every CDN, especially the new entrants over the past 12+ months to write down what their marketing message is. Then compare that to what you read on your competitors websites and in their press releases and don't be surprised when it's nearly identical or is extremely vague and uses all the same marketing buzz words. This is really easy, yet many companies are simply falling in with the crowd getting lost in buzz words and bad marketing speak.

For instance. Simply by operating a CDN you are NOT helping customers monetize content. CDNs keep saying they are helping customers monetize their content yet then when I ask them if they have any of the offerings that truly enable the monetization of content like transcoding, authentication, meta data management, syndication tools, custom APIs, analytics tied into advertising etc.... most of the CDNs don't offer any of these services as of yet. Simply delivering bits is not enabling monetization. Anyone can deliver bits. It's all of the other pieces of the content ecosystem that really drives the monetization of content. Some CDNs have a few of those pieces, but the majority of them don't.

Also, the marketing message that some CDNs are leading with calling themselves the third largest, or top-three CDN etc... is pointless. Who cares. Customers don't. You are not going to win business simply by saying that to a customer. And quite frankly, what is it based on? CDNetworks says they are a "top-three global CDN", with us all assuming that Akamai and Limelight are the number one and two. But Panther Express says they are the industry's third largest CDN and if we are basing this on revenue, then isn't Level 3 the third largest CDN considering they said they did $100 million in CDN revenue for Q1 of this year?  The bottom line, it does not matter who is number three or number four. None of that matters. Think about this. Do you want to be known as the number three CDN in the industry, or do you want to be known by customers as the number one CDN in the industry when it comes to customer service and reporting. It's a no brainer. We all know that in any industry, simply calling yourself a large player does not guarantee you success, long term viability or customers. Enron anyone? Size does not equal longevity.

When I started this blog it was to write about all things online video related and it seems all I have been doing is writing about CDNs for the past six months. I don't call out CDNs in any post to make them look bad and don't let my harsh criticisms of the CDN market suggest anything other than my love for wanting the CDN market to grow stronger and learn from its mistakes. We read a lot of great things about the CDN players but it's also important that as an industry, we don't allow ourselves to get to caught up in them and stay focused on what can be improved upon. Right now, I would say that the majority of CDN players really need to improve upon the story they tell of who they are, what they offer and how they are different from others in the market.

Three More CDNs Launch, Market Too Crowded

Amazingly, the number of new content delivery providers in the market continues to climb with three new CDNs launching in the past few weeks. The new entrants, which I will cover next week are Jittr Networks, SimpleCDN and EdgeStream. I think it's great that more companies are offering services in the market and that investors seem to have no qualms in pumping more cash into the industry. But we're now looking at over 40 content delivery networks and it's just too many. There is not enough business out there today to support so many providers, all offering different variations of the same service. On Monday I will be updating the list of CDNs that I track in the industry at www.cdnlist.com

I think choice is great and why not have as many choices as possible for any product or service? The problem being, in the long run, many of the CDNs are not going to be able to grow their revenue to meet their investors expectations. I keep hearing almost everyone say how they are going to give Akamai or Limelight a run for their money, but nearly all of the new CDNs, or those who have been around for a year or so, will do at most, 5-7% of Limelight's projected 2008 revenue. So far, only Level 3 is showing any signs of really growing their CDN revenue, based on the data they gave out last week during their earnings call.

That's not to say that all CDNs are trying to go after Limelight or Akamai or even want to become that big. A rare few of the CDNs make it clear that they don't want to be the size of Limelight and if they do $15 million this year they will be happy. Kudos to them for not giving into the market pressure of a new company thinking they have to launch to the market saying how they are going to take down the number two provider. What's wrong with being a smaller, profitable company not in the top three based on revenue? Nothing. Better you set expectations properly, your own and your investors, and survive for years to come in the market.

I hate to say it, but we're going to see a lot of cracks in the CDN sector starting 18 months from now. The market simply can't sustain so many vendors. If the market size was five or ten times what it is today, then all of these providers would have a shot, but it's not that big and won't be that big 18 months from now. For all the new CDNs, none of them seem to really have any idea what percentage of the market they think they can grab. While many of them say how they can take business from other providers, rarely do they say what percentage of the market they think they can get. I also don't hear from any of them what they think the market size is for CDN services in the U.S.

I'm all for new players in the market, giving everyone a fair chance, providing customers with more options and having the industry grow as a whole. But when you have so many providers in the space, all saying the same thing; we are cheaper than Akamai and/or our delivery is better quality, especially for high-bitrate video, then you can't expect to grow your business for the long run. And with more CDNs in stealth mode still waiting to launch, and telcos like AT&T and others taking more of an interest in getting into the CDN market, the number of providers for CDN services is going to take a real hit when the VC money starts to run out.