Kate and William Royal Wedding

Prince William of Wales is marrying Kate Middleton (officially known as Catherine) on Friday April 29 in a ceremony set to begin at 10 am BST and last until around 2pm BST. Whether you personally are interested in seeing the nuptials taking place and all the surrounding hubbub, a significant proportion of the population is.

Hundreds of television channels around the world are showing the royal wedding live, but the event is also being streamed in full online. The official YouTube channel of the Royal Family is hosting the full ceremony, as is the NDN, and any other website which has paid the asking price to embed the feed.

In all, around 2 billion people are expected to watch the royal wedding between William and Kate, with 400 million of those estimated to be doing so on the Web. Which begs the question: Will the Internet with the bandwidth demands?

Bandwidth Demands

The last big online video broadcast which taxed the Internet was the inauguration of President Obama in 2009. That saw 70 million people tune in from the U.S., and an estimated 200 million worldwide. the royal wedding between Kate and Wills is set to at least double that, and those estimates may be exceeded quite easily.

Local congestion is likely to be fierce, as people in offices combine to strain their network. Unless their boss is feeling generous and lets them watch it on broadcast television instead.

Next up the chain is YouTube itself. This will be the biggest test for YouTube’s capacity to deliver live video streams to date, but Google is unlikely to have taken any chances; instead it will be very confident it has devoted enough resources to delivering the event to as many people as tune in.

Lastly there’s the wider Internet. Other websites, especially social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, will be hit by increased numbers of users as people pass their thoughts on what is happening. Therefore outages could be a common sight across the day.

Conclusions

I sincerely hope the Internet copes with the demand. If it doesn’t then it will dent the confidence of many as to how feasible it is that the Internet will become the primary delivery method of content in the years to come. It’ll also mean many of us have to watch the edited highlights of the royal wedding after it’s all over and done with. Calamitous, I’m sure you’ll agree.

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For the first time in history, a royal wedding is being live streamed on the Internet, and with a little help from YouTube we’ll all be able to watch Kate and William tying the knot.

The Royal Wedding Streaming Live

The Royal Family have had a presence on YouTube for over three years now, with the Queen and her clan having posted hundreds of videos of events and speeches in that time. But the royal wedding between Kate and William calls for something altogether more ambitious.

As announced on the Official Royal Wedding Blog, the wedding will be live streamed on YouTube on The Royal Channel. Google has produced “a live stream ‘gadget’” which will air from 10am until 2pm on the big day. That means the journey to and from Westminster Abbey, the balcony appearance, fly past, and of course, the ceremony itself, will all be aired live on the Web.

The live video stream will be accompanied by a commentary on Twitter, and additional clips, photographs, and links.

Kate and William Online Couple

Although the live stream is the most exciting part of the news about the royal wedding, William and Kate are set to be the first royal couple to live their lives in an online spotlight.

Even before the big day arrives, we’re all being asked to get involved by sending video messages of congratulations via the Wedding Book on YouTube. As well as YouTube, the British Monarchy has a presence on Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr. And has its own regularly-updated website.

Let’s hope this means there is enough information about the lives of Kate and Wills available to mean the press can give them a little privacy.

Conclusions

Whether you’re a fan of the British Royal Family or not, they should be applauded for moving with the times and embracing the new technologies available to all of us. It means we’ll all get the opportunity to watch William and Kate getting married one way or another. That is, if we want to. but that’s another argument altogether.

Watch the Royal Wedding between Kate and William live here from 10am BST on April 29, 2011.

Sanity And/Or Fear

There have been a number of political rallies of late, mostly by people on the right-wing, with the Tea Party in particular managing to get millions of people out to Washington DC to show their support for a certain kind of politics.

But this was different, this was the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, and it was designed to bring people from all sides of the political spectrum together to show that they can unite for the greater good. Possibly.

250,000 people actually showed up to the rally led by Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, but million watched at home, many on the Internet.

An Online Video Hit

According to official figures released by Comedy Central, 2 million people watched the rally live on the broadcast station. An additional 575,000 watched the event live on the Web, which equates to more than one-fifth of the total viewership.

The rally wasn’t as big an online event as the presidential inauguration of Barack Obama, maybe, but the percentage who watched on the Web is impressive nonetheless.

Millions of others have no doubt watched highlights of the rally after the event, and there are clips galore on the Web, including the Sanity Song from Auto-Tune the News.

Conclusions

Politics has always had a home on the Internet, but it’s no longer just the place for people on the extremes to air their often bizarre views. Instead, thanks to online video, those who inhabit the mainstream middle-ground where the sensible decisions are made can get involved in a big way.

[Via GigaOM]

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Persuasive Online Video is the world’s first class dedicated to using web video to influence and change behavior.

It was born out of the Stanford University Persuasive Technology Lab based near Silicon Valley and was founded by BJ Fogg and Enrique Allen in the Spring of 2009.

The education takes the form of a series of winter workshops (open to the public for a fee – see below) and a follow up Stanford class in the Spring, with the aim of furthering research into the intersection of the online video industry and academic innovation.

The methods and metrics for changing behavior using online video are the core concepts of the course.

A Persuasive Online Video Assignment in Action

The example video below is an assignment from the class where students picked a controversial cause to promote, and then utilized online video to spread the message:

You can see the original ‘Gotta Get Wed‘ music video here. Enrique, the organizer of the class, had this to say about the project:

"What makes this particular example unique? For one, it’s about a controversial topic that’s inherently social. Secondly, it leverages existing motivation in popular music memes similar to other "spoof" videos that go viral. Lastly, this is a great example of a no budget campaign with 2 iterations executed in less than a week that achieved nearly 12k views, 111 favorites, and 166 ratings along with 709 clicks (6% CTR) which was all measurable via free distribution and tools."

Public Online Video Workshops

In addition to the classes are public workshops which anyone interested in the industry can attend. These will discuss end-to-end persuasive video topics ranging from design to production, distribution, metrics & evaluation.

I will be presenting at the workshop on Dec 18th, 2009 and the first 10 WebTVWire readers can get a discounted pass here.

For information on the other scheduled workshops from the class go here.

Also Check Out

• How to Build a YouTube Clone
• How to Do Everything with Online Video – Book Review

Live Streaming

Live streaming video is an everyday occurrence on the Web these days, with lifecasting sites such as Justin.tv, UStream, and Livestream (formerly known as Mogulus) offering everyone the chance to air an event to the wider world.

Last month saw Livestream launch Livepack, which includes all the kit required to film and stream live events such as weddings, graduations, and concerts. And all in a compact enough size to fit in a backpack.

U2 On YouTube

While that is a brilliant innovation, live streaming of big events is still a relatively rare treat for Internet users. I’m talking about rock concerts from big, well-known bands. Like for instance, I don’t know, U2.

Which is exactly who is lined up for a live streaming event on YouTube this coming weekend. As the video below previews, YouTube will live stream U2’s sold-out gig at the Pasadena Rose Bowl in California this Sunday.

Details, Details

The live stream of the whole concert, with 90,000 people in attendance, will take place at YouTube.com/U2 at 8pm local time on Sunday. 16 countries will be able to view the stream, including Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, the U.K., and the U.S.

This signifies YouTube’s first streaming of a full-length concert. It has previously dabbled in live streaming, hosting its own event in November 2008, and streaming performances by several bands at the Outside Lands festival in San Francisco recently. But this is a much bigger deal.

Conclusions

This has reportedly taken a great deal of time and effort to set up, with the live streaming of a concert complicated by the number of rights-holder involved (the artist, record label, publishers, venue, etc.).

But this will hopefully become a more regular occurrence as all those involved realize how much there is to gain from it. I’m guessing Vevo may make this kind of event a much more regular thing when it launches.

Michael Jackson died after suffering a cardiac arrest on June 25, 2009. Attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. His death has prompted an outpouring of emotion not seen for many years, probably since Princess Diana died in 1997.

His death, and the reaction of people around the world to it, has been well documented by online video. First, there was the reaction videos, then tribute videos popped up, and continue to do so even now, ten days after his death. There was also the shockingly sad footage of Jacko rehearsing for his This Is It tour just two days before he died.

Michael Jackson’s Funeral Service

Now comes the next stage of Michael Jackson’s story – the public memorial service and funeral being held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on July 7. The service will begin at 10am PT, but unfortunately, only 20,000 people are able to attend in person because that’s how many people the venue can hold. Tickets have been given out via a lottery to 17,500 members of the general public.

Online Streams of the Memorial Service

The majority of Michael Jackson fans around the world will be watching live coverage of the memorial service on television or via streaming video online. It’s already been announced there will be a free, live stream of the event, with Jacko’s promoter, AEG Live, which also owns the Staples Center, wanting as many people as possible to be able to watch the memorial service.

• A compilation of the live streams and videos are available on WebTVHub.

How to Watch on iPhone

Thanks to the uStream Viewing Application, iPhone users will be able to watch the live stream of Michael Jackson’s funeral in real-time.

The uStream iPhone app (video review below) was released at the beginning of this year just in time for Barack Obama’s presidential inauguration, an event that became the biggest Web TV phenomenon ever seen, thanks in part to the multitude of people watching on their cell phones.

Where can I Find a uStream Live Feed of Funeral?

There will be a large variety of live video feeds available on Tuesday covering the funeral, e.g: CBS, but also check the comprehensive list of live streams on Web TV Hub.

Live Streams on SmartPhones?

Unfortunately watching Michael Jackson’s funeral with uStream is not possible on Smartphones (yet). However, most windows based cell phones should have a couple of options available to them.

SlingBox

Slingbox owners can set their slingbox up to stream a channel covering the memorial service over the internet on their private channel. Then using the Slingplayer mobile app it is possible to watch the event live on a cell phone.

The Slingplayer app is also available for the iPhone. Download it from the iTunes store or read about it here.

TVUPlayer – Live TV on Cell Phone

Another option for windows based smartphones is to use the TVUPlayer cell phone app. You can get it here. TVUPlayer is a P2P TV streaming service that has channels from all around the world, you can read about it here.

TVUPlayer has plenty of channels, simply look up a new channel and undoubtedly it will be broadcasting MJ’s historic funeral.

Any More?

If there are any more ways to watch Michael’s funeral on a cell phone then please leave a comment below to let us know.

The Links You Need (roundup)

• Comprehensive list of live internet streams on Web TV Hub. iPhone users using uStream check the uStream links on this page.

Windows SmartPhones:

• TVUPlayer Windows Smartphone App
• Slingplayer Windows Smartphone App

iPhone

• SlingPlayer App from the iTunes store
• uStream Viewing App from the iTunes store

Ringtones

• Get Michael Jackson Ringtones (U.S Only)

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Unfortunately it isn’t free. The cost is £12.90 for UK residents or $24.99 for those elsewhere. This does however buy you an all access pass to every match and all the highlights for the duration of the tournament.

Windows Only Yet Again

Once again though, Apple Mac and Linux users miss out, with a computer running a Windows OS among the system requirements for the service. This is obviously down to the DRM issues involved.

Online video coverage of sports is becoming big business. Basketball, baseball and golf have all enjoyed a boost in the amount of viewers turning to the Web for live and on-demand coverage.

Free Vs Subscription

However, these sports were in the main offered for free, whereas Wimbledon is trying to make some money from the whole thing. So whether tennis enjoys the same lift in online viewer numbers remains to be seen.

It will be interesting in terms of looking forward to the forthcoming Olympics though. The NBC coverage will be free online, a move which John Malone thinks will fail spectacularly.

However, it should at least give a good indication of the potential viewing figures possible for a huge worldwide sporting event, and determine whether such events will be free or subscription only in the future.

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Unusual for such an occasion, but thanks to the courtesy from another trade show that was using the space and gave it to our group.

There were some obvious technical problems which were expected, and some that weren’t, including an out of control SMS projected board of “board participants” who started texting all sorts of crazy notes during the presentations. You had to feel bad for the presenters.

The line-up last night included the following companies, which each had about five minutes to give their pitch.

Presentation Line Up

1. Origin Digital – Curt Kendall, VP Product Dev
2. Redlasso – Hanan Gelbendorf, VP Products
3. Aditall – Rodger Wells, SVP Sales & BD
4. SportsBone.tv – Tony Delbusso, Founder & CEO
5. ModMyLife.com – Martin Codyre, Co-Founder

Origin Digital

1. Origin Digital – Curt Kendall, VP Product Dev

An interesting set of tools for producing and delivery mixed content the technology was overshadowed by a less then stellar presentation, which also coincided with people sending funny..and yes distruptive SMS messages to the large screen, such as;

- “MTV sucks, This guy’s next job…motivational speaker,. give me a job, and of course hot girls”.

Red Lasso

2. Redlasso – Hanan Gelbendorf, VP Products

The business model seemed rather familiar as Find Internet TV was deployed earlier this year with a robust aggregation engine. Redlasso believes ad sales will drive the company to profitability. If they plan to use video ads, the market is flat… sites are chasing a lack of inventory.

Aditall

3. Aditall - Rodger Wells, SVP Sales & BD 

Stock video footage you can clip. Mix and then purchase for your own online campaign. Interesting use of the technology and perhaps a way content creators could generate sushi money however, have been involved with stock photography many years ago it is a difficult proposition. 

On the content side, you have to have a lot of footage or just that right piece someone is looking for and there is a lot of competition. On the other side, having video ads on your site does not mean your campaign is going to be more successful…but I am interested to see where they take this.

Sports Bone

4. SportsBone.tv – Tony Delbusso, Founder & CEO 

Call this Uncle Floyd meets sports jocks with bobble heads. A bunch of college friends produce a show without the aid of NFL footage and get creative. 

There was no indication of their audience size however; it’s pretty well known (as stated last night) that unless you are streaming in the hundreds of thousands per months you are not going to get sufficient cpm to generate revenue.

Mod My Life

5. ModMyLife.com - Martin Codyre, Co-Founder

The most interesting presentation technology of the evening, and a start up that we have featured in depth already here on Web TV Wire.

Reality TV meets live user driven story lines. Volunteers, typically actors, according to the presenters, go out into the night with an EVDO enabled live video feed to the site (quality is what you would expect) and are driven to complete tasks set out by the online audience.

There is currently no business model and the site if it generated revenues would be open to copyright infringement, as people on the street become unwitting participants in their mod play. 

On the other hand, there could be interesting applications for advertisers conducting live focus groups as well as other possibilities.

NY Video 2.0 is the creating of Yaron Samid, Co-Founder and CMO of Pando Networks. Many thanks to him for the time and energy he has put into growing this silicon valley group.

[Content in whole or part adapted from IPTVe and is licensed under Creative Commons, no addition derivative works may be copied from this article without prior permission from IPTVe and Web TV Wire]

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As most of you who have been dwelling on this planet for at least the last four years will already know, the next Olympic Games are being held in Beijing.

This time around however one of the main events seems to be broadband video as there will be blanket coverage of the entire event (yes the whole thing, even the Beach Volleyball) courtesy of NBC Universal.

Of the 3600 hours of coverage planned 2200 of them will be streaming live online over the internet. There are also plans currently being firmed up to provide some wireless coverage that will be unveiled officially some time before the event.

Because of the time differences, for many Olympic enthusiasts, these broadcasts will be in the middle of the night. Still, it’s nice to know that those of us in the western hemisphere will at least have the opportunity to catch our favorite events live.

2008 Olympic Games Sports that You Can Watch

• Archery
• Athletics
• Badminton
• Baseball
• Basketball
• Boxing
• Canoeing
• Cycling
• Diving
• Equestrian
• Fencing
• Field hockey
• Football/Soccer
• Gymnastics
• Handball
• Judo
• Modern pentathlon
• Rowing
• Sailing
• Shooting
• Softball
• Swimming
• Synchronized swimming
• Table tennis
• Taekwondo
• Tennis
• Triathlon
• Volleyball
• Water polo
• Weightlifting
• Wrestling

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This argument has prevented legislation and regulation that would see telecom companies such as them be made to play fair with content providers.

Not to get too technical here, but they didn’t promise not to censor, did they? Let’s add that little crime against speech to the list of reasons why Internet Freedom/Net Neutrality is a good idea.

It seems as if AT&T was the sponsor of the Webcast of a Pearl Jam concert at Lollapalooza on Saturday night (Aug. 4). Soon after the performance ended, the band started getting word from its fans that part of a song had been cut out.