1. Major online video providers (Netflix, Amazon, Vimeo, Major League Baseball, etc.) already have invested in H.264, both technically and legally.
2. These providers, right now, today, send H.264-encoded video in one of two ways: directly, to clients with native H.264 playback; and wrapped in Flash, for web browsers with Flash Player installed.
3. Chrome drops support for H.264 and these simply send Chrome users H.264-encoded video via Flash.
4. These services continue to ignore devices and clients that support neither straight H.264 nor Flash Player (e.g. Firefox running on Ubuntu).

via John Gruber, Daring Fireball: The Practical vs. Idealistic Scenarios for the Near-Term Future of Online Video.

via Daisy Whitney, Beet.TV: ScanScout’s Jason Krebs on Best Practices for Online Video Ad Buying.

Leanback is really supposed to help Google accomplish two connected tasks: Keep users on the site for longer stretches, and convince them that the site is something they’d like to look at on their TV.

So it’s really two products in one: The first is a stream of videos that are personalized for each user and that play automatically–tantalizingly, Google (GOOG) says the service can link up with Facebook, so you can see the same clips your online pals are watching. The second product is a user interface that requires minimum input from a keyboard and that works well on big screens.

YouTube Introduces “Leanback” Interface to Encourage Big-Screen Viewing | Peter Kafka | MediaMemo | AllThingsD.

The area where metadata is most important, however, is video. That content is locked within formats that are generally inaccessible to search spiders and aggregation bots. There’s no way to know about the insightful perspective captured at a clip’s 2-minute mark or the funny pratfall 45 seconds in. Left unaddressed, most video clips have the discovery prowess of a “DSC0000.jpg” file. That’s why a random video still and a vague title won’t cut it. We need metadata to extract the value and explain why a clip is worth viewing.

via Mac Slocum, Here’s another reason why metadata matters – O’Reilly Radar.

via Jessica E. Vascellaro, Google TV Is a Tough Sell Among Would-Be Partners – WSJ.com.

You don’t usually hear the word “dayparts” when talking about a website’s homepage, but the new AOL (NYSE: AOL) homepage that’s going live Monday morning has a lot in common with the content values of a TV network.

via David Kaplan, AOL’s Homepage Revamp Aims For TV Network Model | paidContent.

Gawker is moving some content onto a “programming grid” — finding the right times to give people the kind of content they want. Then, they are selling those moments! In a sense, they are creating ad space scarcity because there’s only so much time.

via 5 Takeaways from Nick Denton’s Must-Read Reflections on Internet Media – Alexis Madrigal – Technology – The Atlantic.

One of the best stories in digital entertainment [last] year is how Netflix built up its streaming-video library against the odds. It wasn’t long ago that pundits predicted that Netflix would be unable to pay the studios’ rates and would see its supply of streaming content cut off. The naysayers argued that Netflix would go bankrupt or alienate subscribers by forcing steep price increases on them.

So far, the company has defied the doubters.

via Greg Sandoval, Netflix’s secret sauce for acquiring content | Media Maverick – CNET News.

2011 is the year we Connect. No longer will web video be trapped on desktops or laptops. CES in January will be the starting bell in a massive race to the flatscreen. Google TV will make the most noise, and consumers will find that more and more devices will come with GTV chips from intel already on board. But don’t think that means Google wins – there are nimble and passionate competitors who are going to break out in 2011. Roku and Boxee will battle it out as the kind of the insurgent devices. Apple TV will remain a hobby. And Netflix and Hulu will find that more and more content companies break out their own ‘over-top’ software offerings. Cable’s decline will accelerate as consumers find that they can get everything they want, and more from broadband.

Steve Rosenbaum, via 2011 Online Video Platform Predictions « Online Video and Video Providers – VidCompare.

Lucky, a Condé Nast fashion magazine, is working with Talk Market, a company that helps retailers produce Web videos using a proprietary technology that automates the video editing process. The December issue represents the first major media partnership for Talk Market and the first time Lucky has had so many videos attached to an issue.

“We can literally produce an edited video in under five minutes,” said Mary Gail Pezzimenti, the executive producer of Lucky. “This is an example of a media brand using technology effectively.”

via Tanzina Vega, Lucky Magazine Creates Web Videos for Its Birthday – NYTimes.com.