The inauguration of Barack Obama as President was historic not only politically but in the world of new media.
Conducted during normal business hours, the inauguration wasn't accessible via TV for most working people, who instead logged on and watched via live web streaming in record numbers.
Akamai, which provides bandwidth services for about 20% of the world's internet, recorded "unprecedented global demand for bandwidth" during the inauguration, according to Beet.tv.
The inauguration wasn't only about volume. Media companies took major strides in presenting streaming video in a more content-rich and user-controllable format.
As Kent Chapline describes on Lost Remote, the CBS O & O's offered a page with seven different streams, allowing the user to choose the perspective they wanted for the Inauguration. The page also included on demand offerings of the inauguration speeches of presidents back to FDR, and an embedded live Twitter feed during the event.
MSNBC's player also included past inauguration speeches with this great add-on: Each speech had a searchable transcript in the sidebar; click on a section of the speech in text, it cues it up to that point in video. Cory Bergman of MSNBC.com offers more details on Lostremote.com.
Overall, these digital media tools enabled large media companies to tell the inauguration story immediately with greater breadth and depth than ever before, all while giving more control over the content experience to...dare I say it...the media consumer.
For a complete review of all the major media companies' streaming coverage, check out the review by Dan Rayburn on Businessofvideo.com.
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