French Broadcaster Chooses Windows Media

Late yesterday afternoon Eastern Standard Time, a friend living in Britain instant messaged about news channel France24. The station had started Internet broadcasts, in English and French, ahead of its availability via satellite or cable.

While broadcasting now on the Internet, the full launch of the France24 site will take place later today.

The initial broadcast site delivers beautiful Windows Media Video streaming--and not in some little box. France24 shows how companies can innovate around Windows Media formats. I'm rather surprised there is no Microsoft press release trumpeting the Windows Media broadcasts.

This week's Expression Studio announcement and WPF/E (Windows Presentation Foundation) CTP (Community Technology Preview) move forward Microsoft's Windows Media enterprise strategy. Both products are promoted on Microsoft's Windows Media for Professionals Web site for good reason.

For anyone brave enough to install the WPF/E CTP (I did), Microsoft programmer Chandu Thota offers guidance on how to embed Windows Media videos in blogs or Web sites.

To be clear, France24 is not offering Windows Media broadcasts using WPF/E. But the broadcasts, along with this week's WPF/E CTP, demonstrate some of the potential enterprise uses for Windows Media.

Additionally, Microsoft has positioned Windows Media for broadcasters and video content producers. In September 2003, Microsoft submitted its Windows Media Video 9 codec to the SMPTE (Society of Motion Pictures and Television Engineers) for standards ratification. In March 2006, SMPTE published the VC-1 specification, from the Windows Media Video 9 codec.

Video formats used for broadcast or commercial DVD production require stability and longevity. MPEG-2 has been a standard for a long time and remains so, even though successor codecs are available. By submitting Windows Media Video 9 for standards certification, Microsoft agreed to keep the codec frozen in time, so to speak.

VC-1 also has given Microsoft leverage with next-generation high-definition technologies, such as HD-DVD.

Until this week, enterprises had somewhat limited options with respect to Windows Media deployments. While Microsoft provides the basic Windows Media content creation and Intranet broadcast tools with Windows Server, content consumption was largely restricted to Windows desktops with Internet Explorer. WPF/E will open up new cross-platform Windows Media opportunities, which is one reason the technology has been labeled by some as a "Flash killer."