Yahoo! Launches Live Video Service and We Cover it...Live...Sort of
The rumored launch of Yahoo!'s live video service became reality tonight at Live.Yahoo.com. I'm covering it live, in video below. It looks pretty good though early tests are experiencing scaling issues already.
Context & Ripple Effects
Yahoo had already been building out video in 2006, from video discovery and sharing to a better-video-content push. Live broadcasting extends that effort from on-demand video into real-time delivery.
The early scaling problems matter because a live service is judged at the moment audiences arrive; capacity is part of the product, not a back-end detail.
First-order effects
- Live.Yahoo.com gives Yahoo a real-time video outlet alongside its existing video products, while early users encounter capacity limits during initial tests.
- Yahoo's video team must make delivery reliable under audience load before the service can function as a dependable destination for live broadcasts.
Second-order effects
- Yahoo's earlier video discovery and content work gains a potential live counterpart, but traffic sent across those video surfaces will amplify the operational cost of unresolved scaling problems.
- The launch makes infrastructure execution a differentiator for Yahoo's video offering: features and programming have less value if viewers cannot consistently reach a live stream.
Third-order effects
- If Yahoo resolves the capacity constraint, its discovery, content, television and live initiatives point toward a more integrated video portfolio rather than isolated media products.
- The rollout illustrates how web-video competition is expanding beyond catalog and discovery into the ability to operate real-time audience experiences at scale.
The trend: Yahoo is broadening its video strategy from discovery and on-demand content toward a connected set of video experiences that includes live delivery.