http://www.beet.tv/2008/09/akamai-aims-to.html
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Content distribution network Akamai Technologies launched Openvideoplayer.com in an effort to unite the video publishing industry around an standardized video player. The base source code Akamai contributed to the Open Video Player has already been used by customers including Hulu and The NBA.
The industry needs a player "that is standard, much like the television is standard, and everyone knows, you know, how to easily develop content for it and how to insert the ads," Senior Industry Marketing Manager for Digital Media Suzanne Johnson says. Andy interviewed Johnson at the Akamai offices in Cambridge last week.
Akamai teamed up with Adobe Flash and Microsoft Silverlight to provide easy-to-use advertising plug-ins for the Open Video Player.
Partners for the initiative include 24/7 Real Media, Adobe Corporation, Microsoft, Clickability, and Panache. The full press release can be read here.
A standardized player would certainly make audience measurement and ad delivery easier, and we'll be interested to see how this develops.
--Kelsey Blodget, Associate Producer