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–Features Content from CBS, MTV, PBS, Scripps and Others

Earlier this month, Adobe Systems launched its long-awaited Adobe
Media Player 1.0 software (available for download at
http://www.adobe.com/go.mp). The company touts the new
cross-platform, customizable media player as providing new ways for
viewers to discover and interact with content, and as offering content
providers a range of revenue- and brand-building opportunities. A
number of high-profile broadcasters and other content providers are
providing content for the new player, including CBS, MTV Networks,
Universal Music Group, PBS, CondeNet and Scripps Networks; and
Adobe is also offering its own channel on the player, Adobe TV, which
features programming devoted to its own products. “With Adobe Media
Player, we’re bringing viewers and content owners closer together, with
an experience that doesn’t constrain them by platform or proprietary
software application,” John Loiacono, Adobe’s SVP of creative
solutions, said in a prepared statement. “It’s a merger of TV Guide and
DVR for Internet video content. Some great shows, like ‘The Hills’
from MTV and ‘CSI’ from CBS, is already available to view and more
will be coming soon.”

According to Adobe, the new Media Player can provide high-quality
playback of streamed, downloaded or locally stored video in the Adobe
Flash format. It marks the first time that it has been possible to
download video outside the browser in the Adobe Flash format; and it
allows that video to be viewed in 1080p, 720p or 480i resolutions with
advanced audio, the company says. Among other things, the new player
allows end-users to subscribe to specific TV shows and other
broadband video content, and then automatically receive new episodes
of those shows as they become available. At launch, it features what
Adobe touts as a “broad,” searchable catalog of shows and videoclips
from the company’s various content-provider partners, including “CSI:
New York,” “CSI: Miami,” “Big Brother,” “Star Trek,” “Melrose
Place,” “Hawaii Five-O,” “The Twilight Zone” and “MacGyver”
(CBS); clips from “The Hills,” “MTV News” and “Yo! MTV Raps”
(MTV Networks); various shows from HGTV, Food Network, DIY
Network and Fine Living Network (Scripps Networks); video from
Epicurious.com, Style.com and Wired.com (CondeNet); various
programs from PBS; and music videos from Universal Music Group.
According to Adobe, additional content from MTV Networks brands,
including MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, VH1, CMT, Logo,
Spike, The N, GameTrailers and Atom Films will launch on the player
over the coming months.

Adobe bills the new Media Player as providing content owners with
new ways to distribute, measure, monetize and brand video content:
unlike existing media players, the company says, the new player
enables viewers to subscribe to free content, allowing them to watch
shows both on- and offline. Monetization and branding capabilities,
according to the company, include “viewer-centric” dynamic
advertising for targeted marketing campaigns and the ability to
customize the player’s look-and-feel to match the brand or theme of its
video content. It can provide content providers with anonymous
measurement of usage data, Adobe says, including when and how often
a video has been viewed; and also supports various content-protection
options, such as protected streaming, advertising protection and video
DRM protection.