(Annette Moser-Wellman) – Mobile and video were top of mind for most of the media executives we interviewed recently for Media Management Center’s recent report on innovation and the news media.

But, of course, watching video on news sites can be a less than satisfying experience. You name the problems - takes forever to buffer, disappointing quality once you get it and no easy way to explore related content. And watching video on most mobile devices? Forget it.

Fortunately, both technologies are morphing quickly. So we thought we’d ‘scout out’ what’s happening at the edge of the horizon and what changes might be in store for news media organizations. I caught up with Cameron Brain, CEO of a promising start-up called Open Box Technologies – a Web and mobile commercial video solutions provider - to talk about some of the opportunities and challenges media companies face when it comes to optimizing video – on mobile and off.


“As consumers, we’ve been sold a bunch of hogwash over the past five years or more on mobile content streaming. It’s only been within the last six months that we can really start to talk legitimately about mobile content distribution at a commercial level,” he said. “Before that, it was just too challenging and required too many steps on the part of the service provider and, in particular, on the part of their users.”

It’s the popularization of Apple, Nokia and other powerful phones that have, in Cameron’s opinion, ultimately changed producer and consumer expectations for mobile video.


“The iPhone and the iPod touch, not to give them too much credit, but they enable such a great experience. I mean the quality of the video that you can stream to them, the simplicity of the process not only from a user standpoint, but from a developer standpoint; it’s just so much easier and elegant than with most other phones, past or present,” he said.

Cameron believes that news organizations could make greater strides with video – and particularly with mobile -- by paying attention to evolving ways to make that video more accessible and satisfying.

News companies, he said, “have a very good pedigree for producing high quality content. …What they’re really lacking [are] the tools that actually enable that content to be consumed, to use a far overly used term, wherever, whenever, however the consumers ultimately want to,” he said.

“So many of these companies produce so much content. But it’s quite amazing how so much of it is just buried.”

“Content may be king but, outside of the entertainment world, the organization that’s going to make the most money is the one that has the most creative solution when it comes to actually making that stuff accessible,” he said. Their content needs to be easier to find, search and use.

Indeed, providing superior accessibility is one of the best ways news organizations could differentiate themselves from the competition, he believes.

“I think it’s essential for media outlets and other content producing organizations to fully understand and subscribe to the inherent connection between content accessibility and competitive edge “ he said.

Why? Because competing on content quality isn’t too promising, he believes.

“Content quality is a relatively flat floor between the top-tier news organizations. There are some fundamental differences, but most everyone out there is generally reporting on the same sorts of topics and events. I believe a lot of people, including myself, would be very interested in consuming media from an organization that actually made it more accessible in richer formats.“

Cameron thinks the kind of service and technology his firm has developed – called SesameVault – could help. It’s a high-quality commercial version of YouTube plus much more -- a Web-based platform that handles everything from storing, managing, and distributing video and audio content to a wide variety of wired and wireless devices. In essence, SesameVault serves as the engine behind an organization’s digital media services.

I had the opportunity to test a SesameVault-powered mobile service on an iPhone. Streaming in high definition made for a stellar video experience. And then there was the full-screen playback. It was simply a work of art to behold.

Additionally, SesameVault promises high-quality streaming and easier uploads of consumer content from cell phones, with built-in administration controls for approving/denying submissions.

“From a producer standpoint, it’s really about reducing the amount of time and effort it takes to make content accessible for any particular distribution channel,” he said.

“Podcasting, for example, has been huge,” he notes. “News outlets continue to produce podcasts on a very regular basis. In most cases you get podcasts via an RSS feed, iTunes or sometimes download directly from their site.

“We take this content that’s already produced that’s already up there on the Web and harness more value out of it by producing a mobile portal to access that content directly from the cell phone. So as opposed to actually having to download that podcast to your system and sync it your iPod or your iPhone, or maybe there’s compatibility issues with your Windows Mobile or Nokia phone, we just take that content and run it through SesameVault. It’s automatically re-encoded for all these different device types and made available through a portal that’s compatible with all the major mobile platforms and branded for that particular customer.”

Ultimately, the accessibility of so much content is one of the biggest blessings and curses of the Internet age. As everyone creates all this content, we each have to find ways to wade through it.

Cameron believes news companies could also distinguish themselves by providing superior organization of information. Changing Web technologies offer content companies the ability to master their own libraries for their own use and open up that information for consumers. The rush of content will only increase as consumers begin to upload more content.

“I wish I had more access to video. I mean, I read a lot of news. Probably on any average day, I’m consuming maybe an hour and a half to two hours worth of Web news, which is, I don’t know, maybe unhealthy but I enjoy it,” he said.

“There’s just so much opportunity for improvement on what other information is made accessible and related to a particular article. If you’re going to publish an article, why not publish and cross link a bunch photos and video to go along with it?” he asked

Why not, indeed?

If the future of news is about mobile and about video, then news companies have the ability to truly compete for the time and attention of consumers. They can differentiate themselves not just by the quality of the video but also by the ability to lead consumers to more meaningful information.

Everyone talks about providing consumers what they want, when they want it. But the technologies Cameron is talking about allow us to teach ourselves what we want. They help us become smarter. And isn’t that the real opportunity and promise of the Web?

What do you think? Please share your thoughts, experiences and reactions by clicking on the comment button below or by e-mailing Media Management Center at v-vahlberg@northwestern.edu.

Annette Moser-Wellman is President of Firemark, Inc. , an innovation consultancy, and author of "Running While The Earth Shakes: Creating An Innovation Strategy To Win In The Digital Age," published by Media Management Center. She teaches in MMC's Advanced Executive Program and Digital Strategies for Media Executives seminars.

This TechScout article is part of a new series of Moser-Wellman interviews commissioned by Media Management Center to explore opportunities and insights at the intersection of technology and the news media. Click here to view others in the TechScout series.