CBS launched a new part of their website called innertube, a video streaming service obviously created directly because of ABC's successful online show streaming service. However, innertube is a horrible failure for the following reasons:
1. Poor content
The genius of ABC's online streaming service is that it streams what viewers actually want to watch. ABC has actual shows that viewers want to see – Alias, Desperate Housewives, Lost, and Commander in Chief. innertube has, well, crap. Viewers can watch a behind-the-scenes look at…The Price is Right? There's also online-only versions of Survivor, probably online-only because they're not good enough for TV. I just don't understand why CBS is wasting their time (and bandwidth). No one wants to watch these behind-the-scenes clips that CBS has online right now. Give your customers what they really want – streaming video of actual CBS shows – and maybe you'll finally have a decent piece of software.
2. Non-streaming video
Mike Davidson made note of the genius of ABC's online streaming service, especially the fact that it uses Flash streaming and not progressive download. This means the video streams directly to the user's browser and doesn't have to buffer every three seconds. CBS's software doesn't do this, which leads to constant buffering throughout the video. I'll admit that my internet connection here at college is horrible, but ABC's video worked fine without buffering at all, so there's no reason why CBS's video shouldn't do the same.
There's a lot of work that needs to be done before CBS can begin bragging about its new video streaming service, especially with innertube's technology and content. I'm really looking forward to a video service from CBS because the network has some really good shows, but this is definitely not the way to do it.
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