MLB.com Move From Silverlight To Flash Due To Glitches, Conflict

MLB.com Has Switched To Adobe's Flash Player For Live, On-Demand Video This Season

MLB.com this season switched from Microsoft's Silverlight player to Adobe's Flash player for live and on-demand video content, and while MLBAM "never detailed the reasons for dropping Silverlight," the move reportedly was due to a "series of glitches and conflicts between the companies that led to the split," according to sources cited by Greg Sandoval of CNET NEWS. MLBAM "considered Silverlight too unstable," as there were some "high-profile glitches, including last year's opening day, which saw many MLB.com subscribers struggling to log in and others who were unable to watch games." MLBAM also "wanted Microsoft to make it possible for users to download Silverlight without having to possess administrative rights." MLBAM President & CEO Bob Bowman "declined to detail what happened with Silverlight," but he said the Adobe experience "has been everything that we did not have a year ago." Bowman: "Nobody has seen true high-def before on the Web. ... It has all the bells and whistles, picture-to-picture, DVR-quality pause, rewind, fast-forward, real-time highlights" (CNET.com, 4/6).

UPPING THE ANTE? SILICON ALLEY INSIDER's Dan Frommer reports Time Warner Cable is "expanding tests that would require its Internet subscribers to pay overage fees for Internet downloads beyond a monthly cap." Bowman "isn't a fan of the idea," as he "has no interest in seeing his customers forced to pay more to watch video on their PCs." Bowman: "I don't think that ever has a chance of happening. I think AOL tried that when they first launched, charging people by the hour. The notion that they're going to start charging people based on bandwidth and regulating the bandwidth is going to be very hard for them to do. Bandwidth is just not consumed like gas" (BUSINESSINSIDER.com, 4/7).

HEAD OF THE CLASS: In Boston, Tom Rose reviewed MLB.com At Bat 2009 for the iPhone under the header, "Why Can't All iPhone Sports Apps Be As Good As MLB.com At Bat?" The $9.99 price tag for the app was the "one shocker," but when it comes to "following sports on an iPhone or iPod touch, there is no question this app delivers the best value for the money." The main new feature for '09 is radio play-by-play. Rose gave the app an "A-" (BOSTONHERALD.com, 4/3). Meanwhile, MEDIABISTRO's Susan Schrank reported SportingNews.com and Zumobi have teamed to launch Sporting News Baseball, a free iPhone app that "delivers scores, standings, stats, league and team news, player info, recaps and exclusive fantasy league content." The app also "provides access to exclusive news and content from the Sporting News baseball blog" (MEDIABISTRO.com, 4/6).