The MLB Network is now on the air.
A couple points I’d like to make:
1. They are still pushing Silverlight technology to distribute their online video content. This is not unexpected since I think their deal with them extends till April when MLB Advanced Media will go with Flash. It can’t be soon enough in my opinion.
2. My hope is that the MLB Network does not ignore the sector of society that gets their information and news totally from the web. I’ll be honest, I rarely get my news from TV and yes, that includes sports news. My hope was that would be that they would be streaming MLB Network live.
There are plenty of business models out there using streaming video out that seem to work. MLB, let’s make it work, too.
I’m hoping the MLB Network gets off the ground. They seem to have realistic expectations:
Petitti has made it clear that his new network’s signature show does not need to beat “Baseball Tonight” in the ratings for the network to be declared a runaway success. It’s all in the baseball family.
“Being second for us is a good thing,” Petitti said. “If we’re the second place people turn to for baseball, we’ll be very successful.”
That tells me they know they are targeting a niche market, their core audience. That’s a good thing.
Now just don’t do anything to piss them off.
