It takes some doing to go from launch to market leader in just 18 months, but that's what Wowza Media Systems has achieved with its Wowza Media Server Pro. The product has been named the Streaming Media Magazines Editors’ Pick two years in a row, ahead of Adobe Flash Media Server and Microsoft Windows Media Services. We spoke to David Stubenvoll, CEO and co-founder of the company to find out how it was done.

Both live and on-demand broadcasts over the internet are improving, and that brings in new audiences. Streaming media technology enables the real-time or on-demand distribution of audio, video, and multimedia on the Internet. Streaming media is the simultaneous transfer of digital media (video, voice, and data) so that it is received as a continuous real-time stream. Streamed data is transmitted by a server application and received and displayed in real-time by client applications. In the past, this work was done offsite by CDN (content delivery networks) companies.

Stubenvoll and co-founder Charlie Good, both ex-Adobe employees, set out to build an easy-to-use alternative to the expensive CDN approaches out there. The results have been not only easy to use, but much more.

Stubenvoll said because Wowza Media Server Pro is a pure Java server, it can be installed easily and quickly on most operating systems, including Windows, Linux, Solaris, and even Mac OS.

Wowza Pro is the economical alternative to Adobe’s Flash Media Interactive Server (FMIS) and a major player in the Flash Video streaming space. Stubenvoll said that with two consecutive number one wins, Wowza is clearly the preferred choice for demanding developers who require the reliable performance, scalability, and extensible open architecture of Wowza’s Java implementation.

Stubenvoll said that Wowza has changed the economics of Flash streaming, making it possible for a broad range of content producers, small as well as big, to enter the market. He said that Wowza Pro Unlimited with MPEG-TS version is comparable to a $50,000 installation of Adobe Flash Media Server. In 18 months, some 12,000 licences have been granted.

Last week, the US Senate passed the Webcaster Settlement Act. It is designed to allow Internet radio stations to negotiate reduced royalty rates for songs streamed over the web. Stubenvoll comments on the new law are that it's commonplace to listen to music while working and it is extremely convenient over a PC, especially when the service is powered by Wowza Pro. Just as with video, audio is moving to the web, and this bill is a strong step in the right direction for the recording industry and broadcasters alike.

Stubenvoll explained the main features of Wowza Media Server. It supports live H.264 streaming with RTSP/RTP encoders, optional live H.264 streaming with MPEG-TS encoders, re-streaming from SHOUTcast/Icecast, SecureToken anti-ripping protection and TiVo-like fast forward, rewind and slow-play of Flash (.flv) streaming video. There is also a server-side API that allows developers to extend the functionality of the server, including full access to the media stream.

For development and personal use, Wowza's free download edition supports a maximum of 10 concurrent connections and contains the full features and functionality of the Wowza Pro Unlimited edition. Wowza Pro comes with over a dozen fully functional examples that you can try right out of the box. All include Flash client applications with source code and server-side source files for the examples that require it.

Stubenvoll said that empowering so many companies in so many different industries to stream Flash with Wowza Pro is a huge reward in itself. He said notable customers include: Sun Microsystems, US retail clain Macy’s, Canadian broadcaster Astral Media, RAI International, a major Italian broadcaster, and T-Systems Multimedia Solutions , the business customer brand of telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom and parent to T-mobile USA. This means T-mobile is ready to stream video and audio over its recently tested LTE mobile network. Stubenvoll said that Wowza also has a Flash video streaming solution partnership with Riverbed, a world leader in WDS (Wide-Area Data Services) solutions for the enterprise.

Stubenvoll said one option he is very proud of is the licensing option for Wowza Pro for Amazon EC2 . This version is available as paid Software as a Service (SaaS) on Amazon’s compute cloud, where capacity can be added or reduced on-demand. Stubenvoll said that this requires knowledgeable developers who are not looking for a CDN turnkey solution.

We asked what comes next for Wowza. Stubenvoll says there are a lot of very specialised tweaks which the company developed for its Enterprise version, a custom install. Over the next few months more of those features will be brought into the standard versions.

If you are working on a streaming audio or streaming video project, we recommend you review Wowza. We know you will be very happy you did. X