Come hear an in-depth conversation on Tuesday at the Streaming Media East show about the evolution of reporting, producing, distributing, and consuming video news. News executives will discuss strategies both around creating original content and in aggregating video from outside sources. We've got Andy Plesser of Beet.TV moderating a panel entitled "How Video News has been Transformed by the Web and Mobile." Speakers will also talk about new distribution and syndication models and the emergence of new platforms for news, including mobile and connected TV's. Confirmed speakers include:

• Moderator: Andy Plesser, Executive Producer, Beet.TV
• Kevin Delaney, Managing Editor, WSJ.com
• Craig Duff, Multimedia Director, TIME
• Ann Derry, Editorial Director, Video and Television, The New York Times
• Jim Spencer, CEO, Newsy

While online registration is now closed, you can still register on sites and take advantage of my discount code of DAN, which gets you a two-day ticket to the show for only $695. Twitter hash tag: #SMEast

In the face of the rich-media revolution, educational institutions are using video in every aspect of campus life, from lecture capture to distance education, campus websites, libraries and preservation, digital asset management, clubs and events, and more.

At the Streaming Media East show, on May 10th and 11th, we've got Sean Brown, VP of Higher Education at Sonic Foundry moderating a panel on "The Future of Video In Education". This panel will discuss best practices for integrating video and rich-media solutions into higher education institutions, presented by top universities that are leading the charge with integrated media strategies for viewers both on and off campus.

• Moderator: Sean Brown, VP, Higher Education, Sonic Foundry 
• Chris Bellerjeau, CTS, Columbia Business School, ITG
• Rob Lippincott, SVP, Education, PBS
• Michael DeMeo, Director, Academic Media Services, New York Law School
• Russ Scaduto, Director, Education Technology, Penn State Hershey Medical Center
• Gary Powell, Tech Coordinator, The University of Toledo

It's not too late to get a pass to the show and readers of my blog can register using my own personal discount code of DAN, which gets you a two-day ticket to the show for only $695. Twitter hash tag: #SMEast

Next Tuesday, May 10th, we're hosting the monthly NY Video Meetup at our Streaming Media East show, taking place on the 2nd floor of the Hilton hotel. The Meetup will start at 5 PM with complimentary beer, wine, and hors d'oeuvres in the Streaming Media East Expo Hall and will then move to the presentation room for the Meetup demos. We're expecting hundreds of online video enthusiasts and attendees and you can visit the Meetup page for more details or contact the Meetup chairman, Steve Rosenbaum.

Attendees to the Meetup will have also the chance to win some nice prizes from companies like Apple, Roku, Logitech and Netflix. #nyvideo – #smeast

Thanks to the very generous folks at Roku, I have six Roku XDS units to give away next week at the Broadband Device Pavilion in NYC. All you have to do is stop by the pavilion and enter the drawing. We'll also be giving away prizes from Logitech, MLB.TV, Apple, Netflix, Xbox, Boxee, VUDU, Western Digital and others.

The Broadband Device Pavilion is your chance to get hands on with devices and platforms from: Apple, Roku, Microsoft, Netflix, VUDU, Blockbuster, Sony, Vizio, Samsung, Western Digital, Seagate, Boxee, TiVo, Nintendo, HBO, Hulu, Amazon, ESPN, EPIX, Toshiba, BlackBerry, LG, Sharp, OnLive and more.

This is your chance to compare all of these devices and platforms in action, side-by-side, and check out what each platform offers in the way of content and video quality. All you need to do is register online for a FREE exhibits pass and you'll have complete access to the Broadband Device Pavilion, plus all the keynotes, networking events and exhibit hall.

Over the past few weeks I have been doing a lot of trace routes to see where video is being delivered from some of today's largest M&E customers. While tracing content from MLB.com, I noticed that Level 3 is showing up more often than in the past and yesterday, on Level 3's earnings call, the company stated that MLB.com now uses Level 3's CDN for video delivery.

While Level 3 has been a network and co-lo partner to MLB.com for some time, MLB.com was not using Level 3's CDN until recently. MLB.com would not give out details on the current split of traffic between Akamai and Level 3, but a person I spoke to at MLB.com made it clear that the business driver behind using Level 3 was due to the need to provide the best performance possible for end-users and that MLB.com moving some traffic to Level 3 was not due to price.

The announcement of the new customer win by Level 3 comes at an interesting time as Akamai reported during their earnings call last week that the rate of traffic growth on their network from media and entertainment customers had "moderated", but that it was not due to them losing business or wallet share in the market. At the same time, Level 3 said traffic growth on their network was accelerating at a faster rate than at this time last year. Basically, Level 3 is seeing the exact opposite of what Akamai is seeing.

Clearly Akamai is losing some share of their M&E traffic to companies like Level 3 and while MLB.com was the only customer that Level 3 mentioned by name during their earnings call, trace routes I've done from other content sites shows Level 3 as a new CDN in the mix. Do trace routes for videos from Facebook and see where those are coming from. The evidence that Level 3 is winning more business is clearly out there and that means the share has to be coming at the expense of another CDN.

Based on my estimates it looks as if 25-30% of MLB.com's traffic is now going over Level 3's CDN and I expect that to grow to a higher percentage over time. And if Level 3 does clear all of the regulatory hurdles in their planned acquisition of Global Crossing, Level 3's CDN network will only get stronger internationally. The bottom line is that Level 3's wins are coming at the expense of another CDN, or multiple CDNs.

Updated 9:27am: Someone pointed out to me that all of the small objects for Twitter are now being delivered from Level 3, in what looks to be the exclusive CDN. I don't know who Twitter was doing this with in the past, but maybe someone else knows more details.

Updated June 6th: Here is the press release announcing the deal.

Now that Google has made the decision to remove H.264 from Chrome, it’s more important than ever to pick the right video formats for online video distribution. Many claims about HTML5 have been laid down by both standards and Flash proponents, and not all of them are based on fact.

At the Streaming Media East show, on May 10th and 11th, we’ve got Robert Reinhardt, author of over a dozen books on Adobe Flash doing a presentation on “Debunking HTML5 Video Myths: A Guide for Video Publishers” as part of our HTML5 track. In this session, Robert will walk you through the capabilities of HTML5 and the Flash platform as well as the codecs they support, including WebM and H.264. Learn the effect HTML5 will have on video encoding and distribution in the future and how HTML5 may impact your business.

It’s not too late to get a pass to the show and readers of my blog can register using my own personal discount code of DAN, which gets you a two-day ticket to the show for only $695. Twitter hash tag: #SMEast

Following the Content Delivery Summit on Monday May 9th, Gerson Lehrman Group is holding a special networking reception from 6-7:30pm for Wall Street investors at a restaurant near the Hilton hotel. I'll be there with special guests from the summit providing a recap of important trends affecting content delivery networks, carriers, MSOs, and content owners as it pertains to Wall Street investors.

Wall Street investors interested in attending the private event should email Ken Andersen at GLG for additional details.