AOL, CBS Give Up on Online HD Video

Looks like ABC will remain the only major broadcast network to stream its shows in HD, at least for now.

According to NewTeeVee, both CBS and AOL have decided to ditch plans to stream shows and other video content in HD. In the case of AOL, daily traffic on its Hi-Q service was so low that "we haven't even tracked it," AOL exec Fred McIntyre said. Meanwhile, CBS execs said that the additional downloads and browser requirements for their incipient HD player work would, well, "suck for the user," as CBS Interactive president Quincy Smith so succinctly put it. Both execs said they believe users prefer a wide selection of easy-to-play videos to high-def online streams that require extra downloads and won't work on every browser.

So that leaves ABC as the only TV network with a working HD stream for its shows (neither Fox nor NBC have online HD players in the hopper, at least as far as I know). The ABC player requires a downloadable plug-in, but IE, Firefox, and Safari are supported. The bigger hurdle, as far as I can tell, is bandwidth: you need a pretty big pipe to get a steady stream of HD, or else the player throttles back down to SD resolutions.

What's your take: would you go the extra mile and download extra components for streaming HD video, or are you more concerned about getting tons of video that plays with a single click?

Related:
Does HD Online Matter? AOL, CBS Say No [NewTeeVee]