Adobe Flashes Time Warner

By Mike Schuster Mar 03, 2009 1:15 pm

Brief scrutiny of today's headlines.

Adobe Systems (ADBE) announced today that it has formed a non-exclusive alliance with Time Warner (TWX).

The publishing and design software maker will be working with 3 Time Warner networks -- Turner Broadcasting, Warner Bros. and Home Box Office -- to further develop their online properties.

According to Adobe product manager Jen Taylor, the partnership will focus on 2 areas of online media production: format and revenue.

Time Warner's 3 divisions will be adopting Adobe's Flash and video platforms - widely used by media sites like YouTube (GOOG) and Hulu to quickly and efficiently display streaming video. The networks will join their peers in providing fast and easy online content to a market that's already taken off.

The alliance will also focus on monetizing that market - an area that media conglomerates have yet to do effectively.

Earlier digital-rights-management efforts have been widely rejected by the public. Password-protected MP3s and exclusive proprietary formats have only caused headaches among users who simply want to watch a show or listen to a song online. And when countless programs can easily strip files of their copy protection, the intiative obviously needs some tweaking - especially for HBO's premium content.

In addition to advertising, traffic analysis presents a problem for the new alliance. As of now, networks and their sponsors are still unsure how to calculate audience numbers for an online format, or determine the effectiveness of a commercial screened on a laptop. Until online programming becomes indistinguishable from content coming over a cable line, this will always be an issue.

However, Adobe remains confident, despite the admittedly outsize nature of its stated ambition: "To transform the way companies create, measure and deploy next-generation video."