Ustream
Encyclopedia
Ustream is a website
which consists of a network of diverse channels providing a platform for lifecasting
and live video streaming of events online. Established in March 2007, the site has over 2,000,000 registered users who generate 1,500,000+ hours of live streamed content per month with over ten million unique hits per month. It received $11.1 million in Series A funding for new product development from DCM and investors Labrador Ventures and Band of Angels.
During the 2008 United States presidential election, the website was used by nearly all of the major candidates to help their campaigns, by allowing a greater number of voters to ask political
questions. Former Senator
and 2008 Presidential Candidate
Mike Gravel
became the first candidate ever to stream an alternate debate
on Ustream that allowed Sen. Gravel to respond to all of the questions being asked, as well as comment on the responses from the other candidates throughout a nationally televised debate.
at West Point. Co-founder Dr. Gyula Feher later joined the team as Chief Technologist.
Ham (born June 9, 1978 in Torrance, California
) had shown an early interest in being an entrepreneur, having started trading equities and options at 16 years of age. At West Point he interned with NASA
and the New York Stock Exchange
. He graduated from West Point with a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering
, then was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army
.
Hunstable (born on September 26, 1978 in Tarrant County, Texas
) had shown an interest in technology since childhood, having started one of the largest Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) named, "The Dark Realms", at the age of 11. He graduated from West Point with a B.S. in Engineering Management
, then was commissioned as a Captain in the U.S. Army. While in the Army, he gained a MBA in Finance and Real Estate from Ohio State University
Fisher College of Business.
While serving in the military, Ham and Hunstable teamed-up on a web-based digital photo enterprise developed and built by Dr. Gyula Feher, another Ustream founder. In 2003, the two were separated, forcing the photo venture to cease operations. Ham was deployed to Korea and Hunstable was assigned to work directly for the Department of Defense. After completing their tours of duty, Ham and Hunstable re-connected with Feher and began a new business venture: Ustream.
during the war, to be able to communicate with their families. A product like Ustream would provide them with a way to talk to all of their relatives at once when free time in the war zone was limited.
Previously, these three had worked together on an internet based event photo sharing website using technology created by Dr. Feher. In 2003, both Ham and Hunstable were deployed to active duty, putting an end to this venture. After returning to civilian life, John and Brad discussed the idea of the general public using the Internet to share live video. Seeing this as a viable product, they contacted their former partner, Dr. Feher, in order to develop the technology required. Ustream was founded in 2006, as experiments in broadcasting Brad's brother's (Nathan Hunstable) band (Venture) proved successful. Early testing involved Brad in the audience with a camera wired to a laptop (with a cellular card) in his backpack, sending the stream back to their test server.
Launching their public beta in March 2007, Ustream is one of a series of live video sites, including Justin.tv
, Livestream
, and BlogStar (formerly Operator11.com). The company has seen significant growth in the political, entertainment, and technology fields, however, Ustream has grown much less quickly than its competitors.
Ustream has witnessed many notable people streaming from politicians such as Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama
, John Edwards
, and Canadian sports show host Avry Lewis-McDougall, to artists like Tori Amos
and the Plain White T's
.
Notable lifecasters have made their mark on Ustream as well such as Justine Ezarik
, E-TARD The 24/7 LifeCaster and Hey it's Rachel.
The technology community has also adopted Ustream to include Robert Scoble
, Leo Laporte
, Chris Pirillo
and Klasic Kumputerz.
"Webware 100" Award.
In 2008, Ustream won the SXSW People's Choice Award
In 2010, Ustream, Inc. was recognized as one of the "Hottest Silicon Valley Companies" by Lead411.
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
which consists of a network of diverse channels providing a platform for lifecasting
Lifecasting (video stream)
Lifecasting is a continual broadcast of events in a person's life through digital media. Typically, lifecasting is transmitted through the medium of the Internet and can involve wearable technology...
and live video streaming of events online. Established in March 2007, the site has over 2,000,000 registered users who generate 1,500,000+ hours of live streamed content per month with over ten million unique hits per month. It received $11.1 million in Series A funding for new product development from DCM and investors Labrador Ventures and Band of Angels.
During the 2008 United States presidential election, the website was used by nearly all of the major candidates to help their campaigns, by allowing a greater number of voters to ask political
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
questions. Former Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
and 2008 Presidential Candidate
United States presidential election, 2008
The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
Mike Gravel
Mike Gravel
Maurice Robert "Mike" Gravel is a former Democratic United States Senator from Alaska, who served two terms from 1969 to 1981, and a former candidate in the 2008 presidential election....
became the first candidate ever to stream an alternate debate
Debate
Debate or debating is a method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion...
on Ustream that allowed Sen. Gravel to respond to all of the questions being asked, as well as comment on the responses from the other candidates throughout a nationally televised debate.
History
Co-founders John Ham and Brad Hunstable met while attending the United States Military AcademyUnited States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
at West Point. Co-founder Dr. Gyula Feher later joined the team as Chief Technologist.
Ham (born June 9, 1978 in Torrance, California
Torrance, California
Torrance is a city incorporated in 1921 and located in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. Torrance has of shore-front beaches on the Pacific Ocean, quieter and less well-known by tourists than others on the Santa Monica Bay, such as those of neighboring...
) had shown an early interest in being an entrepreneur, having started trading equities and options at 16 years of age. At West Point he interned with NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
and the New York Stock Exchange
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
. He graduated from West Point with a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering
Aerospace engineering
Aerospace engineering is the primary branch of engineering concerned with the design, construction and science of aircraft and spacecraft. It is divided into two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering...
, then was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
.
Hunstable (born on September 26, 1978 in Tarrant County, Texas
Tarrant County, Texas
Tarrant County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, it had a population of 1,809,034. Its county seat is Fort Worth. Tarrant County is the sixteenth most populous county in the United States and the third most populous in Texas. The county is named in honor...
) had shown an interest in technology since childhood, having started one of the largest Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) named, "The Dark Realms", at the age of 11. He graduated from West Point with a B.S. in Engineering Management
Engineering management
Engineering Management or Management Engineering is a specialized form of management and engineering that is concerned with the application of engineering principles to business practice...
, then was commissioned as a Captain in the U.S. Army. While in the Army, he gained a MBA in Finance and Real Estate from Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
Fisher College of Business.
While serving in the military, Ham and Hunstable teamed-up on a web-based digital photo enterprise developed and built by Dr. Gyula Feher, another Ustream founder. In 2003, the two were separated, forcing the photo venture to cease operations. Ham was deployed to Korea and Hunstable was assigned to work directly for the Department of Defense. After completing their tours of duty, Ham and Hunstable re-connected with Feher and began a new business venture: Ustream.
Birth of Ustream
Ustream was born when the founders (John Ham, Brad Hunstable, and Dr. Gyula Feher) wanted a way for their friends in the Army, who were deployed overseas in IraqIraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
during the war, to be able to communicate with their families. A product like Ustream would provide them with a way to talk to all of their relatives at once when free time in the war zone was limited.
Previously, these three had worked together on an internet based event photo sharing website using technology created by Dr. Feher. In 2003, both Ham and Hunstable were deployed to active duty, putting an end to this venture. After returning to civilian life, John and Brad discussed the idea of the general public using the Internet to share live video. Seeing this as a viable product, they contacted their former partner, Dr. Feher, in order to develop the technology required. Ustream was founded in 2006, as experiments in broadcasting Brad's brother's (Nathan Hunstable) band (Venture) proved successful. Early testing involved Brad in the audience with a camera wired to a laptop (with a cellular card) in his backpack, sending the stream back to their test server.
Launching their public beta in March 2007, Ustream is one of a series of live video sites, including Justin.tv
Justin.tv
Justin.tv is a website created by Justin Kan, Emmett Shear, Michael Seibel and Kyle Vogt in 2007 that allows anyone to broadcast video online. Justin.tv user accounts are called "channels", and users are encouraged to broadcast a wide variety of user-generated live video content, called...
, Livestream
Livestream
Livestream, formerly known as Mogulus, is a live streaming video platform that allows users to view and broadcast video content using a camera and a computer through the internet...
, and BlogStar (formerly Operator11.com). The company has seen significant growth in the political, entertainment, and technology fields, however, Ustream has grown much less quickly than its competitors.
Ustream has witnessed many notable people streaming from politicians such as Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
, John Edwards
John Edwards
Johnny Reid "John" Edwards is an American politician, who served as a U.S. Senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 2004, and was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 and 2008.He defeated incumbent Republican Lauch Faircloth in...
, and Canadian sports show host Avry Lewis-McDougall, to artists like Tori Amos
Tori Amos
Tori Amos is an American pianist, singer-songwriter and composer. She was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990s and was noteworthy early in her career as one of the few alternative rock performers to use a piano as her primary instrument...
and the Plain White T's
Plain White T's
Plain White T's is an American Pop rock band from Chicago, Illinois. Formed in 1997 by high school friends Tom Higgenson and Ken Fletcher, the group had a mostly underground following in Chicago basements, clubs, and bars in its early years, and underwent numerous personnel changes.The band is best...
.
Notable lifecasters have made their mark on Ustream as well such as Justine Ezarik
Justine Ezarik
Justine Ezarik , is an American viral video comedian, and Internet personality. She is best known as iJustine, a lifecaster who communicates directly with her thousands of viewers on her Justin.tv channel, ijustine.tv. She has made more than 400 videos, including videos on such subjects as Lost and...
, E-TARD The 24/7 LifeCaster and Hey it's Rachel.
The technology community has also adopted Ustream to include Robert Scoble
Robert Scoble
Robert Scoble is an American blogger, technical evangelist, and author. Scoble is best known for his blog, Scobleizer, which came to prominence during his tenure as a technology evangelist at Microsoft. He is married to Maryam Ghaemmaghami Scoble. He has three children; one from a previous...
, Leo Laporte
Leo Laporte
Léo Gordon Laporte is an Emmy Award winning, American technology broadcaster, author, and entrepreneur. A former resident of Providence, Rhode Island, he now lives in Petaluma, California with his wife Jennifer and two children, Abby and Henry....
, Chris Pirillo
Chris Pirillo
Christopher Joseph Pirillo is the founder and maintainer of Lockergnome, which is a network of blogs, web forums, mailing lists, and online communities. He spent two years hosting the TechTV television program Call for Help, where he also hosted the first annual Call-for-Help-a-Thon...
and Klasic Kumputerz.
Recognition
In 2007 and 2008, Ustream won a CNETCNET
CNET is a tech media website that publishes news articles, blogs, and podcasts on technology and consumer electronics. Originally founded in 1994 by Halsey Minor and Shelby Bonnie, it was the flagship brand of CNET Networks and became a brand of CBS Interactive through CNET Networks' acquisition...
"Webware 100" Award.
In 2008, Ustream won the SXSW People's Choice Award
In 2010, Ustream, Inc. was recognized as one of the "Hottest Silicon Valley Companies" by Lead411.
Paid service
While Ustream's basic service is still free and supported by advertising revenue, Ustream started to offer Watershed, a pay-as-you-go version of their service. Watershed customers pay per viewing hour, charging from $0.25 to $1 per viewer. Watershed users don't have to display Ustream's advertisements and logos and can provide their own instead.Methods
Ustream allows users to broadcast from the Web site once logged in or from a mobile device using Ustream's mobile broadcasting application. Users can watch streams live on the Web site and on the Ustream iPhone, Android, and Windows Phone 7 applications. The Web site allows users to interact, such as vote in polls, rate, chat, and so on. The iPhone and Android applications allows users to watch and chat.See also
- Justin.tvJustin.tvJustin.tv is a website created by Justin Kan, Emmett Shear, Michael Seibel and Kyle Vogt in 2007 that allows anyone to broadcast video online. Justin.tv user accounts are called "channels", and users are encouraged to broadcast a wide variety of user-generated live video content, called...
- VokleVokleVokle is an embeddable Internet microsite application that allows speakers to broadcast live video to a virtual auditorium of viewers and take live video calls and text questions from the audience.-History:...
- LivestreamLivestreamLivestream, formerly known as Mogulus, is a live streaming video platform that allows users to view and broadcast video content using a camera and a computer through the internet...
- Lifecasting (video stream)Lifecasting (video stream)Lifecasting is a continual broadcast of events in a person's life through digital media. Typically, lifecasting is transmitted through the medium of the Internet and can involve wearable technology...
- BlogTalkRadioBlogtalkradioBlogTalkRadio is a web-based platform that allows callers to host a live call-in Internet broadcast using a computer and a phone.BlogTalkRadio is entirely web-based and requires no client download.-Service:...