Move Networks, a next-gen content distribution platform

updated

Ahead of the Crunchies this evening, we’re covering a few of the nominated companies that we think are especially impressive. Move Networks, a content-distribution system for online video, is one of them.

Last year was a proving ground for different delivery schemes as media companies slowly came around to the idea of sharing their content online. Joost, with its peer-to-peer sharing model, didn’t do quite as well as expected. Move Networks, on the other hand, picked up $45 million in funding and several major clients, including ABC and Fox.

Move Networks blends into the inconsistent landscape of users’ different download speeds by actively adjusting its video quality to the bandwidth available. It delivers pieces of content progressively via a piece of software downloaded and installed through the browser — importantly, users don’t need to open any separate program.

Users generally report that the quality of content Move delivers is higher than that offered on platforms like Hulu or any of the standard players like Flash.

Move has managed to differentiate itself for now in terms of quality; its existing partnerships with major media providers, having put the company on the map in the first place, will only become more important as time goes on.

Move Networks is based in American Fork, Utah. We’ve got a longer list of the various partnerships the company entered into in 2007 at the end of this post.

(See comments below for more notes on what was updated.)