Wowza Media Systems
Encyclopedia
Wowza Media Systems, Inc. is a media server software company headquartered in Evergreen, Colorado
, USA. The company was founded in 2005 by two former Adobe Systems
employees, David Stubenvoll and Charlie Good, to focus on creating media server software optimized for streaming of live and on-demand video and audio, as well as Rich Internet application
s (RIA) across a wide range of media player and device platforms encompassing computers, IPTV
set-top box
es, video game console
s, mobile and other Internet connected devices.
using Adobe Flash
technology. To achieve abilities that were unavailable from Adobe Flash Communication Server and Flash Media Server
products, the company founders created a Java
server applet that implemented Real Time Messaging Protocol
(RTMP) to reliably record live video
and audio directly to the server from user computers’ webcam
s using embedded encoding
abilities of the Flash player browser plug-in. This server applet was used in limited deployment on company’s experimental video blogging and video messaging websites.
While experimenting with Internet video, company founders discovered a significant demand for a better alternative to existing media server platforms – such as Adobe Flash Media Server, Microsoft IIS/Windows Media Services
, Apple QuickTime Server
/Darwin Server
, etc. In 2007, the company was renamed Wowza Media Systems, Inc., and re-launched as a media server software company.
In early 2006, Charlie Good, Wowza’s CTO and co-founder, defined a protocol, codec and player agnostic unified server architecture and embarked on creating the first iteration of Wowza Media Server software. After a beta testing period, Wowza Media Server Pro 1.0 was released on February 19, 2007 as a less expensive but fully featured alternative to Adobe Flash Media Server.
In May 2008, version 1.5 of Wowza Media Server Pro was introduced. It expanded the abilities of the product with H.264 video and AAC
audio streaming support and ingest from non-Flash (RTSP
/RTP and MPEG-TS) H.264 live encoders and SHOUTcast/Icecast audio sources. This marked the company’s first step towards commercializing the vision of unified media server. The product was ably marketed, and due to its RTSP/RTP and MPEG-TS, and SHOUTcast
/Icecast
audio ingest abilities, became a popular choice with Internet radio
and TV broadcasters and other users who wanted a broader choice of encoding platforms and lower server software prices.
A major inflexion point came with the introduction in December 2009 of Wowza Media Server 2 product, which replaced Wowza Media Server Pro software and took the server beyond Flash with the addition of Microsoft Smooth Streaming support aimed at Microsoft Silverlight
clients and Windows Phone 7
devices; Apple QuickTime
player and iOS platform (iPad
, iPhone
, iPod Touch
); 3GPP
mobile devices (Android, BlackBerry OS
, Symbian
, etc), and IPTV set-top boxes and game consoles.
The Company now reports a customer base for its Wowza Media Server software of over 50,000 licensees in over 60 countries.
Evergreen, Colorado
Evergreen is a census-designated place and a U.S. Post Office in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. Evergreen is roughly west of Denver. The population was 9,038 at the 2010 census...
, USA. The company was founded in 2005 by two former Adobe Systems
Adobe Systems
Adobe Systems Incorporated is an American computer software company founded in 1982 and headquartered in San Jose, California, United States...
employees, David Stubenvoll and Charlie Good, to focus on creating media server software optimized for streaming of live and on-demand video and audio, as well as Rich Internet application
Rich Internet application
A Rich Internet Application is a Web application that has many of the characteristics of desktop application software, typically delivered either by way of a site-specific browser, via a browser plug-in, independent sandboxes, extensive use of JavaScript, or virtual machines...
s (RIA) across a wide range of media player and device platforms encompassing computers, IPTV
IPTV
Internet Protocol television is a system through which television services are delivered using the Internet protocol suite over a packet-switched network such as the Internet, instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal, and cable television formats.IPTV services...
set-top box
Set-top box
A set-top box or set-top unit is an information appliance device that generally contains a tuner and connects to a television set and an external source of signal, turning the signal into content which is then displayed on the television screen or other display device.-History:Before the...
es, video game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
s, mobile and other Internet connected devices.
History
Formed initially under the WowzaTV, LLC name, the company founders worked on developing social video websitesSocial network service
A social networking service is an online service, platform, or site that focuses on building and reflecting of social networks or social relations among people, who, for example, share interests and/or activities. A social network service consists of a representation of each user , his/her social...
using Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
technology. To achieve abilities that were unavailable from Adobe Flash Communication Server and Flash Media Server
Adobe Flash Media Server
Flash Media Server is a proprietary data and media server from Adobe Systems . This server works with the Flash Player runtime to create media driven, multiuser RIAs . The server uses ActionScript 1, an ECMAScript based scripting language, for server-side logic...
products, the company founders created a Java
Java (programming language)
Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...
server applet that implemented Real Time Messaging Protocol
Real Time Messaging Protocol
Real Time Messaging Protocol was initially a proprietary protocol developed by Macromedia for streaming audio, video and data over the Internet, between a Flash player and a server...
(RTMP) to reliably record live video
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
and audio directly to the server from user computers’ webcam
Webcam
A webcam is a video camera that feeds its images in real time to a computer or computer network, often via USB, ethernet, or Wi-Fi.Their most popular use is the establishment of video links, permitting computers to act as videophones or videoconference stations. This common use as a video camera...
s using embedded encoding
Encoder
An encoder is a device, circuit, transducer, software program, algorithm or person that converts information from one format or code to another, for the purposes of standardization, speed, secrecy, security, or saving space by shrinking size.-Media:...
abilities of the Flash player browser plug-in. This server applet was used in limited deployment on company’s experimental video blogging and video messaging websites.
While experimenting with Internet video, company founders discovered a significant demand for a better alternative to existing media server platforms – such as Adobe Flash Media Server, Microsoft IIS/Windows Media Services
Windows Media Services
Windows Media Services is a streaming media server from Microsoft that allows an administrator to generate streaming media . Only Windows Media, JPEG, and MP3 formats are supported...
, Apple QuickTime Server
QuickTime Streaming Server
QuickTime Streaming Server is a server or service daemon that was built into Apple's Mac OS X Server until OS X Server 10.7. It delivers video and audio on request to users over a computer network, including the Internet. Its primary GUI configuration tool is QTSS Publisher and its web-based...
/Darwin Server
Darwin Streaming Server
Darwin Streaming Server , is the first open sourced RTP/RTSP streaming server. It was released March 16, 1999 and is a fully featured RTSP/RTP media streaming server capable of streaming a variety of media types including H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, MPEG-4 Part 2 and 3GP.Developed by Apple, it is the open...
, etc. In 2007, the company was renamed Wowza Media Systems, Inc., and re-launched as a media server software company.
In early 2006, Charlie Good, Wowza’s CTO and co-founder, defined a protocol, codec and player agnostic unified server architecture and embarked on creating the first iteration of Wowza Media Server software. After a beta testing period, Wowza Media Server Pro 1.0 was released on February 19, 2007 as a less expensive but fully featured alternative to Adobe Flash Media Server.
In May 2008, version 1.5 of Wowza Media Server Pro was introduced. It expanded the abilities of the product with H.264 video and AAC
Advanced Audio Coding
Advanced Audio Coding is a standardized, lossy compression and encoding scheme for digital audio. Designed to be the successor of the MP3 format, AAC generally achieves better sound quality than MP3 at similar bit rates....
audio streaming support and ingest from non-Flash (RTSP
Real Time Streaming Protocol
The Real Time Streaming Protocol is a network control protocol designed for use in entertainment and communications systems to control streaming media servers. The protocol is used for establishing and controlling media sessions between end points...
/RTP and MPEG-TS) H.264 live encoders and SHOUTcast/Icecast audio sources. This marked the company’s first step towards commercializing the vision of unified media server. The product was ably marketed, and due to its RTSP/RTP and MPEG-TS, and SHOUTcast
SHOUTcast
SHOUTcast is cross-platform proprietary software for streaming media over the Internet. The software, developed by Nullsoft , allows digital audio content, primarily in MP3 or HE-AAC format, to be broadcast to and from media player software, enabling the creation of Internet radio "stations"...
/Icecast
Icecast
Icecast is a streaming media project released as free software maintained by the Xiph.org Foundation. It also refers specifically to the server program which is part of the project. Icecast was created in December 1998/January 1999 by Jack Moffitt and Barath Raghavan to provide an open source...
audio ingest abilities, became a popular choice with Internet radio
Internet radio
Internet radio is an audio service transmitted via the Internet...
and TV broadcasters and other users who wanted a broader choice of encoding platforms and lower server software prices.
A major inflexion point came with the introduction in December 2009 of Wowza Media Server 2 product, which replaced Wowza Media Server Pro software and took the server beyond Flash with the addition of Microsoft Smooth Streaming support aimed at Microsoft Silverlight
Microsoft Silverlight
Microsoft Silverlight is an application framework for writing and running rich Internet applications, with features and purposes similar to those of Adobe Flash. The run-time environment for Silverlight is available as a plug-in for web browsers running under Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X...
clients and Windows Phone 7
Windows Phone 7
Windows Phone is a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft, and is the successor to its Windows Mobile platform, although incompatible with it. Unlike its predecessor, it is primarily aimed at the consumer market rather than the enterprise market...
devices; Apple QuickTime
QuickTime
QuickTime is an extensible proprietary multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc., capable of handling various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity. The classic version of QuickTime is available for Windows XP and later, as well as Mac OS X Leopard and...
player and iOS platform (iPad
IPad
The iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. The iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010 by Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs. Its size and...
, iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
, iPod Touch
IPod Touch
The iPod Touch is a portable media player, personal digital assistant, handheld game console, and Wi-Fi mobile device designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The iPod Touch adds the multi-touch graphical user interface to the iPod line...
); 3GPP
3GPP
The 3rd Generation Partnership Project is a collaboration between groups of telecommunications associations, known as the Organizational Partners...
mobile devices (Android, BlackBerry OS
BlackBerry OS
BlackBerry OS is a proprietary mobile operating system, developed by Research In Motion for its BlackBerry line of smartphone handheld devices...
, Symbian
Symbian
Symbian is a mobile operating system and computing platform designed for smartphones and currently maintained by Accenture. The Symbian platform is the successor to Symbian OS and Nokia Series 60; unlike Symbian OS, which needed an additional user interface system, Symbian includes a user...
, etc), and IPTV set-top boxes and game consoles.
The Company now reports a customer base for its Wowza Media Server software of over 50,000 licensees in over 60 countries.
Corporate leadership
- David Stubenvoll — Chief Executive Officer, co-founder
- Charlie Good — Chief Technology Officer, co-founder
- Alex Dobrushin — Chief Marketing Officer