First Look: PBS Video Portal

By Alexander Grundner | April 22nd, 2009 (5) Comments

When I heard the news this morning that PBS launched a new video portal (currently in Beta) near the same level of Hulu, I was intrigued. In the past, I’ve taken the opportunity to watch a few missed broadcasts online through pbs.org, but the experience and quality level back then seem sub-par. Thankfully, that’s no longer the case.

Impressions:

Content Quality – If you’re fan of programs like American Experience, Antiques Roadshow, FRONTLINE, Nature, and NOVA, you’re definitely going to be frequenting PBS Video. PBS has added what seems to be their entire catalog of videos for these and other popular programs. There’s even word that local PBS stations will soon be able to upload unique regional content to the portal.

Content Navigation – Honestly, if I had to put it side-by-side with Hulu, I’d have to say PBS Video has a slight edge over Hulu. The homepage (see the first image above) has just the right balance of thumbnails, text, navigation menus, and empty space. In regards to thumbnails, PBS Video makes use of a presentation technique that I haven’t really seen used before where program thumbnails display like a stacked deck of cards and visitors can then click through them to view past episodes. Another nice touch… all pages have a fixed search bar and drop-down menu tabs in the header consisting of Browse by Programs and Browse by Topics (with a sub-category for Collections) making it easy to jump through the different areas of the site.

Content Presentation – All video is presented in a fairly sharp 515×290 Flash video player (like any good video site these days) with a fullscreen option. PBS has opted to break up some of its longer programming into chapters, which one can easily jump to by clicking on one of the small thumbnails under the player (note: if you roll over the the chapter thumbnail you’ll be provided with its chapter number order, an excerpt, and duration). Also noteworthy, each video has social sharing features that allow it to be shared via email, Facebook, Digg, Delicious, Google, and other sites (html page video embedding is coming soon). One big thing missing is comments. It seems PBS Video does not have a system in place for user comments at this time.

In-Stream Advertising – Like its TV counterpart, PBS Video does not place advertising into its programs, but PBS does insert a Sponsor pre-roll at the beginning of playback. With that said, PBS does have one revenue mechanism in place. PBS Video is providing a link in the player to purchase a physical copy of the program you’re viewing, when available. (Of course, you could always hit the sitewide donation link at the top of the page to support their programming.)

Final Thoughts:

The new PBS Video portal is leaps and bound better than pbs.org’s previous online video offering. I know I’ll be coming back. In fact, I’ll probably be watching most of PBS’ content online due in large part to its on-demand nature. Plus, PBS Video is a great alternative to some of the mind-numbing content available on YouTube and Hulu.

Aside: An unofficial PBS Video Boxee App is available [details here, here, and here].

Follow @eHomeUpgrade