Jean-Noël Saunier named one of the most influential figures in streaming

Our very own CEO and Co-Founder, Jean-Noël Saunier, has been included in this year’s Streaming Media Europe Dream Team 2010. This is an annual list that acknowledges the most influential and powerful names in the world of online video.

Jean-Noël now joins the ranks of last year’s winners – Mark Zaleski, CEO of Dailymotion and Daniel Ek, CEO and Co-founder of Spotify. This is a great recognition that not only highlights professional achievements, but the commitment to sharing knowledge with others via public forums for the future development of online video.

Streaming Media Editor Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen caught up with Jean-Noël to ask him a few questions:

What are your proudest achievements to date?

Attracting a highly skilled team, providing a unique service offering to clients, and creating strategic partnerships with world-leading telcos such as NTT, which rely on Flumotion streaming technology for their global CDN strategy.

What is the next big thing Flumotion is working on?

Deploying our multi-format technology on Telco networks worldwide and offering a unique video platform to the world’s biggest Media and Entertainment companies.

Our technology enables companies to make their content easily available through multiple devices and in all the leading formats such as Flash and Silverlight. Flumotion has been at the forefront in offering encoding and delivery of HTML5 live and on demand. Our multi-format technology allows us to develop cost and workflow saving features for our Media and Entertainment clients. Currently we are working on Smart Play Detection, a feature that automatically detects the end user’s device to deliver the right format. We also develop players and WebTVs that enable our clients to effectively monetise their content while offering a customised user experience.

What’s the biggest trend you see in the world of online video?

Even more Telcos will enter the CDN market, ensuring that all businesses include online video in their digital strategies. Connect TV will bring content back to television screens, which will result in an increase in audio and video consumption. We also foresee that the number of content providers generating profit will continue to rise, which is great news for the world of online video.

What’s the biggest challenge facing our industry?

The exponential rise of HD content consumption requires the participation of ISPs and Telcos in the streaming value chain. In order to offer an optimal video experience to a large scale audience, a sustainable business model has to be created. This can only be achieved if all parties – Telcos, Video Platforms and Content providers – work together.