SplashCast launches RSS media feed embed - it's pretty groovy!

SplashCast is launching a new feature, MyPodcastNetwork, as part of their player that (in simple terms) will allow you to take any media RSS feed and show it on your site. You set the feed in the player and then the player will always show the latest plus the other media that is part of the feed. I haven't seen anything like this before (if you have please post it in a comment and I will update).

SplashCast defines the new feature as, "SplashCast is releasing the first version of a new feature that will allow the video or audio enclosures in any RSS feed to be displayed in a SplashCast player on your web page. This will take podcasts beyond iTunes and make every page on the web an avenue for live distribution."

In their upcoming section they speak about stats and since I am a stats freak, I think this is a piece that is really missing. How many people have viewed my video/audio files inside the rss, where are they, who are they, what page did they view it from (using this new player option), etc. As videocasts become more popular, the dreaded ROI discussion will begin. Whomever can own the video stats market might do pretty well for themselves.

I asked Marshall Kirkpatrick, Content Director, for some comments on the new service:

This new functionality really speaks to a big part of the original vision for SplashCast. When the My Podcast Network featured gets combined with the forthcoming quick editing capabilities, then we'll see all kinds of remixed, multimedia channels of commentary on media from around the web. I'm way stoked about that. I saw something on the O'Reilly factor yesterday that really needs to be sliced up and interspersed with some PowerPoint documents I've got and video responses I've recorded - if you know what I mean. Creating a whole channel of that kind of interaction with media will be awesome.

Podcasts - they're not just for iTunes anymore!

It's great that so many media outlets are releasing content via RSS. RSS is a very versatile technology that can be mixed, spliced and filtered in so many different ways.

I think SplashCast seems to be thinking first about where the gaps are currently but, just as importantly, also considering where we need to be moving. The latter is what makes a company sustainable and succeed over the long-term.

Here is a screenshot of the RSS directory within the SplashCast web app: