For Roxanne Austin, her new post as CEO of American Fork-based Move Networks might be a case of déjà vu.

Austin took over as CEO and president of Move Networks in July, after previous executive experience as head of DirecTV, the satellite television provider.

"It was an engineering company in its early days, much like Move is now," said Austin. "I helped DirecTV through the transition of being focused on its operations, not just its technology. I think the best technology companies grow from being engineering focused to an operational focus."

That also could be a description of her challenge at Move Networks, which streams television programs on the Web and has ambitions to turn its technologies into the leader in making the Internet the new vehicle for TV transmission.

Austin replaced John Edwards, an engineer who cofounded the company and remains chairman of the board.

Although Move Networks once had an advantage with technology that delivered the best quality video on the Internet, competitors have caught up, leaving it with formidable challenges.

Dan Rayburn, executive vice president of streamingmedia.com and principal analyst with the market research firm Frost & Sullivan, said Move Networks "really has been off everyone's radar for some time."

" A lot of time has gone by since Move Networks really had momentum in the market," he said Monday. "For me the thing to watch is, can they build that momentum back up."

Austin obviously believes the company can.

One of her criteria for taking on a executive position after leaving DirecTV was that the new company had to be an innovative player in its market, she said.

"I got very excited about this being the opportunity that could be a game changer, where Move can be a leader in the evolution of television delivered over the Internet that can actually be monetized," said Austin.

Instead of short videos such as those available for free on YouTube or single episodes of programs found on Hulu, the next generation of Internet TV will be an actual television experience online. That means the ability to switch from channel to channel at will, record, stop and play back programs, and view guides, just like cable TV today.

But here's the big part. How do you make a profit?

Those two areas -- getting "television" on the Internet and making it pay -- is where Austin believes Move Networks has an advantage.

"We have evolved truly into the only provider that has an end-to-end solution that will allow you to have true television delivered over the Internet, not just watching a show being streamed in high quality," said Austin.

That type of quality experience can attract advertising and subscription fees, she said.

In April, Move Networks bought Britain-based Inuk Networks and with it obtained software that creates a virtual set-top box, much like a cable provider that allows computer users to watch TV the way they would on a television.

Combined with Move's streaming capabilities, Inuk's software allows the company to give others, such as telephone companies, the capacity to offer television and traditional phone service over the same wires.

Internet TV also could include a social networking aspect in which the viewer would interact with people watching the same shows at the same time.

Another possibility is a cable TV subscriber could take his or her cable with him via laptop so that programing wouldn't be missed while on the road. An NFL fan, for example, could watch a favorite team no matter where the team is.

But analyst Rayburn is skeptical of that approach because he doesn't believe consumers will want to pay for the same programming both on cable and for the Internet. "As long as they don't bet the whole company on that single, sole model, they potentially can still survive."

Rayburn said that in a long conversation with Austin after she took over at Move Networks, she told him the company would launch a rebranding campaign, create another Web site and generally get out into the market and talk about the company.

"She obviously understands all the work in front of her," he said.

Steve Cox, who worked under Austin as executive vice president of sales at DirecTV, said Austin is energetic and focused, two qualities that served her well in making DirecTV profitable.

"She sets high expectations for herself and those who work around her. She's on her game 24 hours a day."

Austin said she doesn't plan any personnel changes and indicated she would be working out of the Orem office, though an office in California, where she lives, may be in the offing.

tharvey@sltrib.com