"Welcome to our very first live, worldwide interactive event," she said. "We are here tonight breaking new ground. Nothing like this has been done before."

The first of a weekly series of broadcasts on March 3 which drew 800,000 viewers from 139 countries was made possible by a Utah company, Move Networks Inc., which has quickly made itself into a leader in broadcasting television over the Internet.

Incorporated only two years ago, the company with headquarters in American Fork has developed cutting-edge technology that smooths the flow of television signals to computer screens and makes possible high-quality broadcasts.

Some of the biggest names in the broadcasting industry have signed with Move Networks, including Oprah, Disney-ABC, Fox and the National Football League. Move Networks also is backed by capital from other heavyweights, among them Disney's Steamboat Ventures, Comcast, Cisco and Microsoft.

Programs streamed by privately held Move Networks have been seen by 50 million viewers, a number that's growing by 100,000 new viewers every 24 hours, the company said. It teamed with Microsoft and Level 3 Communications Inc. to broadcast the Democratic National Convention from Denver live over the Internet and is showing all NFL games this season live overseas.

"We really believe their technology can deliver a consistency of experience and quality that others cannot," said Albert Cheng, executive vice president for digital media for the Walt Disney Co., which owns the ABC television network, ESPN and other media companies.

Move Networks CEO John Edwards said the ability to deliver high-quality programing through the Internet is changing how people view television, as well as bringing new meaning to the initials www, or world wide web.

"The new www is when you want it, where you want it and what you want to view," said Edwards. "The old www was all about the Internet and the search."

The company was incorporated in 2006 by Edwards and Drew Major, a founder of Novell Inc., in Utah. The technology that powers the Utah company came from a previous venture, XLON Technologies, started by Major and Edwards, a computer engineer also formerly with Novell.

Unlike some other formats, such as Flash, that often deliver jerky or poor-quality pictures, Move Networks' player delivers a steady stream of video at up to high-definition quality. It does so by adjusting the flow of digital data based on the capabilities of the viewers' computers and the capacity and flow of the Internet connection. If the incoming traffic slows, for example, the player will slightly lower the quality of the video in order to keep it flowing steadily.

"We're pushing the quality frontier such that people, when they look at our stuff and look at a traditional set, often struggle with which one represents traditional television," said Edwards.

KSL-TV uses Move Networks to broadcast live events on the Internet, such as the semiannual conferences of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that take place in Salt Lake City.

"As far as a high-quality stream that gives you a good user experience, that's what they offer that's different from a lot of what other providers offer," said Stephan Bergen, director of online content for KSL, which operates television and radio stations.

The quality of the picture Move Networks delivers has raised the bar for companies that offer Internet streaming, Bergen said.

It's not those funny cat videos on YouTube that Move Networks streams, but rather, as Edwards keeps repeating, "It's television over the Internet." That defines a business model that concentrates on large, traditional media companies.

Mark Rotblat, vice president of sales and marketing for TubeMogul, which helps other companies post videos on various Web sites, said by embedding itself with large media companies, Move Networks moves against the grain of those who see value in distributing videos over a number of Web sites where they can gather viewership and advertising revenue.

"We want our [customers'] content to be where the audience wants to share it," he said.

Kent Nichols, co-creator of Bedbugs Giant Productions' "Ask a Ninja," an Internet TV show aimed at young males, said programs such as his are serving niche audiences that are starting to pull audiences away from the mainstream programing.

"I think you're starting to see that more and more," he said.

But Move Networks' Edwards points out that big media is still where the money is. His company believes its player, its ability to identity audience demographic information and the way it delivers to target audiences in specific areas provide large networks the tools to expand their audiences and attract more ad revenue.

For example, an advertisement for pickups could be shown only to males, with the local dealer identified for each geographic area where the viewer resides.

"No other television system is targeted to the individual," Edwards said. "This is a one-to-one communication channel."

Move Networks believes it is staring at the future of television. For example, in watching the Democratic Convention on the Internet, an individual viewer could select the camera angle he or she wished to view.

Con Psarras, vice president and managing news director of KSL News, said new tools for Internet viewing are coming to the market and there's a push to stream video to devices such as iPods and cell phones.

"The big question is how do you monetize it and what's the advertising model," said Psarras.

Disney's Cheng said the melding of television on the Internet is just beginning.

"What's really interesting is we're only at the very beginning of a very interesting evolution of how television is distributed to the consumer."

tharvey@sltrib.com

Catch the show

To watch videos streamed by Move Networks go to:

* www.oprah.com/article/oprahsbookclub/anewearth/ pkganewearthwebcast/ 20080130 obc webcast watchnow

* www.abc.com

* www.fox.com

About Move Networks

* Incorporated: 2006 in Utah

* Headquarters: American Fork

* CEO: John Edwards

* Employees: About 150