Los Angeles - AOL (NYSE: TW) will discontinue Hi-Q, the high-definition online video streaming service it launched in late 2005, due to low consumer adoption, NewTeeVee.com reports.

The number of Hi-Q users was "very small, so small that we haven't tracked it," Fred McIntyre, SVP of AOL Video, told NewTeeVee.

The service required users to download additional software, which was cited as a hurdle to adoption.

"It didn’t work on all computers; it required specific versions of Windows media player; it sometimes did or didn't work with Firefox. A series of things like these all added to the complexity of the value proposition, and all of this had some impact on adoption," McIntyre added.

CBS Interactive president Quincy Smith echoed AOL's experience with HD streaming, although the company did not say it would shutter its own service.
"We are finding, generally speaking, people don't care as much about the video quality," Smith told NewTeeVee. "Right now, it damn well better work quick and fast."

Related Links:
http://newteevee.com/2007/11/01/does-hd-online-matter-aol-cbs-say-no

http://video.aol.com/hiqvideo/main