How many Realnetworks streams from 1996 are playable today? I’d wager not many. By 1996 it was obvious that streaming video was technically possible. I don’t t

How many Realnetworks streams from 1996 are playable today? I’d wager not many. By 1996 it was obvious that streaming video was technically possible. I don’t think it was anywhere near as obvious that it would become a cultural force to the extent that it has, nor that archiving such streams was particularly important. Not to mention the monetary angle: such deals would have cost the BBC more money and I’m not sure the majority of the population would have seen it as a worthy use of money at the time.