Video: Broadband slowdown killed the streaming star

David Bohrman says Net junkies have an appetite for rich multimedia experiences online. Watch video

According to chief executive David Bohrman, Pseudo Programs was a company perhaps too far ahead of even Internet time. Yesterday the company laid off all of its 180 employees following a failed attempt to line up new financing. The failure of the pioneer Webcasting company ends one of the earliest experiments in bringing broadband media content to consumers over the Web. Pseudo was launched six years ago as an Internet chat company and began broadcasting original Web video programming in 1997. Although the challenge was to offer rich online content for a broadband audience, the slow adoption of high-speed Internet connections proved too large a hurdle for Pseudo. Broadband is "not quite there yet," according to Bohrman, although he sees broader acceptance of high-speed technology in the next 18 months. New York-based Pseudo's collapse follows the closures of other online entertainment pioneers including Digital Entertainment Network.