MLB.com, Major League Baseball's online unit and one of the Web's most successful subscription services, has decided to quit being a Silverlight customer.

In a move that will hurt Microsoft’s Silverlight campaign, MLB Advanced Media said it will use Adobe's Flash Platform to deliver all live and on-demand video starting next year. MLB is one of the largest and likely most profitable video services out there, MLB.com having signed up more than 1.5 million subscribers since 2003 and streaming more than 2,500 regular and post-season games annually.

It has also been a technological leader and is influential among Web video services, so it begs the question “what was wrong with Silverlight?” Microsoft Vice President, Scott Guthrie, said.  Microsoft has appreciated the partnership of MLB.com and it continues to be very pleased with the success of Silverlight.

Bob Bowman, President and CEO of MLBAM, said that Adobe's Flash Player is by far the largest video platform, installed on more than 98 percent of Web-connected content.  He said that Flash provides a TV-like experience.

He said he wanted the software to be flexible so the company can add features and it's got to be scalable. However, Bowman was tight-lipped when asked to provide specifics for how Adobe's Flash outperforms Microsoft Silverlight.

More here.