Warner Bros. today announced two new websites, which will form part of its overall online strategy, and are also likely to increase interest in Web television as a serious alternative to traditional TV.

It will be bringing back the WB network TV brand, which existed as a female targeted television channel before being merged with Fox’s UPN Network, as an online destination at TheWB.com.

Ad Supported Video On Demand

This will be an ad supported video on demand venture which is hoped to become a viable location for new shows, which will be tested on the Web before possibly being given a network television slot.

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When Mogulus launched properly last November after spending a few months in beta, it enabled anyone and everyone to become television channel owners, and broadcasters.

Amongst the features that Mogulus offered straight away were the ability to stream 24/7, and adding TV like special effects, and all this for free.

However, one thing which was missing was the ability to replay live broadcasts as and when you wanted, meaning if you weren’t online at the time of the streaming, then too bad.

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The independent music website Pitchfork has today announced the launch of Pitchfork.tv, a new Web TV station which they hope will provide all of their readers with video content which is being ignored by other stations.

In their press release, they cite the fact that while high-profile mainstream artists have seen their coverage expanded exponentially, the same cannot be said of independent artists.

Enough Of A Fan Base?

While they have a point, there’s a reason for this lack of exposure, which is that indie artists don’t necessarily have the fan base out there to warrant the same kind of time on traditional or web based television as more established artists.

Which, if you’re about to launch a music station purely dedicated to these same independent artists, may prove to be a bit of a worry.

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Let’s just suppose for a moment that you’re an Apple devotee.

There are millions of them out there, swayed by the design sensibilities, and maybe an anti-Microsoft bias.

You may be one of these people, or you may not be. But, just for kicks, let’s pretend there’s a bit of a love affair going on between you and Cupertino.

How then do you satiate your craving for Apple news? Presumably with a steady diet of blog posts, the produce of rumor mills, maybe even a subscription to a magazine or two. Yes? 

What About Video?

Okay, well, that’s good and fine, but what about the video angle? How do you get your fix of Mactastic product reviews, speculative talk, and general cultist junk in moving-picture form? Podcasts? YouTube clips?

What if you were to be given the option to watch an IPTV channel, active 24/7, that purported to provide nothing but Apple-centric foodstuffs? 

You might be eager to sign on to such an experiment, no? (Remember, we’re still pretending to harbor fanatical zeal for Steve Jobs & Co.) Lucky you, then, because someone’s gone and launched that very item.

Before we divulge the details, let’s do this right and coat this story with a bit of butta, shall we?

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Mogulus, a New York based video start up company, has been running in private closed beta for over four months.

It has now finally been unveiled to the world, and mightily impressive it is too.

Mogulus used last week’s NewTeeVee Live conference as the place to launch, and used the platform to broadcast the whole conference as well, just to show off its capabilities.

A Micro TV Studio

We first took a look at Mogulus back in May, where we were amazed by the incredible options at your fingertips. Michael Pick even described it at the time as “a micro-TV studio packed into a web browser”.

In July we also ran an interview between Robin Good and Max Haot, the CEO of Mogulus, where we found out a bit about Haot himself, as well as some insights in to the company set up and aims.

So what has happened to the company and platform since then?

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The interactive elements of streaming television have yet to be fully realised. With it’s digital elements, it’s easy to incorporate something extra in to the broadcast when it’s web based rather than on television.

Some broadcasters are starting to experiment though, and adding an extra layer to the online TV experience:

The NOS (public broadcaster in the Netherlands) is going to be broadcasting a speed skating championship. Not only on television but also streaming it live on the web.

What is interesting about the website is that the NOS linked the time information to the website in addition to the video stream.

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Last spring saw the debut of an online venue called YouLicense, which provided a place for independent music creators to license their tracks and clips to those who, well, wish to license music.

Whether it be for a marketing or commercial purpose, or any other purpose, YouLicense was the place to go. Since its inception in June, it seems to have grown quite a bit, and its creators are now launching a new project called VIRV.

24 Hour Live Streaming

It’s roughly described by its makers as an indie music television channel. A joint venture between YouLicense and We Are Listening, an organizer of “songwriting contests,” VIRV was launched last weekend as a live-streaming, 24-hour-a-day outlet for solely independent music video creations. 

In the press release, VIRV’s promoters describe the non-stop concoction of moving pictures as one eclectic in supply, with a clips of artists and groups ranging from stalwarts of the indie scene, like Bright Eyes, to acts like “Fujiya & Miyagi, Architecture in Helsinki, Of Montreal, Dappled Cities, Aesop Rock, Cursive, Budos Band, and more.”

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