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.

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.”

I’m a huge fan of Boing Boing, the gadgets and wonderful things blog, so I was as excited as anyone at the thought of Boing Boing TV. So I must admit to being slightly disappointed int eh first episode to say the least. 

Despite the mild and in some places sycophantic praise being bandied around, in my opinion the first episode royally sucked.

Why?

For me, Rocketboom has long been the Boing Boing of Internet TV/Web Video/call it what you will. And Rocketboom has perfected the format, fine tuning it to a veritable art form. 

In comparison, Boing Boing TV feels like a weak latecomer to the game. It’s a shame the partnership between the two never came off.

A sense of community is essential to most religions, and one of the deepest aspects inherent in both religion and spirituality.

If you live in a city like Los Angeles, the chance are you will have easy access to other people who share your faith and also a place of worship to gather together in.

If you live in more rural areas, or if you are housebound, you may be missing that sense of community and the fellowship with other people who share your faith.

One CEO saw that void and has decided to use the power of the internet to fill it. 

When the BBC launched their new iPlayer, there was an outcry of opposition to the plans for it to be compatible only with the Windows platform.

Now, Downing Street has officially come to the aid of the 16,000 people who signed an electronic petition online designed to address the matter of inequality.

The UK government is reiterating conditions originally stipulated by the BBC Trust (a sort of internal watchdog of the media house) as indeed mandatory, and that the BBC must provide solutions for the minorities of the PC market. Mac OS X and various Linux systems of course come immediately to mind.

While Windows clearly dominates the PC market, it’s certainly not the only operating system around. 

Australian fans of the English Premier League (EPL) will now be able to watch games live on the internet thanks to a new service from Fox Sports.

In what is one of the first real offerings of live online broadcasts of long-form sports in Australia, fans can pay as little as AUD$7.95 to access a weekly pass enabling them to view four live online broadcasts as well as selected online replays on-demand. AUD$89.95 will buy you a season pass.

The launch of the service might raise some eyebrows with Australia’s major pay-TV carrier, Foxtel. Usually, EPL fans would have to subscribe to a pay-TV service such as Foxtel to watch Fox Sports broadcasts. However, this new service will now allow them to bypass pay-TV.

It’s been reported that some of the UK’s major ISPs are threatening to shape network traffic generated by the BBC’s iPlayer as their concerns grow that hundreds of thousands of users will put a huge strain on their broadband networks.

There’s a suggestion that some of the ISP’s, including Tiscali, BT and Carphone Warehouse, would welcome the BBC contributing funds, presumably to assist with network upgrades, which would then circumvent the need to limit bandwidth.

Representatives from BT and Tiscali both acknowledged that this was a very real and current debate between ISPs and the BBC. The Internet Service Providers Association has also been dragged in to the debate, but is yet to provide a united front for the ISPs.

The iPlayer allows viewers to download about 60% of the BBC’s weekly TV schedule on a seven day catch-up basis.

[Via The Independent]