Back in January the BBC was given a provisional approval for the BBC iPlayer that would allow BBC TV shows to be distributed online using peer to peer technology for up to 30 days.

Now the BBC has been given the full and complete approval after working out the concerns and details of the iPlayer service. The service will appear later this year bringing BBC shows such as EastEnders and Doctor Who online.

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BiggyTV, an internet TV start-up company, released a press release yesterday stating how it will meld new and old media for online video together in a unique business model where everyone gets paid.

BiggyTV is basically an on-demand internet TV station that concentrates on quality professional content and features an innovative monetization and distribution model.

It works like this (as far as I can tell):

• A website owner places the BiggyTV viral player on their website
• People can watch content through that little viral player. The content is updated regularly.
• The video content can be matched to the theme of the site.
• People can click on the little viral player to be taken to a full-size BiggyTV channel
• The BiggyTV channels can only be accessed via the viral players. In other words you can’t go direct to BiggyTV to watch it; you go to the website which has the viral player.

How everyone makes money:

• The publisher that has the BiggyTV viral player gets return visitors from people who keep coming to the site to watch BiggyTV.
• Publishers get a share of the advertising revenue.
• Content owners that allow BiggyTV to use their video get a share of the advertising revenue.
• BiggyTV gets a share of the advertising revenue

Compare this to the many video sharing sites

• Content owners don’t often receive any form of payment
• Many videos are copyright infringements
• Publishers don’t receive any form of payment

How BiggyTV attracts viewers

As a result of the BiggyTV content only being available directly through a publisher’s site, and because the publisher gets paid for sending viewers, publishers will be keen to signup and promote the video channel. Especially considering that the channel is matched to their audience and made to feel somewhat exclusive to their site.

All this traffic will obviously attract the advertisers and if those advertisers are sending dollars then it will be much easier to attract the quality content that BiggyTV is focusing on.

On the downside:

One thing that worries me is that BiggyTV has its head buried in ways to make everyone money, and not about delivering a quality service to the customer. Much like Joost the interface is a bit jittery and the content seems thin on the ground.

Also BiggyTV appears to be using pre-roll adverts which will instantly lose a lot of visitors that will turn off straight away after the sight of an ad.

Despite this it is definitely a very interesting idea and definitely a start-up to keep a watchful eye on.

The BBC, which already offers a variety of on-demand TV shows and news, will soon be offering even more TV over the internet.

The on-demand iPlayer service (sounds like something from Apple) will allow viewers to watch their favorite programs from the previous 7 days and store them on a PC for 30 days. It sounds kind of like an automated DVR service.

iPlayer will allow viewers to watch their favorite programs from the previous 7 days and store them on a PC for 30 days

The BBC is the first traditional TV station in the world to offer all their TV shows on demand and over the internet (well as far as I know). The reason other stations have not done this is because they are supported by advertising and they just simply aren’t comfortable stepping away from a comfortable revenue model. The BBC however just cares about ratings and not how many adverts get viewed.

The BBC is the first traditional TV station in the world to offer all its TV shows on demand and over the internet

UK Media regulator Offcom warned that the BBC iPlayer service could damage the competition, reduce DVD sales and have negative effects on ensuring quality content for the long-term. However, in the long run improving the end-users experience is more important than making content owners adjust to a new distribution and revenue model.

Channel 4, another British TV station launched its own Internet TV service called 4oD (Channel 4 on Demand). Having tried it I can say it was extremely poor and actually charged you to watch many of the programs. It would be cheaper and easier to just record them on a DVR and watch them for free later, and skip the adverts too.

The BBC has got it right here and I hope this will encourage others TV networks to keep pace and offer their content in a similar way. The whole idea has been provisionally approved by the BBC Trust, with a final decision to be made before May 2, 2007 after public consultation.

Big thumbs up to the BBC!

[Via Yahoo News]

ChewTV is a brand new internet television channel that aims to be an outlet for young aspiring video producers and even helps fund and support youth video production projects.

I recently caught up with Greg Davies who manages ChewTV on a day to day basis and gave him my 15 Questions.

Before I jump in with the interview here are some interesting facts about ChewTV:

• ChewTV aims to create a more familiar TV environment by having its TV station change its content throughout the day, for example having kids videos in the morning.
• All the TV content on ChewTV is produced by youngsters.
• ChewTV helps fund and support youth based video productions.
• Chew TV is from the UK but is open to receiving and supporting projects on a larger scale.
• Chew TV launched in November in 2006.

And here’s the interview with Greg Davies from ChewTV.com

1. Sum up the goal of ChewTV

Chew TV’s ambitions stretch way beyond simply hosting content. We aim to create an interface between young people and the powers that be, making their opinions count, getting their voices heard, generating critical thinking and debate and helping them to be involved in making change within and beyond the media world. 

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What better use of the new internet TV medium than using it to promote environmental issues. Green.tv is doing just that by bringing a variety of environmental videos onto the internet through its unique website and video player. The video player is able to automatically detect the best plug-in you have and will play in Flash, WMP or Quicktime

Green TV was launched back in March and has already experienced good press coverage for such a niche internet TV channel. I recently interviewed Ade Thomas, the Managing Director of green.tv and I am personally very excited and impressed by what green.tv is doing now and in the future.

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