Web Design Directory

  w   w   w   .   d   e   s   i   g   n   d   i   r   .   n   e   t
An industry leading web design, hosting and development directory. We bring together the best web designers and their customers. Find the lates website business news and updates.
Search DesingnDIR
Advertising | Submit Site »
   » Home Page / Industry News  
  Find Services Provider       Technology Stories        WebSite Services   
Offbeat shows turn Web into world wide TV network

2006-04-05 14:59:00

The widely hyped merging of the PC and TV is finally taking shape in a way that only a few people imagined in the late 1990s Internet boom.

From independent producers like Mondo Media to big media companies like MTV, and even kids who post videos on community sites like YouTube.com, the World Wide Web is becoming a sort of worldwide TV network for audiences seeking offbeat entertainment not shown on mainstream television.

Mondo's cartoon characters, "Happy Tree Friends," survived the dot-com bust of 2000 and are now a thriving, worldwide phenomenon. And this week a little-known British rocker named Sandi Thom signed a record deal with Sony BMG after building an audience by webcasting her own concerts from her basement.

"I still don't think people have a handle on the fact that, for all intents and purposes, we have a TV network working for us, essentially free, that is worldwide," said John Evershed, co-founder of Mondo Media, which owns "Happy Tree Friends."

The "Friends" are a collection of lovable forest animals with names like Giggles and Lumpy who get into trouble that inevitably leads to violence and death.

San Francisco-based Mondo shows 16 million, two-minute programs monthly on the Web which have spawned the sale of 750,000 DVDs. The "Tree Friends" Web site, its t-shirts, toys, and cell phone episodes are hot items in more than 20 countries in Asia, Europe, North and South America, Mondo Media says.

The "Tree Friends" were a product of the technology boom when venture capital and advertisers chased producers who were delivering TV-like episodes on the Web. When the boom ended, money dried up and only a few players like Mondo remained.

Evershed said this new wave of Web video is fueled by the rising number of people with high-speed Internet access which makes video watchable on PCs. Moreover, younger audiences are increasingly accustomed to watching video on PCs and laptops.

Other independent producers building audiences with a TV network on the Web include Joe Cartoon, Homestarrunner and JibJab.

Community building sites like YouTube.com are thriving by making it easy for users to post video clips. Teens also turn to the Web when traditional TV shows get boring.

Seeing this trend, major media companies are getting in on the act so they don't lose viewers and advertising to Web competitors.

Viacom Inc's MTV has started "MTV Overdrive" at MTV.com. E! Entertainment webcasts "The Vine" at eonline.com and The Walt Disney's Co.'s ABC Television Group has plans to stream shows for kids on its Disneychannel.com and Jetix.tv sites in coming months.

As with the "Friends," keys to success for "MTV Overdrive" have been offering short programs and original content that fans do not see on broadcast or cable TV.

That philosophy is a far cry from the late 1990s when the dot-com boom fueled the notion that eventually all TV would be delivered on the Web, on-air broadcasting would become wired webcasting and computers would be the TV sets of the future.

"Really, I had this vision 6 years ago," said Mike Tuinstra, chief executive officer of Joecartoon.com Inc. "It's just now kind of happening."

Google Calendar Beta: A Hot Date
Usually, when Google announces a new public beta, it means that the company doesn't want to absolutely commit themselves, but are pretty sure that they've got a reasonably finished product. However, Google's new Calendar is, it turns out, truly a beta product — if not alpha. While it has an impressive feature set and is very nicely designed, Google Calendar has enough glitches to make one wonder whether, this time, Google was too fast off the mark.
Yahoo Revenues Up On Strong Ad Sales
Yahoo Inc. on Tuesday said net income for the first quarter fell due to stock compensation expenses, but advertising sales drove revenues up 34 percent.
Apple Countersued By Digital Media Developer
A Santa Rosa, Calif. developer of digital media technologies said Monday it filed patent infringement counterclaims against Apple Computer Inc. Burst.com, founded in 1988, filed counterclaims in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco, in response to a lawsuit filed by Apple in January 2006.
Microsoft Faces Tough Sell For Sender ID
Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday claimed rapid adoption of its Sender ID framework for email authentication to fight spam, but at least one analyst firm said the software maker is waging an uphill battle in the industry.
Oracle Digs Heels Into Telecom Space
Oracle Corp. made a move to target support for telecommunications carriers Tuesday, unveiling plans for a service delivery platform (SDP).
Google Gains Search Market Share
Google Inc. in March increased its share of the U.S. search market for the eighth consecutive month, a Web metrics firm said.
Oregon Man Fined $84K In Spyware Case
An Oregon man was fined $84,000 for scamming users with bogus security warnings that led them to a phony anti-spyware program, the Washington state attorney general said Tuesday.
AT&T, Yahoo Launch Enhanced Web Mail In Beta
AT&T and Yahoo Inc. on Wednesday launched in beta a new version of their joint Web mail that includes several enhancements.
Apple Registers Strong Quarterly Revenue, Profits
Apple Computer reported healthy gains Wednesday in first quarter revenue and profits on the strength of strong computer and iPod shipments.
Yahoo Tied to Jailing Of Third Chinese Activist
Reporters Without Borders, an international group dedicated to freedom of the press, said on Wednesday that Yahoo Inc. helped Chinese authorities in jailing a pro-democracy activist, the third dissident sent to prison on information gathered from the Internet portal.


   
» Web Hosting Interviews
Web Hosting interviews, news and reviews. Compare the Best web hosting providers.
» Daw - Web Hosting Blog
Views and Comments about Hosting Industry. News, Trends, Products and Sevices.
» Your WebSite Here
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371


» Submit your site to Web Design Directory

About Us | Advertising | Privacy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

© DesignDIR.net 2003 - 2017, part of of Business Address Network. All Rights Reserved!