Category Archives: Entertainment

YouTube: the global TV channel

Posted on January 31, 2012 at 7:22 am UK

I caught a few minutes of President Obama’s Google+ Hangout last night as it was streamed on YouTube.

If you’ve done a Google+ Hangout video chat before, you’ll be familiar with the format and this was no different. Except, of course, it was the President of the United States plus five lucky citizens chosen by +The White House to hang out live with the Pres in a carefully-controlled setting. Plus the millions of people worldwide who tuned in, as it were, to YouTube to watch and add text comments. Plus those doing the same on Google+, Facebook, Twitter… wherever they were online.

‘Tuned in’ is an apt descriptor as the immediate thought I had when I did just that on Google+ was “This is TV.”

If last year’s Royal Wedding that was broadcast live on YouTube was a demo of YouTube as a TV channel – a global one at that – that captures imaginations with a compelling event (content, in a word), then yesterday’s presidential Hangout is surely a clear sign that the channel just changed.

Why watch TV on a TV any more when you can immerse yourself, interact on the net, share your experiences and the recorded content itself, via any capable device that connects online?

Talk about disruption! No wonder the US entertainment industry – and that includes mainstream media like TV – likes things like #SOPA and #PIPA, to which +Clay Shirky‘s call to “pick up the pitchforks” is so compelling.

Reshared post from +The White House

Missed the Hangout with President Obama? Check out the full video here and let us know what you thought.

Google+: View post on Google+

Post imported by Google+Blog. Created By Daniel Treadwell.

My Blackberry is (still) not working

Posted on October 13, 2011 at 6:58 am UK

I first posted this video satire about the Blackberry (and Apple) smartphone by comedians Harry Enfield and Ronnie Corbett last December. In light of the continuing serious downtime issues with RIM’s Blackberry network, affecting users worldwide, it seems exceptionally apt to take another look.

(If you don’t see the video embedded above, watch it at YouTube.)

On a serious note, though, this ongoing outage presents Blackberry maker RIM with an alarming loss of reputation, never mind considering its position in a hugely competitive market where major competitor Apple announced a new iPhone last week and new Android devices are coming from competitors everywhere. Is RIM headed for disaster? Plenty of opinion suggesting they’re in serious trouble now. (And prize for best new word of 2011: ‘woefuk,’ tweeted by Alastair Campbell.)

Still, as we like to say in England, always look on the bright side…

[Later] While RIM’s Blackberry woes still attract humorous commentary and opinion, let’s add a perfect cartoon from Matt in today’s Telegraph.

matt-13oct11-blackberrybreakdown

Rock your holiday weekend

Posted on August 27, 2011 at 7:38 am UK

therockshow

It’s late summer bank holiday weekend in the UK, noted in the cultural calendar as not only the conclusion of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe but also for two big music festivals – Reading and Leeds – where thousands of music fans congregate over three days to enjoy some terrific live sounds.

If you can’t get to Reading or Leeds this weekend (or even if you can), you can also enjoy some terrific sounds with this week’s episode of The Friday Rock Show with Ewan Spence which I had the great pleasure of presenting on Ewan’s behalf while he continued presenting and producing The Edinburgh Fringe Show podcasts.

Tracks in this episode:

You can subscribe to The Rock Show in iTunes or any other RSS Reader so you’ll never miss a show. Feel free to leave your comments on this post or drop Ewan an email (ewan@thepodcastcorner.com) if you have any suggestions for the show, or want to appear.

This is the second time I’ve presented Ewan’s show – the first time was in March 2007 – thanks again, Ewan, it was a blast!

The Royal Wedding broadcast live on YouTube

Posted on April 20, 2011 at 7:17 am UK

The global media event that will be the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton (aka The Royal Wedding) on April 29 will also be a global internet event as the ceremony will be broadcast live on YouTube.

According to Google:

[...] we’re thrilled that the Royal Household has just announced that footage of the entire ceremony will be live-streamed on their official YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/theroyalchannel.

The live stream will begin at 10:00a BST (9:00a GMT, 2:00a PT, 5:00a ET) on Friday, April 29, and will follow the wedding procession, marriage ceremony at Westminster Abbey and balcony kiss. Alongside the live stream, The Royal Channel will also feature live blog commentary of the event to give timely updates and insights as the day unfolds. For those of you in different time zones, the footage will be reshown in its entirety directly following the event and will be available in full on the site to view afterwards.

It’s not only YouTube, either. The Royal Household says:

Live updates and unique material from the wedding of Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton will be released through a range of online platforms, providing the most digital and interactive coverage of a Royal Wedding to date.

The range of social media around the event will include the Official Royal Wedding website, the British Monarchy Flickr account, Twitter (@ClarenceHouse), The Royal Channel on YouTube and the British Monarchy Facebook page; and is in line with the Couple’s wishes to make the wedding as accessible as possible for as many people as want to participate.

For the first time, broadcast footage of a royal wedding will be live streamed on The Royal Channel on YouTube (www.youtube.com/theroyalchannel), accompanied by a live multi-media blog put together by St. James’s Palace.

The Royal Channel will host a live stream ‘gadget’, produced by Google, which will stream the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton live on the day from 10am until 2pm. This will include the Couple’s journey to and from Westminster Abbey, the Wedding Service, balcony appearance and the fly past.

What’s impressive is the integration of different social media that offers people many online choices in how they can consume content, additional to the traditional ones offered by the mainstream media (TV, radio, print).

As for the live YouTube video of the event itself, they’re doing this in a pretty interesting way:

The feed will be taken from the BBC without a broadcaster’s commentary.  Staff at Clarence House and St. James’s Palace will provide a live commentary with historical information, interesting links, additional photographs and video footage as well as an integrated Twitter feed.  This will be the first time a live blog has run alongside a live stream on YouTube for any occasion.

Does this now make YouTube owner Google a television broadcaster? Perhaps the same as any of the mainstream broadcasters from around the world who will be covering the event, many (at least 40) also taking the BBC’s feed for broadcast over their networks?

Many estimates say the global TV audience potentially is two billion people. That’s one-third of the total world population. And what a logistics operation it all is:

[...] Many outlets will get footage from the BBC, which is spearheading the coverage under deputy director general Mark Byford.

BBC Worldwide has licensed the live feed to 40 broadcasters in 25 territories, with sources saying the Beeb plans to donate the undisclosed fees to charity. The BBC feed also goes to the 61 pubcaster members of the European Broadcast Union and outlets in the 54 Commonwealth countries for free. The Beeb has, by far, the biggest team working the event: 550 staffers — 100 more than at the Beijing Olympics.

It will be the only broadcaster covering the service inside Westminster Abbey, where it will have some 30 cameras, plus 70 camera positions along the ceremonial route from Buckingham Palace to the abbey and at street parties across the country.

"It will be the biggest outside broadcast in London in recent times," says a BBC spokesperson.

And note this:

[...] Another new element is the use of social media and amateur video. "We will look at Facebook and so on for views, news, reactions etc.," says [Jonathan] Munro, deputy editor of "ITV News." "Everybody who’s out there with a mobile phone can be a newsgatherer."

Citizen journalism writ large.

Google again:

[..] While millions will be in London for the big day, it’s clear that people around the world have wedding fever. Google search trends show that in addition to the UK and the US, the top ten countries searching for “royal wedding” include places like Singapore and the Philippines.

rw2011searchterms

It looks like a disruptive milestone will be marked on April 29 if all anyone needs, anywhere in the world, to see this spectacular event in London as it happens is a connection to the internet.

Charlie Chaplin Google Doodle

Posted on April 15, 2011 at 1:54 pm UK

It’s always a pleasure to visit the Google search page as you never quite know what to expect in the Google logo you will encounter as it might have received the Google doodle treatment.

Today, Google may well have produced the most fun experience yet, certainly that I’ve seen, marking the 122nd year since the birth of comedy legend Charlie Chaplin (born April 16, 1889) with a most imaginative video treatment of the logo that features the Google Doodle team in a 2-minute visual feast that mimics the style of the silent movie era in general, and Chaplin in particular.

Enjoy!

The Doodle history:

[...] Doodles are known as the decorative changes that are made to the Google logo to celebrate holidays, anniversaries, and the lives of famous artists and scientists. Whether it is the beginning of Spring, Albert Einstein’s birthday, or the 50th anniversary of understanding DNA, the doodle team never fails to find artistic ways to celebrate these unique events.

Having a little bit of fun with the corporate logo by redesigning it from time to time is unheard of at many companies but at Google, it is a part of the brand. While the doodle is primarily a fun way for the company to recognize events and notable people, it also illustrates the creative and innovative personality of the company itself.