Buzz TV, which launched earlier this year on Chorus and NTL, is a YouTube-type station that aims to create a social networking vibe around watching television, and says it is Ireland’s first interactive TV channel.
This Irish TV station looks at a programming model with a new media slant, focusing on the viewer and the popularity of social networking and user-generated content. Peter and Lynsey Wilson, the team behind Buzz TV, said it does this with elements including viewer participation in some of the programmes, the ability to upload content and live TV chat.
A quantity of the content from this 24-hour TV station comes from Sumo TV, a UK online video sharing community which also has its own cable channel and has clips including outtakes from Podge and Rodge.
Peter Wilson, owner of Blackdog Communications, and one of the duo behind Buzz TV, said this channel is “capturing corners of the market currently left uncovered by other Irish stations” and hopes this model will change how broadcasters look at the traditional television model.
“We also believe Buzz TV will become a reference point in highlighting the changes in TV and how it’s taking a leap forward into a new, enriched media conduit that is as much about networking as it is about broadcasting,” he said.
“We’ve already received feedback that Buzz TV is an excellent option for advertisers hoping to reach an increasingly elusive target market – the social networker.”
Buzz TV extends its reach into the web with a presence on both MySpace and Bebo and offers YouTube-esque video clips on the MySpace site but there is no indication of how viewers may submit say, video content that they might already have stored on their MySpace or YouTube accounts.
By Marie Boran
