Local content as a way to serve the community was a common theme of a panel I moderated at the 2010 Broadband Properties Summit. As expected, Cullen McCarty of Smithville Telephone and Gary Evans of HBC provided an excellent overview of how they are helping their communities by serving up content about and by the community. What made this especially interesting is HBC has gone through several generations of equipment, while local content is a relatively new venture for Smithville.
Smithville's initial focus is to create and embed content on their web site, while HBC is a long-time veteran of programming a linear TV channel. As seen in this video, one thing these telecommunications firms have in common is that they are using local content to inform and put a smile on the faces of the people in their respective communities.
Produced by Roger Bindl, the video includes Ken Pyle’s interview at RIITA with Steve Senne from Finley Engineering on over-the-top video and television. The video is also highlighted with examples including Roger’s television watching habits, and concludes with trend offering possibilities.
This is part of a series on over-the-top. The next one will be on Vudu with over 5,100 movies on-line; a major advance in VOD over the net. It’s real time now.
Rural cable operators and the independent telco probably have more in common with each other than they do with the larger urban MSOs and RBOCs (if that term still applies). Robert Shema, Chief Operating Officer for the American Cable Association, talks of the importance of local content and suggests that many small operators are providing more relevant local content than are the TV broadcasters. Shema’s comments point to the idea that there are many opportunities for independent cable operators and independent telcos to partner to improve service for their respective customers, while helping their bottom line.
RICA/RTG Fall Forum Coverage Brought to you by RICA.
Another feature of Hulu is that viewers may create clips from full length episodes of their favorite shows and either email or embed them on their web sites. Alternatively, viewers may select from clips on the Hulu site. It is not clear whether the clips on the web site are user generated or from Hulu. It is fairly simple to create a clip, although the editing process could be a little easier. The following is an example of a viewer-generated clip.
