A year on the net AIL

2009 was a good year for AILTV as this was this the year we started broadcasting.
The period was used to test and try out new ways to improve our services made all the more challenging with the recession was in full swing. Some plans to take AILTV to a next level had to be put on hold such as the purchase of a Niagra Go Stream for live streaming which I decided to give it a miss, although it was well priced.
As a small organisation planning ahead and buying the right equipment is very important. As I mentioned in the article published in TV-BAY, issue 029, I like to experiment with miniaturization and have been shooting with a Canon HV20 often using a 35mm adapter (SGpro Vr3 with Nikon lenses).
Technology is constanly improving with, for example, Panasonic (AG-HMR10E/HCK10E), Sony(HXR-MCP) and many other manufactures producing kits that enable small set ups like AILTV to shoot in HD which is our preferred format.
Going back to live stream, I have looked at Tricaster Mobile Studio series, especially Tricaster TCXD300 because this product has everything that you can possibly think of in terms of production and broadcasting. This is not a review, but I would like to mention the features that are found in Tricaster as when I was planning to launch AILTV I had an opportunity to work with them. It does a lot for a small box with facilities to record video and sound, edit, channel branding and chroma key all built in. The Tricaster can be a playout and web streaming engine. Which is the route AILTV is going.
So where are we now? Phase one is completed and it took a long time to reach this stage because of research and making sure that I understand where technology is now and where its going to prepare myself for the future.
Phase two has just begun. This phase includes going on the road selling AILTV, doing presentation to businesses and investors. When I spoke to TV-BAY last year I was somehow a one man band and throughout 2009 invited people to my small office which I prefer calling “The Research Box”, and demonstrating AILTV to them. In to 2010 I now have a team of people who are excited about broadcasting on the net enabling AILTV to move forward in force.
On the business front, AILTV has generated a lot of interest especially with SMEs. Besides testing the channel, I also managed to create sample ads aimed at this sector. There is a possibility that by the end of this year AILTV will have a studio and an ob van, you never know things might happen quicker than planned!
One last point. Technology is already in place, it is possible to watch internet TV on a normal television set but many internet users are still not aware of this, although YouTube of course is popular and BBC iplayer becoming more so.
What is needed is for internet broadcasters and set box manufactures to work together and create awareness of this wonderful technology as there is a huge market for internet TV. Imagine this….there are almost a hundred million Africans who live outside Africa, according to Internet World Stats, in 2009 Africa had 67,371,700 internet users, further exciting news is that last year a Mauritian company called SEACOM completed a fiber optic project which now connects Africa to the world.
Finally just a short story….one of my presenters was chatting on the net with an American soldier based in Malaysia. Apparently this guy stumbled on AILTV, and saw this beautiful girl chatting with another girl on one of the programs that I produce and he decided to get in touch with her. If I was told by somebody else I would not have believed it, but I was in the same room with the presenter.
Since this time I now know AILTV is working and people are watching wherever they are. 2010 looks like it will be a good year for AILTV.