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General discussion

This is how all TV-Channels should be like! -Free internetTV

Mar 9, 2006 2:22AM PST

You keep talking about how TV-channels should offer their content for free.

The two largest Norwegian TV stations have been offering all their content for free for about 3 years now.

One, which is the state run channel NRK, offers everything they own the rights to for free. No need to register, just go to the website and start playing all their shows. Some are backed up for 3-4 years!

Here's the NRK player:
http://www7.nrk.no/nrkplayer/avspiller.aspx?Hovedkategori_id=2&Prosjekt_id=0&Kategori_id=0&Klipp_id=0&Indeks_id=0&Oppgave_id=0&Sok=&Artikkel_Id=

You probably won't understand it but you will get an idea of how it works and how simple it is to use! The log in button is there since they sometimes offer premium live content such as sports events (which they do not own the rights to) as well.

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The other channel is TV2, which is commercially run, offers all their content for a small fee of around $10 per month or $80 for a year. Quite cheap if you ask me.

They can be found here:
http://webtv.tv2.no/webtv/?

I'm from Norway but live in the UK. I can catch up on all the news, entertainment without much hassle. It's great and guess what....TV2 (commercial station), has been doing this for years and they are making loads of money from it. Adverts are still being shown and I rarely skip them since i hook it up to my TV and can't be bothered to go to the pc and click the skip button.

Possible downside is that you can't download the contents easily (can always use VWrecorder, SDP or similar but its a hassle) but since it's free, archived for a long time it's not really a problem for me.

Discussion is locked

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Wow.
Mar 9, 2006 2:54AM PST

I never thought I would see this post. I actually also watches NRK, its quite impressive how well it works. But its still in Norwegian, so its probably no great use for English speakers, even though its just as an example.

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Welcome to 21st Century...Also a bit of Ricky!
Mar 9, 2006 11:10PM PST

I agree, it's of no use to non-english speakers, but it serves as a perfect example of how it works.

Also, it acts as an example that it has NOT decreased the profits of the involved parties.

Granted, NRK is a license funded channel with a small portion of advertising inbetween programs (not during), but TV2 is not. And it's still doing well.

BBC in the UK is working on a similar program called BIMP (if i'm not mistaken). The BBC application will only allow for programs to be viewed for 7 days after it's aired and is for license payers only. But that is far better than most channles who refuse to put anything on the web.

Come on, it's the 21st Century...


And now...Ricky Gervais!!! Ricky Gervais is a comedian. That is his job for crying out loud!!! He makes people laugh for a living. Why should he not charge for the podcasts? The first 12 episodes was funded by Guardian newspaper (so Ricky got paid for it but listeners got it for free). It's ludicrous to think that everything in the world should be free. It takes money to produce quality, and that money needs to be recouped somewhere.

Most people doing free podcasts have other responsibilites in their jobs and so do it "for free" and "for fun" in, for instance, their lunch hour or in the evening. You cannot compare profesionals doing their job and amateurs. (no offence)

Would you, Molly, do presentations to corporates for free? I don't think so.