.tv Big TV networks are enthusiastic about .tv

[michaeldotcom]

Big TV networks are getting more and more enthusiastic about the .tv extension. They're developing and promoting more .tv sites than ever before.

We all know that the value of .tv domains in the future really depends on .tv awareness. The more average Internet users will be aware and used to going to .tv sites, the more type-in traffic .tv domains will get and the more valuable they will become.

Because of their massive advertising budgets and because of the amount of time average people spend in front of TV everyday, it will be key to watch how much those big TV networks invest in .tv in the future and how many .tv sites they will develop and promote.

I've tried to start a list of some of the .tv sites that have been developed and promoted by big TV networks, both in the US and the UK.

If you notice other .tv sites developed and promoted by big TV networks now and in the future, it would be great if you could add them to this thread. They could be either TV channels or specific TV shows from these big networks.



ABC

http://www.abcnewsone.tv
http://www.ktka.tv
http://www.macon.tv
http://www.nebraska.tv
http://www.spokane.tv
http://www.wwsb.tv
http://www.wtxl.tv

CBS

http://www.2news.tv
http://www.cbs19.tv
http://www.cbs47.tv
http://www.cbscares.tv
http://www.charlottesvillenewsplex.tv
http://www.kgwn.tv
http://www.moblogic.tv
http://www.wabi.tv
http://www.wcav.tv

FOX

http://www.fox417.tv
http://www.foxcharlotte.tv
http://www.foxsoccer.tv
http://www.fuel.tv
http://www.kfxa.tv
http://www.fox8.tv (Australia)
http://www.fxuk.tv (UK)

NBC

http://www.nbc4.tv
http://www.lx.tv

TIME WARNER / TURNER BROADCASTING

http://www.cnn.tv
http://www.tnt.tv
http://www.oc16.tv
http://www.pacificnetwork.tv
http://www.nuts.tv (UK)

MTV / VH1

http://www.mtv.tv
http://www.acceptable.tv
http://www.bestweekever.tv
http://www.immaturity.tv
http://www.webjunk.tv

DISNEY

http://www.jetix.tv
http://www.disneychannel.tv (Sweden)

ESPN

http://www.espn.tv
http://www.cricinfo.tv

MGM

http://www.canalmgm.tv (Spanish)

BBC

http://www.ceefax.tv
http://www.mocktheweek.tv

ITV (UK)

http://www.actionstations.tv
http://www.channelonline.tv
http://www.footballerswives.tv
http://www.itvlocal.tv
http://www.gm.tv
http://www.stv.tv
http://www.toonattik.tv
http://www.u.tv
http://www.xfactor.tv

CHANNEL 4 (UK)

http://www.c4i.tv

CHANNEL 5 (UK)

http://www.five.tv
http://www.fivetvonline.tv
http://www.madformusic.tv

RAI (Italy)

http://www.rai.tv

 

[michaeldotcom]

WWSB is the ABC affiliated tv station for Sarasota, Florida.

And they too are using a .tv domain for their main website :
http://www.wwsb.tv

I would also like to add to this list ABC News One (which I talked about in a separate thread). It's ABC News's affiliate news service. It gathers and feeds regional, national and international news material to ABC affiliates around the country and foreign networks.

Their website's URL used to be http://www.abcnewsone.com

Well they've recently launched a new website and changed their URL to http://www.abcnewsone.tv

And http://www.abcnewsone.com now redirects to http://www.abcnewsone.tv

The original list has been updated and it's getting bigger and bigger, which is great news when it comes to the involvement of those big TV networks in the .tv extension.

 

[localexperts]

WWSB is the ABC affiliated tv station for Sarasota, Florida.

And they too are using a .tv domain for their main website :
http://www.wwsb.tv

Yes and there is another point, many TV stations appear to be using their call letters vs the geo.tv. I purchased Sarasota.tv for $1,400 12 months ago. It was available for them, but they chose to use the call signs.

So this is another dynamic in the marketplace, even when .tv is used, will it be geo.tv or callsign.tv or another variant.

 

[michaeldotcom]

Yes and there is another point, many TV stations appear to be using their call letters vs the geo.tv. I purchased Sarasota.tv for $1,400 12 months ago. It was available for them, but they chose to use the call signs.
So this is another dynamic in the marketplace, even when .tv is used, will it be geo.tv or callsign.tv or another variant.

Well, I guess this has to do with specific business decisions made by these particular companies.
To take the example of ABC affiliates, in some cases, they've chosen geo.tv (nebraska.tv, macon.tv, spokane.tv), in others they've chosen call signs (ktka.tv, wwsb.tv).

Different tv stations, different companies make different choices. What's great about .tv is that it is such a good extension that it enables them to make different choices, just like .com does.

So there is plenty of development potential in both geos, call signs, generics, etc. when it comes to .tv. It surely has to fit the extension but there are still a lot of opportunities as .tv can fit a whole lot of different sectors (media, tv, video, news, entertainment, music, fashion, movies, etc.)

To take the specific example of WWSB, they chose the call sign, which means that you had the opportunity to purchase sarasota.tv. I don't know about your specific plans for it, but this gives you (or another company, should you choose to sell it) the opportunity to develop it and to create another tv channel for Sarasota online.

Sarasota is a fairly big area (325,000 inhabitants or so in Sarasota county). So both the callsign.tv and the geo.tv could really be used there. As a ABC affiliate, wwsb.tv does have a particular way of doing things. I can easily imagine that a solid company could build another local channel there with a different perspective on things and therefore give customers the choice they deserve.

The fact that some big tv channels/networks use and promote .tv sites (whatever .tv domains they should to use) is great news for .tv domain owners, as it raises .tv awareness and will eventually help them to develop their own brands on other .tv domains.

 

[MillersCrossing]

my predictionis that the majority of tv stations will stick to their call sign0 it is asking alot from their loyal viewers to completely switch brands to the geo..........

but the ext still gets the boost bythe tv stations opting for the.tv

more likely is the local city councils that will end up taking the names- but they need every single spending decision voted through and will not wabt to feel like they are being gouged inorder to pass through a yes......

 

[localexperts]

If you look, newspapers purchased many geo.com. I think newspapers will purchase geo .tv. Spartanburg.tv is owned by the newspaper. Triad.tv by the newspaper. HamptonRoads.tv - the newspaper.

 

[michaeldotcom]

FX is a tv channel made by the Fox network and broadcast in the UK and in Ireland.

Their main website is on a .tv domain too.

http://www.fxuk.tv

 

[michaeldotcom]

NUTS TV is a TV channel made by Turner Broadcasting, broadcast in the UK and they're using a .tv domain too for their website :

http://www.nuts.tv

 

[michaeldotcom]

WTXL is the ABC affiliate station for Tallahassee, Florida and southern Georgia.

http://www.wtxl.tv

"Your Hometown News in High Definition" and that's happening on .tv too

 

[michaeldotcom]

Just added http://www.moblogic.tv to the list.

Thanks MillersCrossing for highlighting this website of CBS's new show.

http://www.namepros.com/dot-tv-appraisals-industry-news/421605-cbs-start-new-show-moblogic-tv.html

 

[dgridley]

I think Geos are a whole other ballgame vs call signs.. most stations would naturally gravitate toward the call sign IMO.

 

[michaeldotcom]

Channel Television is a British TV station which is the ITV affiliate in the Channel Islands (Jersey, Guernsey) and they're using a .tv domain too for their main website.

http://www.channelonline.tv

 

[michaeldotcom]

STV is the ITV licensee in Scotland and, just like UTV in Northern Ireland and Channel Television in the Channel Islands, they're using .tv for their website as well.

http://www.stv.tv

EDIT : Just added http://www.toonattik.tv for ITV (UK). It's very nice to see ITV's commitment towards .tv :tu:

Thanks Ronnie for mentioning it.

 

[michaeldotcom]

Footballers Wives is a popular British TV drama which was broadcast on ITV in the UK and on BBC America in the US.

http://www.footballerswives.tv

 

[gwkg]

Could owning domains like cbs19.tv become a trademark issue?

 

[michaeldotcom]

Could owning domains like cbs19.tv become a trademark issue?

The CBS Corporation obviously owns the CBS trademark.

So, if you're thinking of registering names like cbs18.tv, cbs17.tv or whatever, it's just not worth it, as it could only lead to lawsuits.

Moreover, the only possible enduser you could actually try and sell those names to would actually be CBS... You would have much more to lose than to win there.

Cybersquatting is never a good idea and is never good for the reputation of the domaining community either.

 

[michaeldotcom]

"Five News with Natasha Kaplinsky", the major news programme from Channel 5 in the UK, is using .tv as well for its website :

http://www.fivetvonline.tv

I would also like to add to the list http://www.actionstations.tv from ITV, which was mentioned by StoneRoses in another thread.

 

[gwkg]

Internet Domain Auction Threatens 285 U.S. TV Stations
http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?p=2942920

edit: I created a new thread

 

[benzdorf]

Im Starting my Own TV Station

WKRZ.TV in Zinzinnati

 

[CarryOn]

www.worldfocus.tv/

Domain name just purchased by the Educational Broadcasting Corporation. Now in use by one of their stations - WNET/Thirteen - the largest PBS station in the USA.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteen/WNET

 

[Ctack]

Looks like PBS has big plans for Online Video and worldfocus.tv

NBC’s Martin Savidge to Anchor International News Program on PBS
By The New York Times
Martin Savidge on assignment for NBC in 2006. (NBC)

“The correspondent Martin Savidge is leaving NBC News for public television, where he is to become the anchor of a new weeknight broadcast that will focus on international news,” Elizabeth Jensen reports.

WLIW in New York, which is developing the program, says the newscast, “Worldfocus,” is scheduled to start broadcasting Oct. 6 on a lineup of public television stations nationwide that is still being assembled but already includes stations in 8 of the top 10 markets.

“Worldfocus” will attempt to fill what Mr. Savidge called a void in television news. “When CNN was born as a concept, we all said: ‘The 24-hour era of news has arrived; think of the topics we can cover,’ ” he said. But, he said, 24 hours now “boils down to about six headlines repeated over and over and over,” adding, “It seems that opportunity was squandered.”

Looks like they have been planning a push into online video right around the time of the program launch as well.

"PBS picks vendor, will put web ‘back end’ in gear by fall

Originally published in Current, May 27, 2008
By Jeremy Egner

PBS will partner with thePlatform for Media Inc., a Seattle-based subsidiary of cable giant Comcast, to create a cohesive online public TV video distribution network that intermingles local and national content and multiplies overall the number of videos that pubTV offers on its websites.

This comprehensive online video ecosystem (COVE), as the planners call it, will roll out in September, Jason Seiken, PBS senior v.p. for interactive, announced May 13 at the PBS Showcase Conference in Palm Desert, Calif.

Public TV’s present online video players and tools, such as the Frontline/NewsHour public affairs player (earlier article), will be rolled into this network, Seiken said.

The project will allow public TV to “considerably increase online video on both PBS.org and local PBS stations’ websites,” Seiken said in a statement.

ThePlatform, a video management and publishing company that launched in 2000, will manage the broadband video back end for PBS’s main portal and its sites for kids, parents and teachers. With video continuing to reside on PBS and local servers, the setup will enable PBS to distribute video to station sites, help stations publish local content on their own sites and let stations share videos with other stations’ sites.

PBS has begun a 12-station pilot phase, Seiken told Current in an e-mail. Stations with questions about online video initiatives should contact Kristin Calhoun at PBS Interactive (kcalhounSYMBOLpbs.org).

The video distribution system is part of a multi-pronged plan to enhance and increase exposure for the system’s sites and offerings, which Seiken outlined at Showcase.

PBS will enable further localization of PBS.org and PBSkids.org offerings. Search results on the sites eventually will point to local as well as national content. PBS will provide Google Analytics data for stations’ sites to help them track usage and optimize their site content to be found readily by search engines. A new deal with YouTube allows stations to post clips up to 10 minutes in length without charge — longer than normal. For video posted on pubTV’s own sites, a new PBS pact with Limelight Networks, a content delivery network service provider, gives stations discounted bulk rates for video streaming, Seiken said. Streaming costs for a small- to medium-sized station could run as much as 80 percent below average industry rates, he says.

ThePlatform will also offer stations training on how to incorporate its video management technology into their online operations, says Marty Roberts, v.p. for marketing.

All video delivered by the network will be in Adobe Flash format and in standard screen sizes. Videos will be 512x288 pixels in the 16:9 aspect ratio or 480x360 pixels in 4:3, with a bitrate of 350 kbps using the On2 VP6 codec. These are the same specs used by the Frontline/NewsHour player; PBS will soon publish a white paper on best practices for Flash encoding, Seiken says.

ThePlatform’s administration system will allow stations to upload their content and use metadata tagging, mapped to the PBCore standard, to attach rights restrictions, which follow the videos wherever they go, he says.

The process will go something like this: A station producer will go into the online administration tool and follow pop-up menus to upload, tag, apply any necessary restrictions and publish the video, Roberts says.

At the viewers’ end of the distribution chain, video players interacting with the system — the player created by PBS and others by stations — will automatically search for new content. PBS and the video management company are still working out how the sponsorships will work, Roberts says.

ThePlatform already handles video for the online versions of PBS Kids Sprout and many other media companies, including BBC, CNBC, Gannett, HIT Entertainment and Verizon. Comcast purchased the company in 2006, but it remains independently operated, according to a spokesman.