Andy Warhol once said “In the future, everyone will have their 15 minutes of fame.” Many decades later, his prophecy seems to have come true, especially if “social TV network” Youtoo has anything to say about it. The new service lets users broadcast themselves on an actual cable network with millions of viewers. Youtoo spent more than three years purchasing its own cable television network and developing technology that lets users record a video signal with a web camera or mobile device that passes broadcast engineering standards.
“This means full-motion, full-frame rate, true broadcast quality HD and SD signals can be generated from the web or a mobile device,” said Youtoo CEO Chris Wyatt. The company’s cutting-edge technology also instantly transports the video to a data center where it is automatically scanned for objectionable and copy written material. From there, the clips are generally ready for broadcast and viewable in more than 15 million cable network households within minutes.
Youtoo will ultimately give major broadcasters the chance to let fans interact with their favorite shows in real time, and earn big profits via what Wyatt called “the gamification of media.”
“The holy grail of TV is to allow viewers to play along with television shows, for example, game shows and reality shows, for real cash and prizes,” Wyatt said. “This technology allows broadcasters to monetize their existing social media, extend their advertising to the web and to generate direct sales from viewers through gaming.”
Youtoo ended 2011 with a bang, partnering with producer Mark Burnett’s (Survivor, The Apprentice) Video in My Back Yard (VIMBY) for an initial round of original programming (licensing deals are also in the works) and teaming with Comcast Houston for a special Halloween launch party in the heart of Texas. Such moves indicate the fledgling network’s time in the spotlight will be a lot longer than 15 minutes.
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