Elliott to launch diginet BiteTV with heavy emphasis on interactivity

A delay in securing a carriage agreement has likely benefited Jeffrey Elliott, who will soon launch BiteTV, a short-form entertainment digital specialty TV channel that will rely heavily on mobile video content and SMS to beef up its interactivity. Elliott has inked a distribution deal with Rogers Communications Inc. for the channel, originally called Glassbox (CNM, Feb. 7/02). The channel signal has already been delivered to Rogers for testing, and Bite TV is slated for a soft launch on February 28, and a hard launch on March 15. TELUS Corp., which has not yet commercially started its TV service, has also agreed to carry the channel. On Rogers, the channel – 198 on the dial – will be packaged with the Independent Film Channel, Showcase Action and Showcase Diva. Elliott tells Canadian NEW MEDIA that the channel will work more like a radio station than follow the traditional television wheel format. He added that shorts will air on a high, medium and low rotation, with a daily two-hour live segment with personalities – "electronic jockeys" – introducing the short items. An important portion of the content will come from Atom Television, a web portal containing submitted Flash and filmed shorts that often push the bounds of good taste. Elliott says that genre and style is a deliberate choice, and that the channel is aimed at men 18-34, the "wired male with a short attention span," as he calls them. Content will also be solicited from up-and-coming directors, producers and writers, and Elliott expects to begin discussions with colleges in Toronto region including Sheridan, Humber, Centennial and others to find content. He has also had discussions with Ana Serrano of Bell Habit@t at the Canadian Film Centre about finding shorts. While CNM drew the comparison between CBC’s ZeD and the original Glassbox concept three years ago, Elliott says that while ZeD is a worthwhile product and an apt comparison, there continues be a lack of broadcast space for the works of many young filmmakers who have not yet gone on to professional careers. "ZeD is a great show. Probably a little bit more polished than we’re going to be. We’re very much more on the guerilla grassroots and more really towards the edgy and irreverent. You’re not going to see any art films or long-form drama, that kind of stuff," Elliott says. "Ours is going to head toward the edgy and the irreverent side, make no mistake... "On the other hand, the channel will be a perfectly entertaining experience if you just want to lie back and want to watch. We have a Sunday morning block that’s designed for the guy with a hangover…it’s like ‘Hangover TV,’" he adds. Though some details will have to wait for an official announcement on Friday, observers familiar with Canada’s new media sector will likely be able to make some informed guesses about who the technology and applications partners might be. The broadcast will be in split-screen format with text crawls, for instance. So far, CHUM Interactive has been one of the few broadcasters working in this space, and has partnered with Ericsson to enable the application, using what CHUM Interactive VP Roma Khanna has called at conferences a "black box" that culls content from SMS submissions (see sidebar for another recent Ericsson/MyThum announcement). Elliott also says some of the channel’s content will be available for download to mobile devices – a space owned to date in Canada by QuickPlay Media. Elliott will only agree that the download service will very closely resemble the QuickPlay service, but that announcements will have to wait. Molsons has signed on to be the channel’s charter sponsor. The brewing giant is also one of the main sponsoring forces behind Smiley Guys Studios’ Odd Job Jack on The Comedy Network, and seems increasingly aggressive in pursuing interactive channels to push its brand. Elliott says that the delay in launching was due mainly to the difficulty in obtaining a carriage deal, a problem exacerbated by competing with other digital specialty TV channels licensed at the same time as Glassbox, and backed by big, deep-pocketed names including Alliance Atlantis, CanWest Global Communications and Rogers Communications Inc. But, he says, the dust has since settled on the diginet landscape, and the channel has been able to get some traction. "I think the biggest thing about getting a carriage agreement was to be able to cut through the fog of all the other channels. Very fortunately, Dave Purdy at Rogers has a wicked sense of humour and got it."

Elliott to launch diginet BiteTV with heavy emphasis on interactivity

News | 02/17/2005 5:00 am EST

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