By Ken Liebeskind
MILAN, ITALY --The advent of Internet TV accelerated last week with the introduction of Babelgum, a new Internet TV network launched by Silvio Scagli, the founder of Fastweb. The announcement follows the recent launch of Joost, a network that has succeeded in reaching an agreement with Viacom to broadcast some of its content.
Babelgum “expects to carry content from major studios, but specifically lends itself to niche content, which although professionally produced and high quality, rarely receives airtime on traditional television platforms,” according to Erik Lumer, Babelgum’s co-founder/CEO.
Content is arranged in thematic channels, including news, sports, documentaries, fiction and animation that can be accessed on demand. Content owners will be able to create their own branded channels and users can configure personalized channels with content scheduled to fit their tastes and interests, Lumer said.
Babelgum will be ad-supported and free to users. “We are building an infrastructure that will deliver targeted advertising,” Lumer said. “It is envisaged that advertising will be incorporated into programming in much the same way as it is in existing broadcast television models. The difference is that user profiling will deliver sophisticated online marketing tools to enable highly targeted promotion of goods and services.”
When asked what type of ads will play at Babelgum, Lumer said, “Advertising formats are currently under development, however it is envisaged that advertising will initially follow the practices established in the traditional broadcast television model, both program sponsorship and timed inserts.”
He said Babelgum will sell advertising, but content providers and third party networks may sell it, too.
Lumer declined to compare Babelgum with Joost, saying “Players like Joost and Babelgum are developing an entirely new and global market. It is a market that offers great promise for all the participants.”
SCHROM x Yacht Club and Be Electric Studios Launch Electric XR for Virtual Production
SCHROM x Yacht Club, a full-service live-action, tabletop, and postproduction company, has teamed with Be Electric Studios, a soundstage, equipment rental, and virtual production company, to launch Electric XR, a virtual production collective.
Industry veteran Thomas Rossano will lead the new venture, which provides advanced virtual production solutions across multiple facilities. He brings over 25 years of experience in live-action, tabletop, postproduction and talent curation to enhance Electric XR’s offerings as a resource for brands and agencies, as well as other production companies in need of virtual production solutions. Additionally Rossano continues to serve as EP at XR New York (XR-NY), a role he’s held since December 2022. SCHROM x Yacht Club originally established XR-NY to help provide XR services for third-party rentals. While XR-NY will continue to function independently for SCHROM X Yacht Club, it now operates under the Electric XR umbrella.
Rossano’s expertise spans producing live-action commercials, branded content, interactive and experiential content. In addition to leading Electric XR, he holds responsibilities at SCHROM x Yacht Club which include driving business development, collaborating with sales reps and expanding the company’s creative talent network. Rossano’s career includes serving as an exec producer at Hungry Man for about 11 years, right from that company’s inception. He then went on to become a partner at Station Film where he also had a lengthy tenure. Later he was a partner at PRISM. Then after the pandemic hit, he became a freelance EP for nearly two years, looking into opportunities in virtual production, which led him to XR NY and now Electric XR. Over the years, he has produced high-profile... Read More