AfriCam, the wildlife content provider and fourth biggest audited Web site in SA, is to start broadcasting a live traditional television programme on British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) channels during April. More deals may be in the pipeline.
The company says "AfriCam`s Live and Wild" will be broadcast on the BBC`s UKtv and on A2A, the SABC`s channel on the DStv satellite service. Three teams, in the Sabi Sands, Pilanesberg and Mashantu game reserves, will transmit live footage to a production studio in Johannesburg, and the mixed product will be sent to the broadcast stations from there.
AfriCam has an initial one-month contract with the BBC, which it hopes will take up another three-month option on it. It says talks are also underway with other broadcasters.
Revenue from the television business will be used to establish an online broadband streaming service on the Internet side, which Peter Armitage, CEO of AfriCam, says would have been impossible without the money available on traditional television. AfriCam currently offers images refreshing every 30 seconds from its various wildlife Web-cameras.
The broadband service will be available on a $5 per month subscription basis. "The content will be paid for by the television show and our bandwidth will cost around $2," says Armitage. "Streaming can be a profitable business."
Internet viewers introduced to the Web site via the television shows will also be able to watch preparations for the show throughout the day and continue to receive their feed after the half-hour programme ends.
"The Internet and television offer different broadcast opportunities and we want to take advantage of both," says Armitage. "Television offers high quality at high cost and the viewing time is limited. The Internet, on the other hand, offers lower quality at this stage, but is much cheaper and we can broadcast 24-hours-a-day."
AfriCam says it will use groundbreaking packetised microwave transmissions to overcome the traditional line-of-sight restriction of microwave, allowing its three units to roam up to 15km away from their satellite uplinks.
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