Tvmama

2 Comments Written by Atila on July 20, 2008 – 10:01 am

We just spoke to Andrew Baron of Rocketboom, who is with us at BlogFerence in Herzliya, Israel, where he is giving workshops in video blogging, about how Rocketboom is getting big-time TV distribution via TiVo.

Rocketboom was the first online content producer to be available on home TV screens through TiVo (Andrew tells us that CNet and NYTimes also are on the system now). He says the audience is smaller than what Rocketboom has online, but that he gets the most and the nicest comments from people who “saw you on TV.”

There’s something about that big screen that adds credibility and visibility that is just different from the PC/Mac, that even pureblood Internet shop Rocketboom understands. It doesn’t hurt that Rocketboom has high-quality production values – they use a $1,500 HD camera to film the show.

Rocketboom has even signed on with super-mega-agents CAA, not so much to help it sell out to big-time media, but to help BTM figure out what the Internet is all about: 3-4 minutes at a time, humor, entertainment.

TiVo isn’t exactly a Web 2.0 company; it’s still one way, and the content is limited – even though it has gone for brand names and a few emerging brands like Rocketboom. It’s also the exclusive channel for watching Amazon Unbox downloadable films like “Night at the Museum” (only 99 cents – not a bad deal)