Babelgum
Encyclopedia
Babelgum is a free to view Internet television
platform supported by advertising
. The project was set up in 2005 by Italian media and telecommunications entrepreneur Silvio Scaglia
(one of the founders of Italian TelCo FASTWEB
) and scientist Erik Lumer, with the aim of developing interactive software for distributing TV shows and other forms of video over the Internet.
Babelgum uses streaming
TV technology to provide free, on-demand TV content to end users.
The company aims to combine the “immersive viewing experience” and visual quality of traditional television with the features made possible by the internet. The beta version of the service was presented on 7 March 2007 .
On September 1, 2007 Babelgum launched the Babelgum Online Film Festival
, the first global online film festival dedicated to independent film. Viewers voted for the shortlists while a professional jury, chaired by Spike Lee, selected the winners.
In October 2008 the company launched the Babelgum Music Video Awards, another online competition with audience voting, focusing solely on music video
s from unsigned artists. The contest was run in partnership with Music Nation and the jury included French director Michel Gondry
.
In December 2008 the company launched Babelgum Mobile, a new mobile application bringing "web-tailored video content" to smartphone
s such as the iPhone via 3G
and Wi-Fi
.
In September 2009 the company launched the Babelgum Metropolis Art Prize, an online prize for the best Art videos. The winning videos were shown on jumbo monitors in Times Square, NY on Dec 17th, 2009. The jury was chaired by actor/artist Isabella Rossellini and included Howard Halle, art critic at Time Out NY, Cedar Lewisohn, curator at the Tate Britain and Lee Wells from PAM and Scope Art Fair.
In November 2009 it was reported that Babelgum
was downsizing by closing its Nice office and Dublin HQ,
and consolidating its operations across the remaining offices in London
, New York
and Milan
.
". The company's green bubble-shaped logo is therefore a visual pun
on the name as well as a reference to Babelgum's interest in ecological issues .
In addition to mainstream TV content, Babelgum offers niche programming such as independent and short films, aiming to "serve the Long Tail
of viewers' interests" .
The platform also features branded channels set up through licensing agreements with content providers such as Associated Press, BBC, PBS, 3DD, Shine Limited, IMG, EMI, Sony BMG, Funny or Die, Off The Fence, National Geographic and Lonely Planet . Babelgum also has partnerships with international film festivals such as the Seattle International Film Festival
, DC Independent, Encounters and Rushes Soho Shorts
.
Users can rate the programmes they watch and log their favourites in the system. Content owners can upload single videos or entire content libraries through the Babelgum Video Publisher .
, MySpace
, Digg
and other social news
websites, and create playlists of favourite clips if logged in.
.
The company has so far invested 50 million euros (of Scaglia's personal fortune) and is expected to invest between 35 - 60 million euros per annum in the period 2008-2010.
Internet television
Internet television is the digital distribution of television content via the Internet...
platform supported by advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
. The project was set up in 2005 by Italian media and telecommunications entrepreneur Silvio Scaglia
Silvio Scaglia
Silvio Scaglia is an Italian telecoms entrepreneur. He spent his childhood and youth in Novara, Italy. He and a group of other managers founded Italian telecommunications company Fastweb S.p.A and the web platform Babelgum. In 2007, Mr...
(one of the founders of Italian TelCo FASTWEB
Fastweb
FASTWEB S.p.A. is an Italian broadband telecommunications company. It provides voice, Internet, cable television, IPTV and FTTH connection. The cable television and IPTV services were developed by Fastweb themselves as the technology market in 2000 was not mature enough to offer the level of...
) and scientist Erik Lumer, with the aim of developing interactive software for distributing TV shows and other forms of video over the Internet.
Babelgum uses streaming
Streaming media
Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a streaming provider.The term "presented" is used in this article in a general sense that includes audio or video playback. The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather...
TV technology to provide free, on-demand TV content to end users.
The company aims to combine the “immersive viewing experience” and visual quality of traditional television with the features made possible by the internet. The beta version of the service was presented on 7 March 2007 .
On September 1, 2007 Babelgum launched the Babelgum Online Film Festival
Babelgum Online Film Festival
The Babelgum Online Film Festival is the first web-based film festival by Internet TV startup Babelgum. Babelgum's mission in organising the festival is to promote independent filmmaking and provide a global showcase for budding filmmakers from all over the world.On announcing the first edition of...
, the first global online film festival dedicated to independent film. Viewers voted for the shortlists while a professional jury, chaired by Spike Lee, selected the winners.
In October 2008 the company launched the Babelgum Music Video Awards, another online competition with audience voting, focusing solely on music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s from unsigned artists. The contest was run in partnership with Music Nation and the jury included French director Michel Gondry
Michel Gondry
Michel Gondry is an Academy Award winning filmmaker, whose works include being a commercial director, music video director, and a screenwriter. He is noted for his inventive visual style and manipulation of mise en scène. - Life and career :...
.
In December 2008 the company launched Babelgum Mobile, a new mobile application bringing "web-tailored video content" to smartphone
Smartphone
A smartphone is a high-end mobile phone built on a mobile computing platform, with more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a contemporary feature phone. The first smartphones were devices that mainly combined the functions of a personal digital assistant and a mobile phone or camera...
s such as the iPhone via 3G
3G
3G or 3rd generation mobile telecommunications is a generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunication services fulfilling the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 specifications by the International Telecommunication Union...
and Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...
.
In September 2009 the company launched the Babelgum Metropolis Art Prize, an online prize for the best Art videos. The winning videos were shown on jumbo monitors in Times Square, NY on Dec 17th, 2009. The jury was chaired by actor/artist Isabella Rossellini and included Howard Halle, art critic at Time Out NY, Cedar Lewisohn, curator at the Tate Britain and Lee Wells from PAM and Scope Art Fair.
In November 2009 it was reported that Babelgum
was downsizing by closing its Nice office and Dublin HQ,
and consolidating its operations across the remaining offices in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
.
Name
According to the company's website, Babelgum's goal is "to act as an international 'social glue'", bringing a vast range of content to a global audience of different nationalities, like a "modern-day Tower of BabelTower of Babel
The Tower of Babel , according to the Book of Genesis, was an enormous tower built in the plain of Shinar .According to the biblical account, a united humanity of the generations following the Great Flood, speaking a single language and migrating from the east, came to the land of Shinar, where...
". The company's green bubble-shaped logo is therefore a visual pun
Visual pun
A visual pun is a pun involving an image or images .Visual puns in which the image is at odds with the inscription are common in Dutch gable stones as well as in cartoons such as Lost Consonants or The Far Side...
on the name as well as a reference to Babelgum's interest in ecological issues .
Content
Babelgum only airs professionally produced content, focusing on indie film and music, comedy, urban culture, nature and the environment, presented through the five channels Film, Music, Comedy, Metropolis and Our Earth.In addition to mainstream TV content, Babelgum offers niche programming such as independent and short films, aiming to "serve the Long Tail
The Long Tail
The Long Tail or long tail refers to the statistical property that a larger share of population rests within the tail of a probability distribution than observed under a 'normal' or Gaussian distribution...
of viewers' interests" .
The platform also features branded channels set up through licensing agreements with content providers such as Associated Press, BBC, PBS, 3DD, Shine Limited, IMG, EMI, Sony BMG, Funny or Die, Off The Fence, National Geographic and Lonely Planet . Babelgum also has partnerships with international film festivals such as the Seattle International Film Festival
Seattle International Film Festival
The Seattle International Film Festival , held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees...
, DC Independent, Encounters and Rushes Soho Shorts
Rushes (company)
Rushes Postproduction is a post-production and visual effects company based in London.It has a world wide reputation for producing commercial and pop-promo projects. The company was formed in 1977 and its staff have spawned many successful spin-offs, including , Main Frame, and...
.
Users can rate the programmes they watch and log their favourites in the system. Content owners can upload single videos or entire content libraries through the Babelgum Video Publisher .
Social aspect
Users can embed and rate videos, post links on FacebookFacebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
, MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
, Digg
Digg
Digg is a social news website. Prior to Digg v4, its cornerstone function consisted of letting people vote stories up or down, called digging and burying, respectively. Digg's popularity prompted the creation of copycat social networking sites with story submission and voting systems...
and other social news
Social news
A social news website is a type of website that features user-submitted stories that are ranked based on popularity.-Slashdot:Slashdot, started in 1997, was one of the first social news websites. It focuses mainly on science and technology related news. Users can submit stories, and the editors...
websites, and create playlists of favourite clips if logged in.
Babelgum Mobile
Babelgum Mobile is the company's mobile video application for smartphones (iPhone, Google Android, some Nokia models). It operates via 3G and Wi-Fi networks and aims to offer "web-tailored programming" for smartphones, i.e. content edited into formats suitable for mobile viewing. Babelgum's CEO claims this makes it the “first independent online television company to cross over into full mobile internet”Technology
Babelgum had originally developed its own proprietary technology based on secure peer-to-peer streaming, along with a system for video compression using H.264 codec, and a video player to show the content. In March 2009 the company abandoned P2P in favour of Flash technology, so the videos now play directly within the browser window. Minimum requirements are Adobe Flash 9.0.115 or higher and bandwidth of at least 450 kbit/s.Financing and Business Model
Babelgum is an independent, privately held company that is wholly owned and funded by Silvio ScagliaSilvio Scaglia
Silvio Scaglia is an Italian telecoms entrepreneur. He spent his childhood and youth in Novara, Italy. He and a group of other managers founded Italian telecommunications company Fastweb S.p.A and the web platform Babelgum. In 2007, Mr...
.
The company has so far invested 50 million euros (of Scaglia's personal fortune) and is expected to invest between 35 - 60 million euros per annum in the period 2008-2010.