CNN Launches iReport.com

Since CNN embraced the citizen journalist movement back in August 2006 with the launch of its iReport initiative, the news organization has received nearly 100,000 news-related photos and videos from viewers, including nearly 10,000 this past January alone, reports MediaWeek. Yet less than 10 percent of those submissions have appeared on CNN.com or the cable channel.

"That’s all about to change. Time Warner’s CNN this week will enter YouTube territory with the launch of iReport.com, a new Web site built entirely on user-produced news.

And unlike CNN’s own properties—where only iReport submissions that have been handpicked by editors and checked for accuracy ever make it online or on air—the new site will be wide open, allowing users to post whatever content they choose, CNN said."

Interesting: - Rick Schwartz - a very successful Australian trader of internet real estate - sold the domain name iReport.com to CNN for $US750,000 in January, according to The Sydney Morning Herald

UGC TV Show i-Caught launches in Australia

Australian Channel Nine is attempting to lure the YouTube generation back to the living room with a new show, i-Caught, based on user-generated content. The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

"The show, which airs at 7.30pm today, features the most popular online video clips and interviews the people who created them. The second episode will air at the same time next Monday.

The goal of i-Caught's creators, ABC in the US, was to tell the stories behind popular video clips captured on mobile phones, home video camcorders and surveillance cameras.

... As with their counterparts around the world, commercial TV networks in Australia have struggled to stay relevant to young audiences in the face of online entertainment sites such as YouTube."

Report.tv. Citizen journalism, web-video style

The video sharing site Report.tv based in St. Louis has launched in alpha test this week, reports Contentinople [via NewTeeVee].

"Its intent is to put the news in the hands of amateur anchorpeople reporting community-based news. Citizen journalism, web-video style.

"... Report.tv offers targeted channels for specific geographic regions in the United States and will allow for content to be uploaded from users into these channels.

Current.tv perhaps pioneered this idea, bringing together user-generated videos and video journalists offering their take on the news, both as a cable TV channel and online where users can create their own programming.

Friction.tv, a destination for user-generated news and opinions in the U.K., formed a partner deal with Five News bringing its videos onto the evening news.

Ctzn.tv will bring video journalists from around the world together on one site as well as accept submissions from its community."

ITV to launch citizen journalism platform

ITV [News] will launch a citizen journalism website on 31 July that will also feed user-generated comment back to its news programs, reports Journalism.co.uk.

"The service, called Uploaded, is currently in the last stages of a 100-person pilot phase prior to a national roll out.

When launched, the website will feature viewer's contributions to daily debates.

Comments and opinion from 'citizen correspondents' will then be used across ITV news program, edited to entice people to visit the website and to complement its TV reporting work.

Viewers signed up to the service will be encouraged to submit short video clips from mobile phones and personal computers.

To ensure public exposure, submissions to the site will have to adhere to the same compliance standards as ITV TV news."

Viewer Submitted News Taking Off

According to NewTeeVee, viewer submitted news is taking off.

"CNN’s viewer submission effort, I-Report, took awhile to enter the public consciousness, but it appears to be catching on. The network has started a new show “News to Me” composed entirely of I-Report videos. It’s receiving up to 3,000 useful entries a month, up 30 percent from the beginning of the year.

Exposure on big stories like the Virginia Tech shoottings and prominent pitches over the air have created a recognizable brand, and people are now responding.

Fox has now launched its copycat uReport and both networks are on the heels of the BBC which launched Your News last November. And ABC is planning something called i-Caught."

Viewers submit videos for MTV

MTV is bringing user-generated content to the net, incorporating video it has gathered online into two of its series, reports Variety.

"Viacom cabler will comb through content that consumers upload on new sites for pop-culture parody show "Short Circuitz" and smack-talk series "Yo' Momma"; it will then use the best segments on episodes of the shows, both of which begin this month.

Viewers will be able to record, upload and submit their own sketches on Shortcircuitz.mtv.com. As much as 30% of the videos on the on-air version of "Circuitz" will be culled from the Web site, execs said Thursday."

Warner to put ad-supported video archive online

Warner Music is putting its archive of music video online and making it available for free to fans. Reuters reports.

"Warner will work with digital services provider Premium TV to create online TV sites or "digital hubs" that will be organized by artist, genre or label and funded by advertising.

The move is part of the music industry's drive to generate revenue from new sources to offset the fall in CD sales and follows the explosion in popularity of online video.

Warner said the platforms would show previously unseen footage and would eventually be available in different languages.

Revenue will be driven by advertising but music fans will be able to download the videos for an additional fee and Warner will also examine syndicating the content to a third party. The deal includes plans to develop subscription-based services and a version to be used on mobile platforms."

ABC launches user-generated video show

Variety reports on ABC News' user-generated video show.

"Hour long "i-Caught" will get a six-week run on the network starting Aug. 6 with an eye toward a mid season return if it performs as well as the network hopes.

Amateur video will form the basis of the show's segments, but ABC News correspondents will build news stories and features around video captured on cell phones or digicams and uploaded to a companion Web site.

Much will depend on what rolls in, but Sloan said ABC News journalists also will shoot segments on video getting viral play on other sites.

The networks have tried various concepts to marry a television show with the viral appeal of YouTube-fueled clip culture.

Al Gore-backed Current TV allows amateurs to upload material for broadcast. Warner Bros. and AOL are producing the syndicated "TMZ," based on the Web site.

CNN recognized the value of cell-phone video early on and set up i-Report, inviting users to upload video. A student at Virginia Tech used the service to upload the only live footage of the campus shooting rampage in April."

Related:

-- USA Networks, Fox and NBC 's new user generated shows

-- Current Mobile TV requesting citizen cellphone videos

SBS wants your movie reviews

Australian television network SBS has harnessed the web and online video for a new Movie Show, converging TV and internet audiences, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

"The show, which premieres on Thursday, will allow viewers to upload their own video reviews of movies to a companion website with features similar to the popular video sharing website YouTube. Some reviews will be televised.

... Written feedback on the site is also expected to shape the TV show."

CNN's "News to Me" debuts May 19

News To Me, the first cable news program comprised of user-generated video, will debut on Headline News on Saturday, May 19.

The program will highlight the best that citizen journalism has to offer and will be hosted by award-winning actor/producer Eric Lanford.

With content ranging from serious to humorous, Lanford updates viewers on current events through the eyes – and lenses – of citizen journalists. Lanford also interviews many people who have submitted CNN I-Reports, compelling content captured by CNN viewers with personal cell phones, cameras or other devices.

By speaking directly with I-Reporters, Lanford gains insight into what it felt like at the scene as they captured their footage.

Press release via Reel Pop.

Uncensored Iraq Footage On History.com

According to TechWeb, History Channel plans to deliver military footage from Iraq and Afghanistan on its Web site, History.com.

"Band of Bloggers is one of several original digital brands that History.com announced Monday, signaling a reliance on user-generated content and focus on current events as history in the making.

The History Channel promises that soldiers with handheld video cameras will provide the site with "uncensored news" and a "perspective on war never before seen in history." An expanding pool of military bloggers will deliver content from the battlefield via cell phones and the Internet, according to a news release from History.com.

It is not clear yet whether the company will gain military approval or how it may develop policies to ensure that the content does not violate U.S. or international policies."