CBC gets new media
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I came across an article yesterday that talks about how the CBC is to release episodes of the upcoming TV-show “Canada’s Next Great Prime Minister” for free via BitTorrent. This makes CBC the first North-American broadcaster to embrace the popular filesharing protocol.
According to Michael Geist, high quality copies of the show will be published the day after it aired on TV, without any DRM restrictions. Michael believes this development is important as it shows the CBC continues to experiment with alternative forms of distribution, but also this may help crystallize the net neutrality issue in Canada.
Kudos to the CBC - they understand new media.
This is not an isolated case for the CBC though. CBC Radio has a thriving podcast production side to them which definitely suits CBC Radio.
The TV guys also understand that they can grow their audiences by putting popular shows online. Case in point is my current favourite CBC show - JPod. This show debuted on a Tuesday night and was on Tuesdays for the first 6 or 7 weeks. I unfortunately missed a few broadcast episodes as I was with Megan at SickKids (that whole damn appendix situation which has finally been resolved!). When I tried tuning in one Tuesday night and saw it was not scheduled I went to check out their website.
It was there I discovered that the CBC has posted the episodes - in their entirety. I was able to watch and get caught up! I still try and catch the remaining episodes on Friday nights where they have been re-scheduled, but I know that if I miss one I can catch it (usually on Sunday) online.
One final note from Michael’s post, he states that the CBC’s mandate, as laid out in the Broadcasting Act, requires the CBC to make its programming “available throughout Canada by the most appropriate and efficient means.” By utilizing broadband and now Bit Torrents the “Mother Corp” is definitely fulfilling this mandate.
Kudos to the CBC - they understand new media.
