AnsaThat internet TV experiment proves a success

by Jacquie Bowser, Brand Republic 20-Feb-07, 14:50

LONDON - Citizen journalism can give anyone their own TV network for less investment than the purchase of a typical big-screen television, according to an internet TV experiment conducted by a former Daily Mail journalist.

James Black, a former Daily Mail journalist, conducted an experiment that proved it was possible for a person to create a successful daily internet TV show with little experience and a minimal budget.

He set up a website called AnsaThat.com, which cost £17 to create. The number of viewers -- an average of 5,000 per day -- compared favourably against those for programmes on a typical lower level satellite TV show which cost between £10,000 to £20,000 an hour to make.

Yesterday marked the end of the 50-day trial and Black has speculated that such channels could in the future spell trouble for professional journalists.

The aim of Ansathat.com was to find success in the UK and the US within the seven weeks and one day time frame. The show was not allowed to use YouTube, its presenter had to be from the 'wrong' demographic, i.e. middle-aged male, and its chief content was trivial with no promotional budget.

AnsaThat's programming included finding out how long it would take to stay in every hotel room in Las Vegas [371 years], the time it takes to count a million coins [69.5 hours] and the amount of lipstick the average western woman eats in her lifetime [5lbs].

The site's Google footprint reached 36,000 in week two. BT and a nameless US organisation approached ansaThat.com to sign it up and the potential for advertising revenue for the website is estimated at over £30,000 a year, at a basic level.

This new army of internet TV stars [or citizen-journalists as they are dubbed] will revolutionise news gathering in every conceivable field, according to Black.

The potential impact of the emerging internet TV market on those who work in traditional media may be unknown, but Black is not wasting any time. He is now hurriedly setting up his own internet TV company, and said: "The web revolution is here now. Get involved."

AnsaThat.com has become such a hit that it is now looking for new presenters to take it into the future.