Do YouTube?
The Invasion has begun… Broadcasting is going through its biggest change since the invention of television.
The rapid rise of Internet broadcasting shows how quickly the face of broadcasting is changing.This represents a dilemma for established broadcasters.
“Traditional media owners are very threatened by the internet,” says Claire Beale.
“You won’t find a media owner out there now who doesn’t have a business model that includes the internet and how they are going to take their brand online.”
But however the big media players react to the online upstarts, one thing is certain.
DIY TV is here to stay because of one inescapable fact: anyone can have an audience of millions at the cost of virtually nothing.
One such internet broadcaster is 79-year-old Peter. He used a webcam to shoot his films, and posted them under the name geriatric1927 on video-sharing website YouTube, where they have been seen over four million times.
He made his debut in August 2006 with a series of videos about his life entitled Telling It All.
They were an instant hit. His fame soon spread beyond the internet and his story has been picked up by newspapers and television around the world.
Peter himself has so-far resisted all the media attention he has generated; including requests for interviews, photographs, and any attempt to identify him.
He was never filmed by anyone except himself, until the Money Programme persuaded him to give an interview at his home.
“No I don’t like the fame, what I like is the warmth of the response from the people who have found me on YouTube,” says Peter.
“I’m not seeking popularity. What I have got and what I want to retain is a group of friends on the YouTube community.”