On Tuesday, Disney’s ABC will launch its new video website-cum-TV-programme-cum-multi-platform distribution mechanism called, iCaught. It promises to be the next integrated step in the multimedia revolution, as well as providing a self-referential look at the phenomenon of… well… the multimedia phenomenon.
Sounds a little bit of a twist? Well think of it this way; an online video becomes an overnight sensation, whether it be catching a pantiless celeb or, my personal favourite a few months ago, the quotidian highlights of Uni the hedgehog. The TV show reports on what’s hot and goes behind the scenes to posture why and get more details, which in turn will no doubt drive more viewership, copycatting etc.
Eventually we will have a global frenzy of people obsessively filming things on their cameras, phones etc. in the hope that they’ll capture something viewer worthy and get their fifteen seconds of fame (or win the $100,000. Isn’t a pathetic reality show with viewer voting long over due on this stuff? As in, let’s broaden America’s Funniest Home Videos and let the public vote. After all, it’s the nearest thing some people might actually get to a democracy, seeing as more Americans voted in the most recent American Idol competition than did in the previous presidential election!)
So is there anything worth watching when the number of channels is almost equivalent to the number of internet users? Perhaps that’s what iCaught is hoping to offer, a curated and TV-supported version of YouTube. Here’s one iCaught clip that you ought not to miss; an unbelievable tussle between predators and prey that will imbue you with new appreciation for the Cape Buffalo. It was shot in South Africa’s Kruger National Park. Watch it here.
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