ConvergeWhat is Chew TV?
Chew TV is an interactive and independent web TV channel. It is run mainly by young people and is for young people.
The channel plays User Generated Content along side our own commissions and exclusive videos from film festivals and special projects that are only available for streaming on Chew TV. This content is played as part of a programme schedule that changes at different times of the day for the different audiences that we expect although all of the videos are also available on demand in the ‘View All’ section or by using the search facility.
Signing up to a Chew TV user account is totally free and allows you to submit videos (online or by post), leave reviews & rate other films and create a profile that will allow you to advertise your skills and meet other filmmakers and media practitioners. Also some video are not available to you unless you sign up. This feature really allows you to ‘network’ within the industry and your peers so that you can get involved in other projects and further your media journey.
Why have a program schedule?
For most people watching TV is a largely passive recreation. In contrast, using most browser based web channels requires searching through endless lists of random videos (and that’s after you’ve thought of something to search for). Chew TV plays targeted programs at different times of the day just like a regular TV Channel, so if your film get on to the playlist then it is likely to be seen by large numbers of viewers. Although at any time users can ‘view all’ or search for videos.
Why curated/edited?
Not just anything gets on the channel, your work will have to be considered by our youth led content group before being approved for inclusion in the schedule. This filters out all of the rubbish you might find on other video sharing sites such as footage of people’s pets and lonely nerd’s webcam monologues.
Why use Chew TV? Unlike some other video sharing sites, Chew TV allows you to retain copyright of your work. This is more important than you might think as these corporations still own your work even after you have removed form their site! Also as mentioned above, unless you want your life’s work to be shown alongside “man falls down hole” then Chew TV is the place for you. Our streaming quality is also pretty good!
The Converge Workshop
Being part of the Converge project was very important to Chew TV. The information and tutorials provided on open source technology helped shape our strategies and also informed us on many debates/arguments that we had previously not considered. The Broadcast Machine is an excellent model for using free open source technology and online storage to create web video channels. Although due to technical reasons (at our end) we could not use The Broadcast Machine to its full potential, understanding its process was so valuable to us in looking into furthering our output by using RSS technology and introduced us to new platforms such as Democracy/Miro.
At Chew TV one of our goals is to empower young people to do things for themselves and get their voices heard. All of the information provided in the Converge Workshop and online wiki/manual provided us with knowledge to help young people to do this without resorting to uploading their work into Rupert Murdoch’s evil grasp. We were also able to look at they way Chew TV worked and think about setting examples to the collaborative filmmakers of the future.