South African news publisher
News24.com has raised the convergence stakes for its competitors by broadcasting a version of its website via satellite to television sets. Viewers "surf" the interactive TV channel with their remote controls and get access to News24's latest news stories. The channel, which is broadcast throughout Africa via local satellite television company
Multichoice Africa on
DSTV, is described as an "African first." The company has brought together web expertise and technology with that of television and satellite technology to create synergies on both a technical and content level. Newspaper content (from the print brands within News24's publishing stable) and web content is being leveraged and repackaged not only on the web, but now on TV too.
The interactive channel has a similar look and feel to that of the
News24 website, and the channel is run via the Internet to be in sync with News24's own website. The TV channel is updated via the same content management system as the website, which results in a cost saving for the company. This means that when a News24 journalist adds a story or picture to the website's home page, for example, the changes are automatically and simultaneously reflected on the interactive TV channel. News24 says the interactive news channel gives the online news publisher greater access to readers/viewers in the evenings and on weekends -- when there is high television viewership, but low Internet traffic. In South Africa, most Internet traffic occurs during office hours as people log on from work.
For those outside Africa who are unable to access the interactive news channel, News24 has set up
this preview on its website.
