Television Internet

Television Internet is an American broadcaster of television programming online based in Santa Monica, California. It was the internet’s first company to deliver original network quality filmed episodic programming online.

Founded by Hollywood television writer-producer Anthony Kling in 1997, Television Internet delivers lifestyle, situation comedy, music, and fitness series programming over the internet; has received international award nominations; headlined numerous technology and TV conferences; and delivered content to early wireless devices of the Pocket PC as a partner of Microsoft.

History: 1997-1998

In 1997, Anthony Kling in his twenties launched Television Internet (http://televisioninternet.com) [ [http://www.onelasvegas.com/wireless/Internet_broadcasting.html TV / Internet broadcasters wireless Broadband Convergence technologies ] ] . Previously, Kling while an MBA student at Columbia Business School had envisioned television programming online to compete with network prime time programming. [ [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/record/archives/vol25/18/2518_People.html People ] ] [ [http://www.televisioninternet.com/subscreen/ SUBSCREEN: Los Angeles County Bar Association's Subsection for Film, Television and the Internet ] ] At age 20, Kling had gotten a pilot series "Sitcom" he had written into the final rounds of consideration at CBS for a new fall series.

But in 1997, he decided to take that show CBS eventually passed on, and others he had been developing under his father's company, Heywood Kling Productions, and bring them online. [ [http://www.televisioninternet.com/credits.htm TELEVISION INTERNET - Company Credits ] ] In 1997, Kling’s Television Internet Broadcasting Network privately began testing to be the first CDN (content delivery network) to produce and stream half-hour, and hour-long, original network-quality filmed episodic programs for the web.

In fall 1998, TelevisionInternet.com announced publicly its innovation. "Television Internet Broadcasting Network, the first internet site to offer network-quality, episodic internet series programming, announced plans for a new series, "Muscle Beach". The show will be executive produced and written by Anthony Kling. Mary Kling is set to produce and direct." [ [http://www.prweb.com/releases/1999/11/prweb9926.htm Television Internet makes Internet History with First Network-Quality Series for the Web ] ]

Woody Kling

American press of Television Internet quickly spread. The press would compare Kling’s internet innovation to that of his father Woody Kling with television in the 1940s. Woody Kling was a 7-time Emmy Award nominee, 2-Time winning television writer-producer. The "Los Angeles Daily News" wrote of Kling as follows:

“In the 1940s, Woody Kling teamed with Milton Berle to create one of the first successful television series. Now, Kling's son, Anthony Kling, is pioneering programming on the Internet. The younger Kling is executive producer of "Muscle Beach", a series created for distribution on Internet via Television Internet (www.televisioninternet.com), a site he founded. Programming can be viewed on demand, at no charge." [ [http://televisioninternet.com/press.htm#4 TELEVISION INTERNET - Press Releases ] ]

"Muscle Beach" (1999)

Kling’s first project for Television Internet was a part sitcom, news program, and fitness / sports program all tied up into one, called "Muscle Beach". In Fall 1999, Kling began production on "Muscle Beach" with the slogan for Television Internet as “Primetime. Online.”

"Muscle Beach" was viewable 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, on line, for free enabled by Microsoft’s new innovations with then early Microsoft Windows Media Player. Until Kling, the net had only seen for filmed short eight minute clips, and if longer never in episodic format. "Muscle Beach" was half hour, 16 episodes, some over 2 hours in length, viewable at rates from 28.8 up to 300K.

Days before the series premiered in March 2000, Hollywood’s "Variety" magazine reported about Television Internet’s innovation. "Variety" said the following of "Muscle Beach":

" ["Muscle Beach"] bucks the standard of eight-minute-or-less shows currently on the Web. …Breaking the mold, however, is "Muscle", a sitcom, newscast and fitness hybrid that is digitally shot at Santa Monica-based Television Internet studio and around Los Angeles area beaches."

Kling appealed to viewers internationally, launching Television Internet Internationale, offering lead pages Muscle Beach in languages besides English. [ [http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117779758.html?categoryid=17&cs=1 Netcasting bulks up with half-hour 'Muscle Beach' - Entertainment News, Cyberbiz News, Media - Variety ] ]

"Muscle Beach" would eventually air a new episode every week for three seasons. In August, "Muscle Beach" received RAI Prixitalia Award nominations, being nominated as the first ever addition of netcasting to the forty year old annual television award.

Throughout the duration of year, Kling became covered in numerous publications. [Hollywood Reporter, October 27, 2000] [Earthlink Magazine, “Broadband, the Next Frontier” (cover story), February 2001”] [Wireless Reporter, “Palm, Nokia, and TelevisionInternet with New Wireless Advances, March 8, 2001] He would also appear in several conferences as a speaker. In October, Kling moderated Los Angeles’ first conference on copyright and licensing issues in Internet content delivery that included heads of Microsoft Windows Media Division, Bob Roback the president of Launch.com, and heads of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld Llp. Kling would panel CT Expo at Los Angeles Convention Center. Television Internet would be listed by alongside Palm and Nokia as leading the drive for video online in news publications. [ [http://www.lacba.org/showpage.cfm?pageid=561 Welcome to the Los Angeles County Bar Association Website ] ]

Television Internet would also appear on broadcast television. Kling and the show would appear that year on the series "Techlink", be covered in entertainment magazines like "Playboy" Magazine [April, 2001, Playboy Magazine] , Hollywood industry publications like the "Hollywood Reporter" [Hollywood Reporter, “ ‘Sitcom’ on laugh track to Pocket PCs, November 28, 2001] , and being heralded in Microsoft's Newsstand for delivering the "Net's First TV Movie of the Week".

Video over Wireless Devices, Television Mobile (2001)

Partnership with Microsoft

In 2001, TelevisionInternet became the only broadcaster to be partnered with Microsoft for its PocketPC launch of video via wireless devices. For its three continent launch of Pocket PC, Microsoft issued the following press release regarding TelevisionInternet. [ [http://televisioninternet.com/press.htm#10/4/01 TELEVISION INTERNET - Press Releases ] ] on October 4 2001:

“Television Mobile, the wireless division of the Television Internet Broadcasting Network, announced today its upcoming new series for the Microsoft Windows Media PC, Sitcom a sitcom, is expected to be the first situation comedy in history to be deployed on the Windows Powered Pocket PC platforms. As a member of the Microsoft Mobile Solutions Partner Program … Television Mobile this winter will be delivering its extensive library of episodic programming over the Microsoft Windows Media platform. "The current Microsoft player will enable owners of the Compaq iPAQ Pocket PCs, HP Jornadas and Casio Cassiopeias the opportunity to download to their Pocket PC and play Television Internet hit shows like Muscle Beach and our upcoming Sitcom series premiering this fall", according to Television Internet CEO and Founder Anthony Kling. Television Internet been actively seeking to broaden into wireless delivery of programming since the introduction early last year of the Windows Media audio players for Palm devices. For the Santa Monica-based netcaster, "wireless-casting" of their programming became a reality last December when Microsoft at Streaming Media West 2000 announced the creation of the first audio/video Media Player for wireless devices. On March 7, 2001 at eStreaming World, Television Internet announced that it would deploy the first wireless broadcasting network by year-end. Kling made the announcement during the netcaster's presentation at the two-day streaming media conference held at the Los Angeles Convention Center. "Pocket PC 2002 has a great advantage in the marketplace because it is designed to be the most connected and expandable PDA available," said Chris Hill, product manager, Microsoft. "We are pleased that the Television Internet Broadcasting Network is taking advantage of the new feature functionalities of Pocket PC 2002 in producing Sitcom for the Windows Media platform, enabling to watch half-hour episodes, even hour and a half movies of the week, with full screen, stereo sound."Television Mobile and Sitcom will appear this October on the cable TV show "Techlink". The cable show will feature the first ever-behind the scenes look at Television Internet and at the cast of its new series premiering this fall. The "Techlink" story is anticipated to focus on the likelihood of Sitcom going to network primetime broadcast for the 2002 season since the show was almost optioned by one of the three major networks back in the early 1990s from writer/creator Anthony Kling. The story is also expected to feature footage of the series, cast, producers, and acclaimed rock theme song. Slated for twenty-six episodes, the new half-hour comedy series will follow-up the netcaster's successful first series, "Muscle Beach", that premiered online in March, 2000. As the first situation comedy for the Internet, "Sitcom" has become one of the most anticipated shows of the fall season. The show and Television Internet, recently covered in "Playboy Magazine", are currently being heralded in two different reports in Microsoft's Newsstand for delivering the Net's First TV Movie of the Week and for being the first wireless broadcasting network to deliver net-original series programming to Windows Media-enabled Pocket PC wireless devices.”

"Sitcom a Sitcom" (2000)

In April 2002, Kling’s second series for Television Internet, "Sitcom, a sitcom", premiered as the Internet’s first filmed situation comedy series having been in development for over two years. The show's premiere pulled in a record number 2.1 million households worldwide. The premiere of "Sitcom", a spin-off of "Muscle Beach", was up 65% from the latter show's premiere in 2000. "Sitcom" was helped in part by a strong lead-in from the third season premiere of "Muscle" that featured the net's first crossover episode in which the cast of "Sitcom" visited "Muscle". The "Muscle"-"Sitcom" premieres broke average internet usage figures for "Time Spent During Surfing Session" by US surfers (32 minutes, according to Neilsen NetRatings for the week ending April 7, 2002.); 75% of "Muscle" viewers watched both premieres, spending 53 minutes at televisioninternet.com for the night. "Sitcom" was boosted by higher than expected numbers from hearing impaired viewers, 10% of total viewers utilizing the net's first closed captioning offering, and by overseas surfers from Canada (2.5%), UK (2.4%), and Italy (1.4%). [ [http://televisioninternet.com/press.htm#4/17/02 TELEVISION INTERNET - Press Releases ] ] "Sitcom" through 2003 would receive press coverage for being the first net program to use closed captioning for the hearing impaired, [Deafbase, April 15, 2002] [http://deafbase.com/article-print-165.html] [http://deafbase.com/article-print-235.html] , casting star Lunden De’Leon as the first African American lead in a series [Venue Magazine, March 2002] [ [http://www.lundendeleon.com/press4.html Lunden De Leon - Actress and Model ] ] , and having the internet’s first Movie of the Week [ [http://www.thetelevisionguide.com/articles/issue15.html www.thetelevisionguide.com ] ] [ [http://www.tv-sets.com/Television_Internet.htm Television Internet ] ] [ [http://www.salessuccessmagazine.com/articles/13/MUSCLE-TO-BECOME-INTERNETS-LONGEST-RUNNING-SERIES.html "Muscle" To Become Internet'S Longest Running Series ] ] .

In 2004, Television Internet would appear in broadcast television news like Prensario Latin America when its programming went on sale for distribution for network television at the MIPTV in Cannes, France, NAPTE (the US Television Market) and MITPV (the international TV market).

Today, Television Internet’s programs have been viewable uninterrupted since its launch. [http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:Ri9Ah_DbdxEJ:top40-charts.com/news.php%3Fnid%3D8254%26string%3DJimi%2520Hendrix+%22lunden+de+leon%22+%2B+%22sitcom%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=15&gl=us]

References

External links

* [http://www.windowsmedia.com Windows Media]
* [http://www.movieimpact.com Watch Movies Online] Examples of Streaming Videos and Movies
* [http://searchvoip.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid66_gci213055,00.html Explanation of Streaming Video]