After launching its own TV production studio and expanding into streaming music, BitTorrent today announced that it its latest venture, a live-streaming TV news network, will launch next week during the Republican National Convention.
Although BitTorrent TV is an aggressive expansion into the traditional media space, BitTorrent News is perhaps the opposite. The company sees its news network as a disruptor, and it plans to exploit the weaknesses of traditional cable news to attract viewers.
"Television news has been stagnating for some time," Erik Schwartz, vice president of media for BitTorrent, said in a statement. "It's having trouble appealing to a generation that grew up online. We're building BitTorrent News to solve that problem. We are using superior data and tools and the Silicon Valley ethos of lean start-up to build a nimble news organization that will learn quickly from user behavior."
Last week, it announced that former Vice and CNN journalist Harrison Bohrman will serve as news director for the new venture. Its correspondents mostly come from Al Jazeera America, which earlier this year collapsed and laid off most of its staff. They include Michael Shure, Al Jazeera's former chief political correspondent.
For its launch at the Republican convention, BitTorrent News will focus on commentary on the delegates' speeches. There will be 10-12 hours of live coverage every day. Each morning will start with two hours of live programming, and coverage will continue at 2 p.m. with a wrap-up segment for an hour after the final speeches.
The coverage will be available for streaming on the new BitTorrent Live app, which is currently available on Apple TV and OS X, with support for other platforms coming soon.
Source: pcmag.com
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