Medium4 To Launch 24-Hour Streaming Channel

Online content aggregator Medium4.com (www.medium4.com) announced on Tuesday it will be launching a 24-hour continuous stream channel, GlobalVillageTV.com, starting in January 2001.

Medium4 already features video on demand (VOD) programming with its ForeignTV.com network -- which includes such diverse content sites as TranceMusicTV.com and TelAvivTV.com.

GlobalVillageTV already exists in VOD in the company's network and will consist mainly of international music, travel, fashion, and film content. Medium4 says GlobalVillageTV will closely resemble a traditional TV channel in that the site will continuously stream video, and users will join programming in progress.

"Converting GlobalVillageTV.com to a simulated live stream [SLS] channel should make it popular with advertisers," said Jonathan Braun, CEO of Medium4, in a statement. "SLS is a more ad friendly format for many reasons, including the obvious fact that it allows for insertion of commercials within the stream."

The company said it plans to launch further 24-hour continuous stream broadcasts in a variety of niche content sites, and may plan to drop completely its video on demand model.