CMGI -- Rival for Broadcast.com + Russian TV by satellite

[Benjamin Sher]

Dear Colleagues:

1 -- Well, folks, things are moving at lightning speed on the Net. Just
a few days ago, I informed you about Broadcast.com, its new
multicasting technology and the availability of broadband video on
its site, including some Russian videos.

Looks like Broadcast.com will now have a major rival: CMGI has just
announced that it will invest $100 million in a similar broadband
multimedia venture on the Net. The full story can be found at:

CMGI TO COMPETE WITH BROADCAST.COM
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2210227,00.html

Let's hope this means more Russian and Slavic videos for us and
another venue for do-it-yourself webcasting (see yesterday's
message).

2 -- I just discovered that Russian TV is available right now by
satellite all over America and Canada (though not necessarily
everywhere) through WMNB, which features ethnic TV broadcasting
in Russian, Ukrainian and possibly Polish. Of course, you need to
have a satellite dish. Most of us cannot afford this (I know I can't),
but perhaps Russian departments might be interested in it if they do
not already have such satellite programs in place. To find out more,
contact Skyview Media at:

http://www.skyviewmedia.com/eabc/russian/

If any of you know of other satellite broadcasting companies that
broadcast Russian or Slavic TV, please let me know and I'll
announce it to the list and include it on my Index.

I do not like and generally do not announce or recommend any
commercial programs. However, the tremendous demand (and need)
for multimedia, especially video and TV on the Net, including
Russian video and TV for us, is so great, that I feel it my duty to let
people know what's available, even if occasionally it means
mentioning (not necessarily recommending) commercial services or
products.

In fact, I personally wrote to WMNB and recommended to them that
they open a commercial subscription service for Russian TV on the
NET, for the online Russian-speaking community, just like the one
Francelink (www.francelink.com) offers for the French-speaking
community. I'll let you know if I get a positive response.

Yours,

Benjamin

Benjamin Sher
Sher's Russian Web and Index
http://personal.msy.bellsouth.net/msy/s/h/sher07/