Nowlive Entertainment Network

A preview of what to expect on the new networks.

Video Credit: MaLayLaH
Widget Credit: David

Chatroom & Widget Update

A  new feature to talk about. When you block people from your room now, the member will appear at the bottom of your chatters list in red. These members cannot communicate in your show, but you will now be able to block and unblock your problem listeners. This will minimize the amount of moderator abuse by your friends. Also, guests are now unable to chat in the rooms. Many people were complaining about this feature. They will still show up in the room, but unable to type into the chat. Hopefully this is helpful to you.

Now onto the widget. If you would like to be on the widget, it is important that you SCHEDULE your shows from now on. You need to get into the habit of this. IF you want us to put your show on the widget you are required to be on video, and be scheduled from now on. IF you do not schedule your show, then please do not come to us upset because you missed out. It's also helpful to us if you go into your profile, broadcast, edit show details, and add a little (v) beside your show name. This will be an indication to us that you'd like to be on the widget, and will have video during your show. Just make sure you schedule your show from now on. All shows not scheduled will miss out. Sorry. Another thing I'd like to mention for shows on the widget. If we ask you to clean up the language during your show, it is because you are NOT broadcasting exclusively to nowlive. The widget is streamed on many different websites, including myspace, and some of our sponsors. There is no age restriction on the widget, and the widget is used to entertain and bring new listeners to the site. We are trusting that you would like to get your name out to a larger audience with this widget, and by being inappropriate whether it be language or content, you are not only reflecting a negative image of yourself, but you are representing that same image for nowlive. Please do not stop your show while you're on the widget to talk about how it's unfair that we tell you to censor your profanity or content of your show. If we ask you to calm the content down a bit, then please do it and move on with the show. Being professional under tough circumstances will keep your show on the widget in the future.

Have fun, and entertain. Please support new shows and our live events, these are what keep the site going!

Thanks.

Updates and changes

     A few changes on the site to update you on if you haven't noticed already. First, the chat has changed up a little bit. As the host, you are now able to make your friends moderators in your shows. Be cautious as to who you choose though, moderators are now able to block people from your room. You can have as many moderators as you'd like, but it would be silly so make everyone a moderator and have people abuse their new powers and you suddenly have no one in your show. Keep that in mind. Also, please do NOT contact us about unblocking your friends from your show. You need to wait out the chatbans because we are giving you the power to control more of your show and that includes moderators and chatbans. Eventually the bans will timeout after 24 hours, so make sure they deserve it if you use it.
   
     With this new power enabled in your show, this brings me to the overwhelming requests to be admins for the site. STOP ASKING. We have given you the moderator option for your show to set your own "admins" in your show. When the show is over, they will no longer be moderators. There is no more need for more site admins right now, and asking me will be the quickest way to not become one. If I make all of you admins, what's the point of having any? You may not like who I choose as one, but that's not up to you. Please stop asking me to make you an admin, there are more important issues with the site that I need to work on, and that's not one of them. Sorry!

     Ticker and widget. If you want to be on the ticker or widget, it is important that you SCHEDULE your show. Go to your profile, click on "broadcast" at the top tabs, and then click on "schedule a broadcast". If you have any special requests for the ticker and widget, email Melissa@nowmediacorp.com and she will help you out. You need to have a video if you'd like to be on the widget. We need people to see the widgets and you as you're doing your show, so please be understanding if we don't put you on because you don't have one.

   New things to look for in the future, NETWORKS. They will be coming very soon and we will keep you up to date on how you can participate and even start your own network. Keep an eye out for this and I will let you know when it is available. Also, on FLASH shows, we are currently enabling recording for both audio and video. We are in the process of building tools for you to be able to play your show rebroadcasts and even put your show on Youtube. Keep an eye out for this aswell.

     We have a lot in store for the site, and I'm sure you will like the changes. Please make sure to come and support our live shows and premieres on the site. Also, go say hi to the new shows and make them feel at home. You were new once too!

Looking for quality Entertainment

Hosts,

We are in the process of launching a new network with the focus on ENTERTAINMENT.  This includes music, talk, comedy, and news that would all have a twist and interest for other entertainment sites.  This network will only look for the best LIVE content on the web and we need to start securing the top talent for time slots within the network.

The goal is to create a massive distribution plan to get this network out to many popular sites looking for great content related to their viewers needs and likes.  Think of it as our FEATURED NETWORK but on steroids and focused...and partners will pick and choose the shows they want to view in the network LIVE as well as schedule rebroadcasts of preferred shows that fit their destination (thats right....your shows are going to be fully recorded for playback).

We need to have QUALITY programming throughout the network which includes:

• Shows with real structure and content (not just viewer chat...that will be another network)
• Consistent audio and video quality (video is required)
• Meet a consistent schedule not missing timeslots

Shows will include a combination of company programming and member broadcasts which include:

• LIVE events: redcarpet, concerts, sporting events, ...
• Celebrity shows: fan, talk, music, and news
• Entertainment News
• Comedy
• Other: many of our top shows that we feel will have an interest to the network 

This network will be the foundation of many more to come and will be the start of taking the best of LIVE, Interactive media and creating a distribution and business model for the top producers on the net.  We understand that many of you are of a "Shock Jock Genre" which is fine for additional networks in the works, but for our initial launch of the ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK, we will need to have QUALITY, ENTERTAINMENT programming that has mass appeal.

I have started the process of picking the initial shows for the network and will start contacting each of you where we think there is a fit.  We will also look to adjust scheduling to see who is flexible. We are also going outside of our site to look for additional quality content to fill programming needs (we are not looking to steal other site hosts, but find people that want to syndicate their content to a larger audience).  Anyone interested in being part of this network...pitch me your show or show idea and the schedule , and we will see if you can be part of our initial launch.  But again, this is going to be highly selective looking for real programming where there is quality content, audio, and video.  And if you are not the right fit for this network, don't be frustrated, as we are quickly launching additional networks to cover everyones programming needs and desires!! 

Things have changed...SO READ UP

So the world as you know it is different...hopefully for the better.  Here are the bigger changes and features right now to understand:

Now more wizard when you start your show but instead a pop up over the player

• OPTION 1 is the old way to start shows with a phone, Googletalk, or gizmo and the shows behave the same way...one cool feature is callers can be unmuted and muted over and over to get control of shows with lots of talkers!!
• OPTION 2 is a new way similar to the FLASH shows before and what many of our competitors offer...here you just get on CAM and have a microphone and you are LIVE, and your 4 CAM spots will also have audio too (we are putting in MUTING of the CAM spots very soon)...in this show you cannot have any callers using phones, GT, or Gizmo and you will not have a podcast.  These shows are great for music as the audio quality is much better

HOST SETTINGS: in the player - now you can go in and change setting during your show including skinning the player color, turning off webcams, and allowing callers to come in unmuted...check it out

FRIENDS TAB: in the player you can open your friends tab and APPROVE requests and UNBLOCK members.  This will be useful in running PRIVATE shows and allowing people in during the broadcast

CAMS: 4 spots now and a little different to turn them on...and to make them larger just click on the image

ADS: We have ads in the player....sorry but maybe someday they will help you make money too!!!

So have some fun and if you have any issues or ideas please send them over to SUPPORT and we will get back with you.

Featured Network Update

OK...we are in the final stages of testing and initially have gotten very good feedback.  In primetime last night, over 7,000 unique listeners came through 1 hr shows with a high percentage clicking through to the interactive player.

We are randomly putting user shows in the network to test functionality and load throughout the day...so this is what I need for us to grab your shows and put them in:

1. Schedule your show so we know its coming up and we can put it into the grid to be featured
2. We want shows with Video as the player is a video window and that will drive more people to view it and click to interact
3. Well produced shows will be showcased...do more then chat with friends :)
4. For the FEATURED NETWORK, we want the inital shows to be PG rated as we go out to grab sponsors and new syndication partners (other Networks we will offer will have different ratings, but for this intial test we need it PG so we do not get blocked from large providers where they are being embedded).
5. Embed the widget: you can grab embed code off the homepage widget (don't forget the myspace embed is different so use the Myspace icon to get that code)

This is only the beginning so please work with us to make this a great tool to separate NowLive and our broadcasters from the rest of UG content.  Once the Network technology is in place, then the second piece of revenue sharing will be implemented.

Good luck, be supportive, and have fun!! 

NowLive Featured Network is in the works!!

What is the NowLive Featured Network?

First…lets stop the drama and get back to what is important…you run a show because you have something to say, network with friends, and expand you listener base. And the goal is when traffic gets large enough you can make real $$$ with these shows. So what can we do to help:

NowLive is changing the way shows are featured…we are now creating the NowLive FEATURED NETWORK of shows that will be syndicated across major traffic sites as well as our network of featured broadcasters…what does that mean for you?? If you are part of the FEATURED NETWORK every time you run a show you will have between 100-1000 listeners viewing your broadcast and that number will only continue to grow as we expand (they are only listeners…its your job to hook them with good broadcasts). The FEATURED NETWORK will run 24/7 so there are 168 one hour spots to be filled on the network. Your shows can very in length, but might only be syndicated for only the first hour of your broadcast once the time slots are filled up.

So how does this work:

1. The Featured Network Widget will be embedded throughout the network of broadcasters and other high traffic sites with lots of viewers all the time
2. The widget will be LIVE 24/7 and if there is no show scheduled from the FEATURED NETWORK it will promote the next available show coming up
3. As a host, you will secure your time spot for being part of the network meeting certain requirements
   1. Show is scheduled at least once per week
   2. The show content is deemed of HIGH QUALITY for the network
      
4. As this evolves over time, the shows that generate the most traffic, have the best content, and are rated the highest by viewers will hold the premier spots in the schedule.
5. Each show will run under the Branded Player for the FEATURED NETWORK served up with sponsor ads…and here is the better news…once this is in place and working, the ad revenue will be evaluated and prorated to the shows given the amount of page views each generate...make sense?

So how do you get involved?

Right now I have 168 one hour spots for the network…send Bigdog a comment about your show, the top 3 times you would like to have in the schedule, and send me the times your show is scheduled so we can listen and evaluate it…and if we like it you are in.  Since we have a lot of openings right now, you may secure multiple spots in the schedule, but once it gets filled that may be cut down. I do not care what problems any of us may have had in the past….this is all about becoming successful and working together. Our BIG shows right now will probably hold their current time slots so use that information in picking your times. We need to make this place what it use to be, a solid community of support…what better then to be part of the largest listening network on the Internet!!!

Been a while once again!

Hey guys, been a while since we've seen a Bigdog Blog update but we have some new things going around that you should be informed about:

The block feature has been fixed! This means that you can block anyone from your room again and they will be put on your ignore list. If you just want to give this person a time out, you can go back to your ignore list from the PRIVACY tab on your profile and un-ignore them. They should be able to refresh and join your show once again.

We also have a very exciting new facebook player for all of you facebook users! There will be a pre-beta application in the coming week that you can all toy around with. Let us know what you think about it if you use it, right now we will definitely use your feedback and make it as much fun as possible for everyone!

Be sure to catch all of the holiday shows on this weekend and have a good time with the community! Until next time...peace out guys.

KevTom needs your help!

Hey guys - we need your help!  KevTom entered a "pitch" contest at Vator.tv and we need your votes. Please create an account and vote for KevTom's pitch.  Here is the link to get to the competition: http://vator.tv/competition/show/demand-medias-top-new-media-company-competition

Exciting things are happening!

Hey guys, some exciting things are happening at nowlive! Right now we have some radio stations and TV shows running on the network. Currently, the hosts won't be on the boards, but soon they'll be able to interact with everyone. If you have a chance, pop into a few of them and see what they've got happening. The audio quality is much better because they're streaming externally with companies that charge a monthly fee for the quality. Should be neat to test out on our platform and a lot of them are playing some great music and awesome video! Let them know what you think! :)