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- Continent Run Finally in Norwegian Too(no også på norsk)
The preview of the 5 continent in 1 day trip documentary is finally available also in Norwegian. The direct Youtube URL: http://youtu.be/9IcyAro9B_4 If you’d rather watch it in English, please visit this URL: http://youtu.be/kq5zdfdV4H4
- The Story Travelled Farther (But Not as Fast)
The idea of travelling to five continents in one day, and making a television documentary about it (preview on Youtube), has been characterised as crazy, insane and mental. And as “systemised madness” by my own brother, Øystein Garfors, who is Head of PR for the 5in1 project. He knows me very well, so I guess he’s on to something. The story must in any case have been a good one, as it has now been told in major and minor media companies in at least 21 countries (see links to BBC, CNN and others below), although yet only on four continents. It also seems to be liked by most, disliked by some, according to comments on various websites that has covered the story and in social media. Twitter comments We used #continentrun as our Twitter tags, although most people have shared news stories unaware of this. Here are some of the Twitter comments made about this trip: @DisplacedNation Olympian feat? Norwegian traveler Gunnar Garfors travels to 5 continents w/in a single day! @patricialu88 How to travel five continents in one day. OMG i want to do this! @tuija @garfors you’re insane 😀 Very funny (Sponsors alert – this guy is seriously #mobile) @AIESEC_Windsor CNN describes the strategies one man used to set the world record for travelling: 5 continents in ONE DAY! @SkinsYo10 Sure beats any Monday accomplishments I’ve done ~ @MullaNasruddin What you might call extreme commuting @vivthesetter can’t help but feel they’ve missed the point of travel Meaningless? The main critique is on two issues. Firstly that extensive air travel is bad for the environment. Secondly that such a hurried trip defeats the purpose of travel. It will come as no surprise that I do not agree with these opinions. Flight travel is not the best thing you can do to show your love to the environment. Although it has ended up with a much worse reputation than deserved. We did first of all only take scheduled flights. These leave anyway, and as we help fill them up (none of the flights on this trip were completelly full) thus lowering the emissions per passenger. And the airline industry is anyhow not polluting that much, comparatively speaking. The internet is equally bad, if not worse. Transport of goods in worse whereas the biggest sinners of them all is the industry. And meat production should also be mentioned as a culprit. It turns out that most of those I talk to about this drive new cars, own Ipads, wear cotton products manufactured in China or eat imported Argentinian beef or sheep meat from New Zealand. So whereas airlines do pollute, so does almost everything out there. How about defeating the purpose of travel? Well, what is the purpose of travel? To me it is to see and explore new places, meet new people and discover new tastes and scents. Our trip saw us on four airplanes in less than 29 hours (just a little longer than going to Australia or New Zealand), helping us see five countries and continents along the way. And the way back was travelled at a substantially slower speed, giving us time to enjoy each country. What I particularly liked was meeting locals that showed us “their real” country, as opposed to meeting few locals except for hotel and restaurant staff and only relying on what foreigners have written in guidebooks that may or may not be outdated, inaccurate and designed towards travellers, which is a very wide group with regards to age, gender, interests, etc. The outbound journey of this trip was relatively hectic, but not at all defeating the purpose of travel, rather the contrary. 5 Continents in 1 Day in the Media We have so far been made aware of stories being posted in the countries shown below. Some have been posted online, others are printed on paper, read on the radio or been discussed on television. If you know of others, please let me know the media (and URL if there is one) by sending me a mail (address in the right hand menu) or by using the comments below. It is intriguing and fascinating to see how the story is portrayed in various countries. Some focus on both Adrian and myself, others only on me, yet others on the film that we are making or on the journey itself. Oriental Daily focuses on my job title, that it is a CEO that has done this trip while Danish public service broadcaster DR claims that I am a wealthy guy. I have no clue where they got that from, my salary doesn’t quite help me qualify as a richman. Please feel free to make them right though, I can do millionaire. Canada I Health Travel: This Week In Travel And Health. The Province: Many road warriors set own records for grueling trips. The Vancouver Sun: Many road warriors set own records for grueling trips. Czech Republic Hedvabna Stezka: Světový rekord: 5 kontinentů za 1 den. Novinky: Nadšenci jako jediní na světě navštívili pět kontinentů za jediný den. Denmark DR: Rekord af norsk rigmand: Fem kontinenter på en dag. Hong Kong Oriental Daily: 挪威企業CEO 一日遊五大洲. And in paper edition (see photo at the top of this post). The Sun: 一日到訪五大洲創紀錄. Indonesia Ideguenews: Bagaimana menjelajahi lima benua dalam satu hari? Okezone: Bukan Tidak Mungkin, Keliling Dunia dalam Sehari. Ireland Irish Independent: Duo in content-hopping record bid. Malta Times of Malta: Five continents in a single day. Morocco Aeronautique: Cinq continents en une journée avec quatre avions. Norway ABC Nyheter: Norske Gunnar satte reiserekord. Bergensavisen: Gunnar ble først i verden. Dagbladet: Besøker fem land i fem kontinenter på 24 timer. Firda: Fem kontinent på ein dag. And in paper edition. Glomdalen, Tidens Krav: Gunnar først i verden! NRK: Vitjar fem kontinent på éin dag. NRK: Så klarte Gunnar å vitje fem kontinent på eit døgn. Nordlys, Tvedestrandsposten: Fem kontinent på en dag! P4 Radio. Radio Norge. VG: Gunnar besøkte fem kontinenter på ett døgn. And in paper edition. Pakistan Pakistan Daily Times: Duo in continent hopping record bid. Poland Onet: Gunnar Garfors odwiedził pięć kontynentów w jeden dzień. Romania Airlines Travel: 5 continente, 4 zboruri, 2 persoane şi o singură zi (video). Russia Gefard: Пять континентов за один день. Slovakia Webnoviny: Cestovateľskí nadšenci prešli päť kontinentov za jeden deň. Spain Preferente: Cómo recorrer cinco países de cinco continentes con cuatro aviones en un solo día. Sweden Resaktuelt: Besöker fem kontinenter på en dag. Turkey Milliyet: Bir güne 5 kıta sığdırdılar. Ukraine All Travels: Пять континентов за один день. In Turism: ПЯТЬ КОНТИНЕНТОВ ЗА СУТКИ. United Kingdom Belfast Telegraph: Duo in continent-hopping record bid. Bourne Loccal: Duo in continent-hopping record bid. BBC: Friends film visit to five continents in one day. BBC Radio Solent. MSN UK: Duo in content-hopping record bid. Press Association: Duo in continent-hopping record bid. Terminal U: VIDEO: Five continents, four planes, two people and one day. This is Dorset: Bournemouth filmmaker’s ‘world record’ visit to five continents in a day. United States of America CNN: How to travel five continents in one day. USA Today: Too much travel? Road Warriors recall ‘killer’ trips. Vietnam Afamily: Anh chàng đi 4 châu lục trong 1 ngày. Ngoisaio: Anh chàng đi 4 châu lục trong 1 ngày. VietBao: Tận hưởng cuộc sống ở 4 châu lục trong 1 ngày. Please let me know if you have seen or heard media coverage in other countries.
- 5 Continents in 1 Day Trip Goes Viral
Video URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq5zdfdV4H4 Gunnar Garfors from Norway and Adrian Butterworth from the UK successfully visited five countries on five continents on June 18th, using only scheduled transport. The first video is now available in full HD. – The guys are happily celebrating in Caracas in South America, the last continent. A short version of the documentary about the trip has now been made available online, says Øystein Garfors, Head of PR. British production company Adelia Television followed the journey to document the world record setting achievement. The short version is now available on garfors.com. The full-length documentary will be made in both English and Norwegian. It will premiere later this year. The five continents that had a brief Norwegian-British encounter on June 18th were, in chronological order, Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and South America. The complete itinerary was as follows: Istanbul (SAW) – Casablanca (CMN) – 01:10-04:10 – Air Arabia 3O 2438 Casablanca (CMN) – Paris (CDG) – 07:35-11:35 – Air France AF 1697 Paris (CDG) – Punta Cana (PUJ) – 13:30-16:20 – Air France AF 3563 Punta Cana (PUJ) – Caracas (CCS) – 21:00-22:05 – GOL G3 7625 Video format: Full HD, 1080p. Please visit https://garfors.com for more information. More about the trip here. Gunnar Garfors is originally a journalist, but now runs NMTV, a Norwegian mobile television company and IDAG, an international radio and TV organisation. He is 37 years old, has six brothers and sisters and comes from the village of Naustdal on the Norwegian West Coast. He lives in Oslo. Adelia Television is a television production company based in Bournemouth. It is run by Adrian Butterworth who has broad experience from various television broadcasters. The company has produced documentaries for the UK home office and corporate clients. Press photos for free use; https://garfors.com/2012/06/press-photos.html. For questions or inquiries; Please contact spokesman Øystein Garfors on oystein@garfors.no / +47 41 53 06 03.
- 5:1, Continent Run Summarised
On June 18 I set out on a rather wild journey. The goal was to visit five continents in one day, using only public transport. It was based on an idea I got when travelling a few years ago, to visit as many continents as possible in one day. I am extremely happy to say that I succeeded, going through passport control in continent number 5 at 22:15 with 105 minutes to go before midnight. And I am equally happy to see that Adrian Butterworth of Adelia Television completed the same mission on the same day, working as director on a documentary about the untraditional and semi-crazy journey. The itinerary? We kept everyone but a very few guessing. ‘Most continents visited in one calendar day’ was approved as a Guinness World Record March 14, 2014. Watch the preview video here. Asia, Continent #1 We started in Asia. The reason was simple. Availability of flights. In particular a very early morning flight to our next continent, a prerequisite to be able to complete the task on time. We even started in Istanbul, a city on two continents. But to go for the easy way out and visit two continents in the same country was not even considered. Too easy! Easy is boring. So, we decided to only focus on the Asian part of Istanbul. – There’s nothing worth seeing there, my friends from the west side of town said, but I was soon introduced to their eastern friends when I stubbornly insisted and explained the concept. Eastern Istanbul is ace and has a more tranquil atmosphere than the west. I would say, based on only a weekend there. The flight was scheduled to leave at 01:10, but was 19 minutes late. No good start as we of obvious reasons had very limited time on each continent. My Air Arabia debut was slightly surprising. For the first time on any flight I have been on, the flight deck started it all off by a travel prayer. In Arabic. I guess it worked. We didn’t crash. Arrival in Africa was only 7 minutes late, so we must have been speeding. Flight: Istanbul (SAW) – Casablanca (CMN): 01:10-04:10 – Air Arabia 3O 2438 Africa, Continent #2 We arrived in Casablanca just after 4 in the morning. We were picked up by Nawal in the airport. She drove fast, almost furious. Red lights were ignored as a rule. Adrian wasn’t too happy about the situation though as the availability of seatbelts in the backseat was zero. But we got to the great mosque on time, although Adrian’s shots from the car weren’t exactly steady. And that was not due to alcohol consumption onboard the plane. Air Arabia doesn’t serve alcohol. Our first stop was the mosque, the third biggest in the world. Setting up equipment for an interview in front of it at 4:45 in the morning may not have been the most clever of plans. The church police, I mean the mosque police, was not impressed. We were asked to leave the sacred ground in front of the mosque. We did, and did the interview just outside. That was seen as us loopholing, and our interview was interrupted after a few minutes. There was no doubt that we had to leave fast unless we wanted the opportunity to film an African police station. We moved on to sites with lower police penetration to finish the interview. The ride back to the airport was slightly slower. – The police has woken up now, she explained. Air France was next up. Their 07:35 flight to Paris stays overnight in Casablanca, so we were rather confident there would be no delays. The French did not disappoint and took off 7 minutes early. Flight: Casablanca (CMN) – Paris (CDG): 07:35-11:35 – Air France AF 1697. Europe, Continent #3 Europe was our Achilles heel. We had 1 hour and 55 minutes between flights and needed to change terminal in the meantime in addition to meeting and getting to know our local contact, doing stand ups and getting footage. Air France first gave us two additional minutes. Then they added an hour by delaying their departure to continent number four. Flight: Paris (CDG) – Punta Cana (PUJ): 13:30-16:20 – Air France AF 3563. North America, Continent #4 The delay from Paris gave us less time than we had anticipated and robbed me of a swim with dolpins that we had arranged with the dolpin trainer at a marine park. We still had time for some relaxation on a beach 20 minutes away from the airport. The islanders do see themselves as Caribbeans, but Dominican Republic is geographically speaking one out of 23 countries in North America. It is refreshingly free from white tennis shoes, though. We almost missed our departure from Punta Cana as the airline decided to start boarding 30 minutes early. Ade had to leave the burger he had ordered in order to be let onboard. An airline that departs before schedule? Gol is certainly not your ordinary airline. Flight: Punta Cana (PUJ) – Caracas (CCS): 21:00-22:05 – GOL G3 7625 South America, Continent #5 We arrived in Caracas, had to fill in three different forms and were eventually allowed to enter the country at 22:15. I have never felt better getting a stamp in my passport. Very relieving! Angie was going to meet us in the airport. She did. With four friends! We suddenly experienced a welcome committee. They drove us downtown and straight to the bar. Celebration was on! And we had company of four Venezuelan stunning girls. And a guy. We had just experienced our longest Monday ever. But the night was still young. Television documentaries The trip will result in a full-length documentary in two versions, Norwegian and English, and a 90 second long short version in english. The full-length film is still being worked on (March 2013). Do get in touch if you are interested in watching a precut version or if you are interesting in airing it. Too little material for the documentaries? Some are critical to the limited amount of material we will get after such a journey, and they are of course right. When planning it we decided to follow the same route back and stop for a few days on each location in order to have more time for interviews and getting footage. We will then have footage from the record trip itself and footage from the return. How we differentiate the footage remains to be seen. Although some of it may be obvious. We did for example not see Morocco in daylight on June 18. What next? Where else will we visit? We have many plans, but are very open to suggestions and are happy to hear from you.
- Five Continents in One Day. Done That.
Watch the preview video here. I just finished one of my crazier ideas. To visit five continents in one day. I arrived in Venezuela, South America at 22:15 local time on June 18. Previously that day I had visited Asia (Istanbul), Africa (Casablanca), Europe (Paris) and North America (Punta Cana). All in a Monday’s work. The full story will be told in a television documentary or two. Director Adrian Butterworth of Adelia Television travelled with me and can claim the same world first achievement. But now, some sleep. Read more about the idea and the concept here.
- The Itinerary
How to travel to five continents in one day? There are several possible routes, but most of them go through the US where immigration queues are horrible and can take hours. That is not compatible with a journey to many places in one day. This is the route we travelled: June 18: Istanbul (SAW) – Casablanca (CMN): 01:10-04:10 – Air Arabia 3O 2438 Casablanca (CMN) – Paris (CDG): 07:35-11:35 – Air France AF 1697 Paris (CDG) – Punta Cana (PUJ): 13:30-16:20 – Air France AF 3563 Punta Cana (PUJ) – Caracas (CCS): 21:00-22:05 – GOL G3 7625 We had no problems, but there is not too much time between flights. You may be lucky. Or not. Travel at own risk. Other routes that are better? Please suggest possibilities below. Watch the preview video here.
- World First: Five Continents in One Day
PRESS RELEASE (English, Norwegian (nynorsk), Norwegian (bokmål): Gunnar Garfors from Norway is on his way to try to visit five countries on five continents in the same day, using only scheduled transport. He started the journey just after midnight and is now on his way to Europe, continent number three. British production company Adelia Television follows the journey, a world’s first if successful, to make documentaries about it. – This is one of those crazy ideas that turned out too challenging and fun not to pursue further. The television production companies I took it to agreed, so it will even be thoroughly documented, Garfors says. He is a keen traveler, having visited 174 of the 198 countries of the world. A short video version of the five-continents-in-a-day journey will be made available online only hours after Garfors has stepped on continent number five of the day. The full-length documentary will take weeks more to complete. Versions in both English and Norwegian will be produced by Adelia Television. – This is not designed to be a bragging story. It is certainly about the neck breaking journey in itself, but equally much about the shrinking world we live in, the people, the cultures, the contrasts. And it won’t be ‘airport TV’ either. We are meeting people on every continent, away from the airports. Says Adrian Butterworth. He is CEO of Adelia Television. The five continents that will have a brief Norwegian-British encounter on June 18 are, in alphabetical order, Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America. The complete itinerary will not be public until after completion of the journey, due to safety precautions. You may follow @garfors on Twitter for live updates from the trip or use the tweet tag #continentrun to discuss or comment. You may visit https://garfors.com for more information. Gunnar Garfors is originally a journalist, but now runs NMTV, a Norwegian mobile television company and IDAG, an international radio and TV organization. He is 37 years old, has six brothers and sisters and comes from the village of Naustdal on the Norwegian West Coast. He lives in Oslo. Adelia Television is a television production company based in Bournemouth. It is run by Adrian Butterworth who has broad experience from various television broadcasters across the UK. The company has produced documentaries for the UK home office and corporate clients. Press photos for free use; https://garfors.com/2012/06/press-photos.html. For questions or inquiries; Please contact spokesman Øystein Garfors on oystein@garfors.no / +47 41 53 06 03. This press release as PDF; In English, in Norwegian (nynorsk), in Norwegian (bokmål). Related article: Yet Another Travel Show.
- Yet Another Travel Show
Watch the preview video here. I have teamed up with Adelia Television in the United Kingdom to produce a new travel concept for television. The production company is based in Bournemouth and is run by CEO Adrian Butterworth whom I have worked with before on various projects. He will be directing, producing and filming. I will just be myself, a slightly restless traveller. Yet Another Travel Show? As if we need any new travel programs. Well, this is designed to be slightly different. The idea will be presented later this summer through the first pilot. What we can reveal is that you won’t get to see the traditional touristy things, so if your idea of a holiday is inspired by crowd surfing you may not be part of our target group. The question is of course whether we will manage to be different enough to stand out and make the end result worthwhile to watch. Feel free to contact us or discuss Yet Another Travel Program on Twitter. For updates on the travel show, keep visiting garfors.com or follow me on Twitter: @garfors The Twitter topic is #continentrun Press photos of the production team? There are a few here. Gunnar Garfors is a traveller whose goal is to visit all 198 countries of the world. He has 24 to go. He is originally a journalist, but now works as a CEO of NMTV, a Norwegian mobile television company and as President of IDAG, an international radio and TV organization. He additionally works on distribution matters for Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation NRK. Garfors covers media, technology and travel on this blog, garfors.com. Adrian Butterworth is originally a video journalist whose goal is to become one of the UK’s leading producers of viral videos. He is CEO of Adelia Television, a fast reacting, social media savvy, video production agency with record ROI client stats. Adelia Television documentaries are used by both the UK home office and corporate clients. Butterworth covers viral video production, video technology and camera tutorials on his blog, adelia.tv. He has broad experience from various television broadcasters across the UK.
- French “Sabotage” Might Backfire
I have repeatedly written about the digital radio situation in France, even on their FM switch off plan. Everything seemed to finally be moving forward rather fast. DAB+ licenses were to be granted to the radio broadcasters of France, and even the four biggest broadcasters that returned their digital licenses last year would get them back without punishment. These four broadcasters, Lagardère, Nextradio TV, NRJ and RTL are controlling most of the radio listening in France. They are saying that they don’t believe in DAB+ and that they don’t see the point of spending money on infrastructire and double distribution. To emphasise their message they use the opportunity so “sabotage” the call for tender – the process of granting the digital licenses. How? They believe that by not accepting their licenses they have been offered back, they send a powerful signal that digital radio will never take off via DAB+, that digital radio broadcasting is not the future. They claim that cabled internet and mobile broadband (3G and 4G/LTE) will solve the future distribution issues. This is first of all not the case, LTE is not the solution. And they do very well know that. This is however fine. If they do not believe or do not want to believe in DAB+, let them stay in the dark. But if that is the case, that they really don’t believe in DAB+, why do they at the same time try to stop the call for tender? They are allegedly objecting at the call of tender process, trying to stop competitors from distributing new radio channels via DAB+, on the basis of technicalities. Because they are so kind that they don’t want their competitors to waste money on building a DAB+ network? Of course not. Because they are yet again trying to stall the process in order to stay without new competitors for another few years. If they could remain as the only stations on FM and without any sompetition on DAB, they’d be lauging all the way to the bank. Their strategy is a very dangerous one, though. The Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel (CSA) is the French institution that has been given the responsibility of regulating radio, television and other electronic media. CSA is not likely to stop the tender despite protests from the big four. That means that there will be a national and operational DAB+ network without the big four players early next year. But there are plenty of others that are interested. A whopping 178 thers have applied for spectrum, according to Radio Numerique. These 178 will then be able to build new habits among listeners that suddenly have a much bigger radio selection on offer. They should also hire some of the top names of the big four, making their radio stations the best ones out there. And shortly the big four will see their market shares fall thanks to better recieving conditions, more radio stations and additional services via DAB+. Their way out? Unless they wait too long and lose too much money they can always buy one of the smaller stations with a DAB+ license. But being agressive and a first mover is almost always the way to go. Running after the train may help you on board, but only possibly, and certainly with a sweaty shirt, a little late and looking rather foolishly.
- Another Name Bites the Dust
The name of this blog just changed. Did you notice? It used to be called: Major Minor Details on Media, Technology and Travel It was then for a short while called: Large Little Items in Media Techology and Travel It is now called: Major Moments, Minor Thoughts on Media, Technology and Travel For better or worse? Anyhow, a name change in the making.
- I Equaled Heineken
I am a traveller. A few years ago I decided to visit all the countries of the world. Not for bragging purposes. The travels certainly generate a lot of stories. Some sad, some mad, some crazy, some fun and some just extraordinarily. But the main reasons is to try to get a slightly more accurate picture of the big small world we live in, the people, the cultures and all the contrasts. Today I arrived in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. It is the coolest capital name I know. It means ‘where people get honor and respect’. Burkina Faso is the 172nd country I visit. Recently I saw the ad above in an In-flight magazine. So, now I have equaled Heineken. And I am still thirsty for more. I will pass the Dutch brewery this week. If the visa hawks want. Those at Ouagadougou International Airport were especially friendly though. – I just gave you a multiple entry visa. So you can gome and go and come and go… She said and put up a very broad and shining smile. Others claiming to be in many countries 196: Hyundai 195: Amadeus 194: Mobility Benefits 192: MoneyGram 191: Agape Italia 190: Schneider Electrics, UNICEF 189: Star Alliance, Universal Postal union, Western Union 188: Lions Club, Thomas Cook 187: Suzuki, Vodafone 186: Red Cross/Red Crescent, 185: Alcoholics Anonymous 184: Rotary 180: Canada (embassies and consulates), TUI Travel 175: Dow, Ericsson, IBM 170: Heidelberg, New Holland Agriculture, Whirlpool
- Why the Internet Won’t Solve Everything (v5hort)
I wrote ‘Why the Internet Won’t Solve Everything‘ in late 2010. It has received a fair amount of attention, is still being read by new people every day and has resulted in invitations to speak at many conferences around the world. Typical reactions to my presentations on the topic are ‘I’ve never seen this side before’ or ‘This is the first time I realise that the internet needs help.’ The original article is however rather long. A shorter version follows. Why the Internet Won’t Solve Everything (and Why Broadcasting Will Prevail) Telecom networks go down or become jammed if too may people use them at the same time, i.e. during emergencies or big events. Broadcasting networks reach an infinite number of users. The internet is a playground for gatekeepers who sit between the sender of a message (content) and the recipent. A gatekeeper can be a government utilizing censorship, an internet service provider that limits or charges for certain content or someone that controls a platform or creates a walled garden, i.e. Apple or Facebook. In April 2012, Google’s Sergey Brin warned against a dedemocratization of the internet. The Internet is vulnerable to hacking and can relatively easily be sabotaged. All you need is a computer and some knowhow. Viruses can also do similar damage. Broadcasting chipsets consume a lot less power than chipsets that enables internet access (GPRS/3G/4G/Wi-Fi). Broadcasting is greener and makes batteries last longer. A telecom chipset typically uses at least 15 times more power. Broadcasters must pay around 3 Euro cents per GB to transfer it via the internet. If Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) were to distribute its radio and TV offering via the internet, it would cost 150 million Euro a year. Highly hypotetical since the infrastructure can’t cope. Internet is not free and you have to pay for access (unless you find an open Wi-Fi zone). The mobile internet is not wide enough and 4G will not solve the problem. An LTE network covering 90% of the UK population would require 16,000 transmitters. To cover the same with DMB/DAB+ would take around 300 transmitters. The difference in costs is huge. The internet works poorly when the recipent travels (especially at high speeds). This particularly applies with capacity demanding content such as radio and TV. Normal web browsing is usually OK, as it can be done asynchronously. DMB/DAB+ works well in speeds up to 900 km/h (tested on planes, trains and automobiles). Internet through broadband is neither broad nor stable if you are far away from a switch. That includes a lot of households in rural areas and means web TV of the lowest quality – if at all. Broadcasting is not limited to live radio or TV. It can be used to distribute any form of data, often more cost effectively than via mobile networks. Broadband Isn’t Only for Radio and TV. The internet may never be the same as net neutrality is being challenged in various countries. Some ISPs now also want to charge from both consumers and content providers. Telenor Takes on Google. Broadcasting is designed to carry a signal far afield. To cover 99.5% of Norway with digital radio will for instance take approximately 550 transmitters. To do the same with 3G or 4G will take several tens of thousands (16,000 LTE transmitters to cover 90% of the UK). Always have a backup plan. You do not want all services to use the same infrastructure as this creates vulnerable systems that can easily fail or may be taken down. Several countries have introduced The Data Retention Directive which states that all electronic communication will be stored for up to one year for national governments. Web activity will leave a trace, what you consume via broadcasting will not. More about the directive here. It is neither economical nor effective to distribute double. The Internet cannot cope with enormous amounts of concurrent TV and radio streams. Broadcasting will be needed “forever” and to build peak resistant web infrastructure is not viable. Double Distribution, Don’t Do It. The data explosion continues, increasing 70 times the next 15 years. There are 5 billion connected devices in the world. That will increase to 50 billion in 2020 (with 7.6 billion people) thanks to more cloud computing and M2M services. To transfer all radio and TV traffic, in addition to everything else that will be going via the net, does not make any sense, Some argue that frequencies should be taken from broadcasters and given to MNOs/ISPs in order to provide more bandwidth. This would be very shortsighted as shown in The Economic value of Broadcast Innovation – Impact on the U.S. Treasure which was publsihed by Business Analytix Inc. in November 2011: ‘A linear increase in the supply of spectrum cannot solve a geometric increase in demand for mobile data.’ Spectrum must remain divided between broadcasters and MNOs/ISPs to avoid monopoly like situation. Broadcasting does not discriminate, the internet does. What you read, watch or listen to is more and more often influenced by your previous behavious online or even what your friends do. Personalization is about to make a class divide between internet users. Even a web search for the exact same phrase by two individuals may return very different answers depending on who is searching, from where and what they have been previously done online. Radio and television will “always” be best live. Neither sports nor news (especially breaking news) is well suited for watching or listening to “on demand” all programs will have to premiere at one point and being served a program, as opposed to having to go get it youself is luxury! To mention a few reasons. More here. Unless there is an option to the internet, broadcasters will have to fight over bandwidth with everyone else offering services. That weakes the bargaining power of broadcasters in order to distribute radio and television programmes and channels. Video killed the internet star. On demand video is alone responsible for almost 50% of all data traffic in the US. Yet, it only accounts for 2% of viewing times. 33% of all data traffic is caused by one company, Netflix. Technologies, unite I do of course not oppose the internet. It opens up for amazing possibilities. What I do believe in is a combination of technologies. Combine broadcasting and the internet, and you’re in for the real fun. Just look at the second screen experience, people using social media while watching TV. This will happen more and more, in much more inovative ways than we see today and on the first screen itself. Use the right tool for the job. And a tool may still work perfectly even though it wasn’t invented yesterday. Like the wheel. The internet will not and cannot solve everything. The full text version of this blog post can be found here.


