What is WorldTV.com?

WorldTV is an online video platform that enables people to do interesting and new things with online video, all wrapped up in an extremely friendly user interface. Our goal is simple… to offer the very best and well-thought-out tools for working with online video.

What can I do with WorldTV?

WorldTV is extremely versatile and can be used in many ways. Here’s 12 things you can do…

  1. Create your own full screen, high def capable, web TV channel (and become your own media mogul)
  2. Watch TV channels created by people from all over the World
  3. Collect, archive and backup all your favourite online video clips in one place
  4. Record video clips into your collection from your webcam (no software to install)
  5. A video discovery system – share your finds on Twitter or RSS with a single click (using our browser bookmarklet)
  6. Use our ‘universal player’ to wrap YouTube clips and clips from other video sites in a customizable player. Embed individual or multiple video clips – the choice is up to you
  7. Build and manage unlimited video playlists using the friendliest playlist editor on the planet
  8. Create an embeddable player that will broadcast live video from your mobile phone to any number of viewers (and show playlist video when you’re not)
  9. Switch between any number of live video feeds from Ustream and Qik through a web interface (BETA feature)
  10. Take FLV (or MP4) files on your own server or elsewhere, and employ WorldTV as a playlist editor and video content management system
  11. Allow multiple editors to access and edit the same video collection simultaneously (similar to Google WAVE)
  12. Monetize your video playlists or channel with TV-style advertising. We can find the ads for you, or, you can plug in your own video ad network account from more than 20 video ad networks! (available on request)
  13. And much more!

Why would I invest my time and energy into this site?

Choosing a site to invest your time into is a significant decision, particularly if you are entrusting that site with your content, effort and creativity. It takes time to learn all the features of a new website and get involved in its community – you want to know that the site will be there in the future and continue to innovate ahead. We’ve been conceptualizing and planning WorldTV for 12 years and we plan to be around a lot longer. This is more than just a ‘business’ to us, it’s a dream and a journey. The tools we offer now are just the beginning of that journey. What we have in the pipeline will genuinely excite anyone who has a passion for video and technology. We have a ton of ideas for some very cool stuff, and if you come along for the ride you won’t be disappointed…

Why is my channel not showing up on the World page?

You need to tick the box for ‘List Channel Publicly’ on the top left of your Channel Settings tab within the Editor.

I’m having a technical problem

WorldTV is still technically a beta (v1.0 is planned for late 2010 / early 2011) which means it is not yet perfect. Weird things do happen occasionally but they can almost always be solved easily. Here’s our recommended procedure for dealing with technical issues…

1) A video has stopped working and is skipping to the next video during playback – This is the most common problem and means the original video file is no longer available (on YouTube for example). Often, searching for the same video and re-adding it will solve the problem. We have improved the feedback given within the Editor when this happens and problem videos are now highlighted with an orange exclamation point which can be clicked on to get more details. If you have a persistant problem with videos from a specific site, check our Twitter feed and news page for any recent mentions of the problem. If there is none, please tell us about the problem so we can fix it.

2) I’ve forgotten my login details – You will have received an e-mail with your channel details when you first signed up, with the subject ‘Access Details for your WorldTV Channel‘. There is also a password recovery feature if you know the URL of your channel and try to access the Editor. If you can remember your channel name, simply visit http://worldtv.com/your_channel_name/editor. If you can’t remember it, you can email us and we will try to help you. Another option is simply to create a new channel.

3) The editor is unresponsive – The simple solution is to ‘refresh’ the page in your browser. This will solve almost all problems. You won’t lose any work (or hardly any), everything is backed up automatically, every 30 seconds!

4) I’m having a problem not solved by the above – Check our News page for any known issues, do a search for relevant topics using the search box on this page, check our WorldTV manual, write to us for help.

How can I embed my channel in a blog or webpage?

We offer two main methods of embedding a WorldTV channel.

Within the Editor is a tab called ‘Promote’ and on here you will find the code to create an embeddable player. There are two variations on this code and at least one of these should work with almost any site. More styles of embeddable player are planned. An example of our modern style embeddable player is here and our original style player here (scroll down).

A second approach is to use an iFrame technique and include a full WorldTV channel (with or without navigation panels) on your page. This works best at a larger size – 800 pixels wide or larger. You can frame your channel in your own custom designed skin this way and examples can be seen here, here and here.

iFrame method (example code)

<iframe src=”http://worldtv.com/alxtv” width=”800px” height=”450px” frameborder=”0″>

* Note that you can adjust the width and height to whatever size you wish, bearing in mind the issue described above regarding minimum size.

What is the maximum number of items I can have in my playlist/library?

There is a limit of 100 videos in both the playlist and library (200 total). You can upgrade to a limit of 500 items (1000 total) for a one-off fee. Visit the relevant section of our Store page for more details.

Who is behind WorldTV?

Two friends with a passion for doing innovative stuff. Founder Alx Klive is previously responsible for the Millennium Photo Project, YesNoMayb.com, and a former CNBC Reporter, Producer and TV Videographer. Co-Founder Ashley Balchin is a former music event producer. Working alongside them are the talented Wai and Martin from FruitMachine and a team of developers working worldwide. Thank heaven for Skype.

Why do people always stand up in planes when there are at least 100 people who have to get off before them?

We don’t know, but it’s weird.

How do we contact you?

For suggestions and bug reports, please use our feedback system.

For all other enquiries, please send e-mail to reception@worldtv.com

Last updated: January 25th 2009