Kyte 360 - Building Community Through Online and Mobile Video

Everyday we are seeing exciting new ways that major media and entertainment companies are using the Kyte Platform.

Whether its the FADER live streaming an incredible performance by Kanye West and the G.O.O.D Music family or the ABC television show “Lost” asking fans to upload videos offering theories about what will happen in the season finale; brands are using Kyte to create content, engage with audiences, and monetize.

And most importantly, they are doing this on their online and mobile destinations.

Lady Gaga is a great example. Her Kyte channel is integrated into her website, MySpace, mobile website and her Kyte-powered iPhone application. This “360 integration” means that whenever Lady Gaga creates a new video on her Kyte channel, its immediately available across all of her online and mobile destinations. Her fans can chat with one another in real time from wherever they are watching her channel, comment and rate her videos, and share them with their friends.

This cross platform audience engagement is huge because it allows Lady Gaga to converge her online and mobile audiences into a single community. And when Lady Gaga runs sponsorship banner ads, such as the Beats By Dr. Dre campaign, the sponsor is able to extend its reach throughout Lady Gaga's community in multiple destinations simultaneously, and Lady Gaga is able to maximize her monetization opportunities.

This is what Kyte is all about -- enabling brands to distribute their content across their online and mobile destinations, build community, and monetize.

Create a unique browsing experience with the Kyte Platform SDK

Hey Kyte Fans,

One of the many cool things you can do with the Kyte Platform is utilize our SDK to display your Kyte shows as thumbnails, enabling viewers to easily browse and watch specific shows. These can be shows that were created with Kyte’s online and mobile production tools, or existing, pre-produced video content that you want to broadcast on your channel.

German dance celebrity Detlef “D!” Soost has done this for his website, D’s World. Soost has over 170 dance schools in Germany, and judges the popular German and Swiss television shows Popstars, MusicStar and DanceStar — as you can imagine, this guy has a lot of content!

Using the Kyte Platform SDK, D’s team was able to create a unique browsing experience in which his video content is categorized and displayed as thumbnails, which viewers can click to watch their desired show within D’s branded Kyte channel. 

Check it out on his website, its very cool!

Kyte Platform - More than Mobile

Hey Kyte Fans,

Many of you are familiar with our mobile application which allows users to create and broadcast live or recorded video to multiple destinations simultaneously.  However, mobile is just one feature of the Kyte Platform.  Major brands in television, radio, publishing, and music are taking advantage of the platform's various production methods to cost-effectively produce and distribute different types of content, resulting in increased traffic and longer durations of user engagement:

• Authentic - raw, behind the scenes footage typically created via mobile or webcam
• Professional - pre-produced video that is uploaded to the Kyte channel
• Branded UGC - user generated content that a brand incorporates into its Kyte channel

Extra is a great example, as the celebrity entertainment show is using the Kyte Platform’s full suite of production tools for each of these content types:

Authentic

Show host Mario Lopez holds weekly live chats via webcam on his Mario 24/7 Kyte channel

Extra’s anchors use Kyte Mobile Producer to live stream and record and upload celebrity interviews right from the red carpet on the Extra Raw channel

Professional

Pre-produced video from the show is uploaded on the Extra Raw Kyte channel, allowing online viewers to watch cool content from the show, on-demand

Branded UGC

Viewers can upload comments about show topics and celebrity news on the Video Comments Kyte channel

So remember folks, Kyte is more than mobile -- we offer a full platform with easy to use production tools for creating and distributing authentic, professionally produced, and branded user generated content.

Happy Kyting!

When to live stream and when to record and upload

Media and entertainment brands, recording artists, and communities are producing video content on the Kyte Platform in a variety of ways.

Kyte Mobile Producer for Nokia S60 allows you to live stream OR record and upload video content to your Kyte Channels.

But which is better—live streaming or record and upload?

Well, it depends-- which is why we provide a flexible platform that provides both options. 

Live streaming is great for:

• broadcasting breaking news
• live event coverage
• communicating live with your audience

Record and upload is a great feature to utilize when:

• you are in non-optimal network conditions (no Wi-Fi or 3G)
• you want more editorial control over your content
• you want to capture content with the highest quality possible

Huffington Post, SPIN Magazine, New Kids on the Block, and Raheem DeVaughn are just a few of the many Kyte users that have utilized both live streaming and record and upload to produce branded video content for their audience of fans.  Here’s a recent show that Brandy produced utilizing the record and upload feature:

So, the next time you’re in an area with non-optimal network conditions or want to have more editorial control your content, remember that record and upload is a great option that will allow you to broadcast your content within minutes of producing.  Happy Kyting!

Kyte Tip - How to Create a Channel Changer

One of the cool features on the Kyte Platform is the ability to create a channel changer, so that viewers can check out other branded content within your player —without having to be redirected to another site. Why would you want to do this? It adds more value to your channel, keeps viewers on your destination site (e.g. blog, web site, social network, etc.) and provides a more engaging experience. For example, you could link to a fan channel, or a fellow recording artist on the same label, or a blogger on your blog roll that has a Kyte channel.

So how do you set up a channel changer?

1. Determine two or more Kyte channels you would like users to be able to browse
   
2. Create links to the channels by going to www.kyte.tv, click manage channel (found under your channel’s name), click edit player branding, enter the following syntax:

Channel 1: Insert your info wherever text is Red
<a href=“event:setUri?channels/1940” ><b>Fan Channel</b></a>

Channel 2: Insert your info wherever it is Red
<a href=“event: setUri?channels/1939” ><b>Artist Channel</b></a>

Below is an example that we've created for the purpose of this blog post. To change channels, click on the links at the top of the player.

We hope that you find this information useful. Happy Kyting!