Posted on January 20th 2012 by Johannes Ledel
Livestation is the largest platform for live news in the world with over 75M unique visitors in 2011. Today we are delighted to announce a major design upgrade to our website.
Last year we received tremendous feedback from our audience. We have taken this feedback to heart and made several substantial improvements to make watching live news even more pleasant and exciting:
- Discovery: Content and language filters now make it much easier to browse and discover new channels
- Quality: The stream quality has been doubled (premium channels are now near DVD-quality)
- Social: You can now share a live stream on Facebook, track what your friends are watching and share a screenshot on Twitter
In the coming weeks we will be announcing several new channels and product announcements. Until then, please enjoy the new Livestation on www.livestation.com.
All the Best
The Livestation Team
Posted on November 17th 2011 by Johannes Ledel
Last week we rolled out the beta for Livestation’s new design and even though it’s certainly a visual update this is not just about making things look pretty.
We want to emphasise that while this update is definitely easier on the eyes the update is far from shallow.
The first change is that we’ve rebuilt the Livestation page from the ground up so that it now features more modern web technology such as HTML 5 so that it will be cross-platform and ready for future devices.
But perhaps more importantly is that we’ve made Livestation truly social by giving our users some powerful tools to engage their friends via their social networks, by letting you share a live stream directly to Facebook and grabbing a screenshot to attach to your tweets and we also allow users to chat with other users watching the same channel in real-time. Check out a list of the changes to the site here.
These changes are important because it’s through the discussion and debating of the day’s events that news become alive. The digital space allows us to connect almost everything and this is a key difference between traditional TV and TV in the digital age. Online TV is not only a driver and instigator of conversation, it is physically connected to it, and with this update we help facilitate this connection.
So enough talk from us. Now go be social.
Access the BETA site here.
Posted on September 28th 2011 by Lippe
It is only September and it has already been an incredible news year: millions of people have tuned-in to live coverage of historic events such as the Arab Spring, the earthquake in Japan and the killing of Osama Bin Laden.
As a result the number of people who visit Livestation also reached record levels several months in a row. But the other day I was curious to see how many people have visited Livestation in 2011 – I was so impressed with the results that I wanted to share them with you.
Over 53M unique visitors have visited the Livestation website in 2011 where they spent an average of 18 minutes which means Livestation is now one of the top 5,000 sites in the world (according to Alexa). I especially liked the fact that 83% are returning visitors which shows that people really like our product.
Livestation Traffic 2010 vs 2011
But let’s not forget our non-web users: millions of people use our versatile desktop app (2M) and our mobile site (0.7M). Less than three months ago we launched the Livestation iPhone/iPad app and already more than 50 thousand people download the app each month consuming over a million streams a month!
Our product offering has also grown substantially this year, we now offer 38 channels in an impressive 11 different languages. Some of our latest partners include Libya TV, ITN and Bahrain TV.
Livestation has had a fantastic 2011 already but it is only getting better. In the next few months we will be launching our first Android app, a Connected TV app, several flagship channels and a beautiful website redesign.
So watch this space. Or better: watch Livestation!
Lippe Oosterhof, CEO
Posted on August 12th 2011 by Johannes Ledel
Livestation is proud to welcome its latest broadcaster, LuaLuaTV. Named after the Pearl roundabout in Bahrains capital Manama, a symbol of the uprising in Bahrain.
LualuaTV was set up by members of the Bahraini opposition in London in June and launched on July 17th. But their stay on the airwaves was originally short lived; it took only five hours before their signal was jammed. The source of the jamming was quickly located to island of Bahrain, by Eutelsat.
Yasser al-Sayegh, the director of LualuaTV recently told the Times that the idea behind the channel is not simply a voice for the opposition but a place to offer multiple perspectives: “We want to give Bahrainis a different view point on their country, this isn’t just a political platform to criticise the government.”
LualuaTV’s broadcast is targeted towards the citizens of Bahrain, but through Livestation they also gain a global audience.
Lippe Oosterhof, CEO of Livestation says that “Livestation welcomes all points of view and our global platform provides a level playing field to broadcasters looking to build their audience in any part of the world.”
LuaLuaTV is now live at:
http://www.livestation.com/channels/135-lualua
Keep watching and keep yourself informed
Posted on May 2nd 2011 by Johannes Ledel
Here are some of the stories coming up in the week ahead.
Election in Canada, a referendum in the UK and the World Economic Forum on Africa.
The people of Canada will be heading to the polls this Monday for an election called for by prime minister Stephen Harper following a vote of non-confidence in the country’s parliament. This will be the fourth time in only seven years that Canadians are asked to elect their leaders.
The UK will be holding a referendum on their voting system this Thursday. The vote is on whether or not the so called “first past the post” system should be replaced with an alternative system. An issue that was heavily debated during Britain’s last election
The World Economic Forum on Africa is being held this week in Cape Town, South Africa. The theme of this year’s forum is “From Vision to Action, Africa’s Next Chapter”.
Also in the news this week:
One of Pablo Picasso’s paintings is being auctioned off in New York at the Sotheby’s auction house. The work is called “Femmes Lisant” and is believed to be fetch a prize of between 25 and 35 million dollars.
Catch these stories and more on Livestation.
Posted on April 18th 2011 by Johannes Ledel
These are some of stories coming up in the week ahead.
Nuclear conference in Kiev, Australian PM visits Japan, and the EU budget proposal
A summit on the safe and innovative use of nuclear energy is starting this Monday in Kiev, Ukraine, marking the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is due to attend.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard will be visiting Japan this week, where she will be holding talks with Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan. The talks will include relief measures for the aftermath of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami earlier this March.
This Wednesday the European Commission will present its draft for the 2012 European Union budget. Calls have been made for the EU to tighten its budget together with some of the member states, but Janusz Lewandowski, European commissioner for financial programming and budget, says that budget should be expanded.
Also in the news
This Monday the winners of this year’s Pulitzer Prizes will be announced.
The OECD will be releasing its survey of the Japanese economy this week.
Watch these stories and more unfold on Livestation.
Posted on April 11th 2011 by wildtangent
Today we have some exciting news to share with you.
The world’s largest live web-based TV news platform
It was 1970 when Gil Scott-Heron wrote his famous song “The revolution will not be televised”. How times have changed. The historic developments in the Middle East have catapulted Livestation into the world’s largest online live-TV platform.
Traffic in March reached an astonishing growth of 1,047% compared to six months earlier and our audience is now a staggering 10 million viewers per month.
Increasingly live news broadcasters turn to Livestation to achieve reach across a fragmented digital media landscape. Our latest partner which we welcomed today is Libya’s first independent satellite channel, Libya TV.
Why is Livestation successful?
We did not invest in marketing or PR so how did we reach this phenomenal growth? The simple answer: access.
People without cable access to their preferred news channel nowadays expect to find it online – and they naturally find their way to Livestation. Case in point: BBC World News and Al Jazeera English, who have been notoriously struggling to get carriage in North America purely for commercial reasons, are two of the most viewed channels on Livestation.
Our mobile traffic has also exploded (over 15 million viewing sessions in March). During peak media events like the Jasmine revolution or the tragic developments in Japan people are eager to follow the story throughout the day which explains why our iPhone apps alone generate more mobile video traffic than many major newspapers combined.
What next?
We are thrilled to announce that Livestation has just closed its first profitable quarter and we believe 2011 is going to be a tremendous year for us.
To help us manage our momentum and drive our strategy we have appointed a new CEO, Lippe Oosterhof, brings over 15 years of digital business development experience in high growth ventures, most recently in Breakingviews (acquired by Reuters) and Brainient (online video technology).
Matteo Berlucchi, the founder and former CEO, remains on the board alongside our Chairman, Philip Rowley.
Please join us in wishing Livestation and Lippe lots of success. If you have any questions or suggestions please contact Lippe at lippe@livestation.com.
Posted on April 4th 2011 by Johannes Ledel
While the top of the news agenda will remain to be dominated by the unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, there are also some other stories coming up in the week ahead.
The IMF host a conference on monetary policy, Iceland holds a referendum and a delayed election in Nigeria.
Nigeria was meant to hold it’s parliamentary election this weekend but that was delayed two-days because of a problem with supplying poll stations with materials, now it has been pushed back even further. They are now set to take place on Saturday April 9th. The lead up to the election has already been marred by violence and the elections will be followed closely after the 2007 elections which at the time were described by observers as the worst they had ever seen.
Iceland is due to hold a referendum this Saturday on a proposed repayment plan for the people who lost their savings following the collapse of the Icesave bank in 2008. A previous proposal was voted down by the Icelandic people in 2009. The new proposal sets the repayment plan between 2016 and 2046 at a 3.3% interest.
The IMF is hosting a conference in Washington this Thursday were leading economists present their findings and responses to weaknesses exposed the financial crisis in the regulatory and monetary policies of states. The title of the conference is “Macro-Financial Stability in the New Normal”.
Also in the news this week:
Peru is heading to the polls this Sunday for presidential and parliamentary elections.
Watch these stories unfold on Livestation.
Posted on March 28th 2011 by Johannes Ledel
These are some of the stories coming up in the week ahead.
An international conference on Libya, taxation debated, and Silvio Berlusconi faces corruption charges.
This Tuesday the UK hosts a conference on a ministerial level about Libya and the implementation of Security Council resolutions 1970 and 1973. The conference was announced by British Foreign Secretary William Hague, and he has said that he excepts the conference to transfer command of the entire operation in Libya to NATO.
The 2011 Brussels Tax Forum starts this Monday. The forum gathers policymakers and experts from around the world to discuss taxation practices. The topic of this year’s forum is taxation of the financial sector, and whether increased taxation could prevent risk behaviour.
A corruption trial against against Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi begins today. The trial is the first of four and the charges concern one of Mr Berlusconi’s media companies. Mr Berlusconi has denied being guilty of the charges.
Also in the news this week:
Nigerians head to the polls this Saturday for National Assembly elections.
Another round of the climate talks will start this Sunday in Bangkok, Thailand. The summit will last until April 8.
Watch these stories unfold on Livestation.
Posted on March 21st 2011 by Johannes Ledel
It looks like the situation in Libya and Japan will remain at the top of the news agenda, but here are some other stories to look out for in the week ahead.
The UN takes a look at its mission in Afghanistan, the OECD host a conference in Paris and African ministers meet in Ethiopia.
The UN Security Council will this Tuesday review the UN Mission in Afghanistan. The mission which was set up in 2002 under a resolution which is renewed annually. The current resolution expires on March 23 of 2011 and the mandate is expected to be extended for another year. It does open up the possibility for the Security Council to amend the structure and focus of the mission to better suit current conditions on the ground.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is hosting a two day conference in Paris starting on March 24 aimed at identifying novel approaches to raise and sustain economic growth.
The ministers of the UN Economic Commission for Africa and the African Union will be meeting in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia this Thursday for a summit lasting til March 29. The Commission is a subsidiary body of the UN Economic and Social Council, and this year’s conference is focusing on the state’s role in governing development.
Watch these stories and more unfold on Livestation.
