UPDATE: VIDEOBUZZ IS BACK !!! Albeit as a side channel. For a small donation of US$15, the inventor and developer of VideoBuzz will send you the software code and instructions on how to install VideoBuzz as a SideChannel on your ROKU device. WELL WORTH the money, IMO, and you get the added satisdaction of sticking it to ROKU :)
Here's his info: http://www.myvideobuzz.in
Tell him I said "hi" and I wish him much success !!
For those who don't know, there's a product out there called Roku. It's a little black box which produces certain types of internet streaming on a standard Def, high Def, or SmartTV. Although, if you have a SmartTV you probably don't need Roku.
We have a standard def TV (the old old 30+ yo kind!), so I was thrilled to get Roku so we could watch some of our favorite shows without cable. Roku's flagship product is NetFlix, followed closely by BYUTV, TheBlazeTV, HuluPlus and now Amazon Prime Streaming. Anything offered through the Roku "Channel Store" is a "public" channel. I imagine (but do not know for sure) that they pay some type of royalty fee to Roku for the privilege of being publicly available.
There are also "private" channels. These are created by independent producers, which stream through Roku but over which, Roku has no control (and I imagine, receives no money from them either.) Among these private channels are BBC World News, Al Jazeera english, and until recently, VideoBuzz.
VideoBuzz was a private channel which created a portal into YouTube (YT). Roku, to my knowledge, is the only platform which does NOT stream YT. YT streams on a Wii, through an XBox, comes standard on a SmartTV, but not on Roku. VideoBuzz is not the first to stream YT on a Roku (they've shut down others before it) but it did grow a substantial following.
Roku allegedly shut VideoBuzz down because "it didn't provide ORIGINAL content programming." Yeah, ok. That's such a blatant falsehood it falls flat on its face. Here's my email back to Roku, who was kind enough to ask for "more info" after I wrote an initial (honestly, not very polite) email to Roku complaining that they were taking VideoBuzz down:
Dear Steve: Thank you for responding back. I appreciate it, and apologize that it took me so long to respond.
At the core, I believe that Roku does not make its livelihood off of little black boxes. I think it is much more likely that Roku derives a substantial royalty (whatever you want to call it) from "producers" who create Roku "public" channels. There would be no reason otherwise, for Roku to take such an aggressive stance ridding itself of "private" channels which grew a substantial following, such as VideoBuzz.
If the issue were really "original content/programming" then I will expect in the VERY near future to receive a similar notice that you are discontinuing your flagship product: NetFlix. Last time I checked, NetFlix Inc. didn't produce The Cake Wars, Miss Congeniality, The Lincoln Lawyer, et all, so NetFlix is in violation of Roku's "original content/programming" policy as well. Ditto virtually ALL of the channels streamed through Roku. Congratulations: you have pretty much emptied your stable except for religious and political content.
I do not have a SmartTV. If I did, I wouldn't need Roku. Roku is virtually (now) the ONLY platform which does not stream YouTube. SmartTVs do, a Wii does, even an XBox for crying out loud. It seems quite a bit short sighted, don't you think? If the real problem is you have an axe to grind against a monolith like Google, then just say so (I could probably support something like that!)
I would argue that VideoBuzz DID provide original content/programming in the same category as NetFlix and HuluPlus. Their look and feel is substantially different from normal YouTube, their layout is nowhere close to what YouTube provides (thank goodness.) If the issue is that YouTube itself screaming infringement, then you should be honest enough to publicize that. There are enough of us who dislike Google to make waves.
Thank you for taking the time to read this email. I hope that it results in some serious reconsideration of VideoBuzz (who created this channel FOR FREE mind you, and isn't that the whole point of the internet and entrepreneurship?) and its reinstatement. I don't have any personal stake in VideoBuzz (other than as a consumer), but if it ever goes public, I hope I'm first in line for its IPO.
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