They differ from original media as regards use and quality of contents. How radios and TVs created by and for the internet are changing.
Their stations have specific themes and their contents can be personalised for different users. Web TVs and radio stations have greater local connections and adjust more easily to users’ wishes and interests, exploiting every possibility offered by current technologies (podcast, streaming, mobile, etc.).
In 2010, Web TVs grew by 52 percent in Italy. Netizen currently counted 436 Italian Web TV stations, most of which only produce web formats (61%). Up to 3,000 unique users register each month (43 percent), of which 20 percent register between 7,000 and 10,000 monthly unique logins. These users form communities with specific profiles, although local information and promotion (37 e 32 percent) are presently the most weighty issues. 34 percent cooperates with the Public Administration, while 19 percent has economic connections with private companies. One of their peculiar traits is that formats and platforms are hybrid, and web-visual stations are combined with other web-oriented products, including traditional ones: blogs, webzines and web radios.
Web TVs therefore favour multi-platform integration and specific themes and local issues. On the other hand, Web radios not only use podcasts to provide on-demand contents to users, but are also becoming increasingly customized.
An interesting example is stereomood, an MP3 listening and sharing platform that suggests different music for different moods of its users, also proposing several playlists. The 35,000 songs in its database come from a list of blogs, and registered fans help enlarge this database.
