Bite Television debuts
By Adnews Staff
A new TV station called Bite Television launched in Mississauga on Wednesday. The digital channel is aimed at a 19- to 34-year-old, primarily male audience. Its programming will cater viewers with short attention spans. Canadian and international content, produced by amateurs as well as professionals, will include film, animation and games. "The young television audience is dividing its time between TV, internet and mobile entertainment," said Jeffrey Elliott, president of Bite Television. "Bite is focusing on bringing the young audience back to television by providing them with the opportunity to do more than just control programming timing. Bite is enabling viewers to be an active part of the content as well." This interactivity includes downloadable content for computers and mobile phones as well as various forms of chat and email communication. The channel will debut a program called "Bite Me" in several weeks. Viewers will be able to interact live with the hosts and with each other. Viewers will be invites to submit their own videos, including ads. According to Bite, the station's advertising formats will include short blocks of time that can be focused on a particular brand. "Bite will discover, air and stream thousands of individual creative masterpieces that are currently being produced and those that have perhaps lacked visibility due to a shortage of distribution opportunities," said Elliott. "Thousands of producers, directors, actors, animators and college and university students aspiring to be filmmakers now have a short form channel." Bite is currently available for a free introductory period on the Rogers Cable network.