Guitarists' Web Site to Expand into Fertile IPTV Market

A Web site dedicated to guitarists reportedly has signed on with a company that provides technical services that enable IPTV (News - Alert).

 

Officials at Guitarist TV, or “G-TV,” as it’s known, say they’re launching on Global Digital Broadcast’s IPTV platform across several nations among North America, the United Kingdom and the Middle East.

 

According to David Wray, co-founder and chief operating officer of GDB, there is a “huge” global guitarist community in every genre imaginable.

 

“As a former guitar teacher I know how much guitarists want visual resources,” Wray said. “This channel enables educational and, of course, information indulgence, which is straight to the heart of the players worldwide and, best of all, it’s on their TV sets.”

 

A quick look at the site reveals a shopping market for those interested in music and in the guitar, especially.

 

For example, here’s a list of videos that apparently feature the site’s founder, professional South African guitarist Mike de Jager:

 

 

According to de Jager, Wray first discovered Guitarist TV on the internet while he was on business in Los Angeles and arranged for the pair to meet up back at his offices in Brighton, England.

 

“There was an immediate connection when we met and it felt as though we had known each other for years,” de Jager said. “David and I share the same vision and, as fellow guitarists, we share the same passion.”

 

According to de Jager, IPTV is a good niche markets to expand to a greater demographic and allows easy access to the content.

 

“Guitarist TV is built by guitarists for guitarists around the world and the GDBTV platform will enable us to reach them all,” de Jager said.

 

Artists who have featured on the channel thus far include: Joe Satriani; Greg Howe (Michael Jackson / Justin Timeberlake); Johnny A.; Eddie Van Halen; Luke Morley and Ben Matthews (Thunder); Steve Lukather (Toto); Joe Stump (Berklee); the late Eric Roche; Neville Martin (Guitarist Mag.); Ainsley Lister; Innes Sibun and Pete Caldwell (Basement Jaxx).

The IPTV market is a fertile one.

 

In one sign of the Internet’s widely discussed migration to a video-based space – a change that experts say will require major advances in video compression – nearly one in five U.S. households who use the Web watch TV broadcasts online, a recent survey says.

 

The figure marks a 100 percent increase from 2006, according to a pair of Manhattan-based agencies: The Conference Board, a nonprofit organization, and market research firm TNS (News - Alert).

 

In addition to expanding its broadcast reach, G-TV reportedly also is boosting the channel offerings to include: broadcast of live concerts; guitar workshops, seminars, educational programs and fun guitar weekends for beginners to advanced; promotion and PR for both major record companies and unsigned artists; G-TV radio; a G-TV magazine; hot-off-the-press news and reviews; celebrity guests; and even guitar orientated travel programs.

One legendary guitarist who supports the site is Joe Satriani, who said he met de Jager in 2006 in Birmingham and the connection was a good one.

 

“He does great work and I am proud to be associated with him and his work on Guitarist TV,” Satriani said.