BitTorrent News 'BTN' Network Will Launch At The RNC

Only a few weeks have passed since news about BitTorrent's planned live news channel, BitTorrent News, first surfaced. The company recently announced the appointment of its news director, and now it has officially announced a launch date: July 18, the same day as the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. BTN will have a team composed of half a dozen individuals live on the ground.

BitTorrent News has dubbed itself BTN, and it aims to take on other news stations like CNN and Fox News. The network will be livestreamed via BitTorrent Live, with the first broadcast involving the RNC on July 18. The channel won't only focus on politics, however, also planning to cover sports, news, and other categories. The company hails BTN as an "independent voice" in the televised news industry, and says there will be real-time coverage of breaking news.

BitTorrent's VP of Media Erik Schwartz said:

Television news has been stagnating for some time. It's having trouble appealing to a generation that grew up online. We're building BitTorrent News to solve that problem. We are using superior data and tools and the Silicon Valley ethos of lean startup to build a nimble news organization that will learn quickly from user behavior.

The company has amassed a pretty notable array of individuals; in addition to its news director Harrison Bohrmnan, the company has nabbed former Al Jazeera American chief political correspondent Michael Shure, Al Jazeera English journalist James Reinl, former Fox News and Al Jazeera worker Rita Chan, journalist and filmmaker Alice Anil, journalist, comedian, and podcaster Justin Robert Young, and political science professor Doc Stodden.

SOURCE: BitTorrent Blog