LonelyPlanet.tv merges user video with travel

Cory Bergman April 3rd, 2007

LonelyPlanet already has a travel website and a television arm, and now the travel media company has launched LonelyPlanet.tv, a social site that combines user-submitted travel videos with mapping. Users who upload their clips are entered to win $5,000 plus a snazzy HD video set up. The new site will also feature some original clips produced by LonelyPlanet, and I would imagine that some of the user clips will ultimately end up in LonelyPlanet’s TV programming (Discovery, Current). Release after the grab…

PRESS RELEASE — Reality Digital™, the pioneer and industry leader in media sharing and social community solutions for businesses, today announced a first-of-its-kind deployment with Lonely Planet, the world’s leading independent travel media company. Lonely Planet is using Reality Digital Opus™, a digital media hosting platform, to launch the LonelyPlanet.tv website, an online community featuring a combination of user-generated travel videos and original programming from Lonely Planet TV. Reality Digital Opus, the technology enabler for the new online channel, is providing Lonely Planet viewers with a more participatory environment that includes blogging, video sharing, forums, geo-location information and more.

Lonely Planet chose Reality Digital after conducting a competitive review of social networking and user-generated content (UGC) solutions. Reality Digital Opus was selected for its rich feature set, administrative capabilities and low total cost of ownership. Today, the Opus platform provides LonelyPlanet.tv viewers access to Lonely Planet’s comprehensive selection of amateur and professionally produced travel videos, while also providing social networking capabilities for travelers that want to connect with other travelers.

“Reality Digital’s video hosting platform appealed to us because of its easy-to-use uploading functionalities, which enabled users to upload videos from files, webcams or mobile phones in a matter of seconds,” said Laurence Billiet, head of television for Lonely Planet. “We wanted to have a great site, and we needed it fast. Reality Digital was able to customize the platform in a matter of weeks. We are looking forward to building our partnership with them as the site – and our needs – evolve.”

“Travelers seeking an engaging and interactive environment can depend on Reality Digital and Lonely Planet to help them share their experiences and connect with their community,” said Cynthia Francis, CEO of Reality Digital. “With every deployment, we strive to enhance the end user’s experience within their online social network by making social media more accessible and participatory. For the site administrator, our commitment is to deliver the enterprise with a best-in-class solution. Clearly, our deployment with Lonely Planet illustrates the tremendous capacity of our offering.”

Lonely Planet Television produces and distributes some of the best travel programming on the small screen. With www.lonelyplanet.tv, Lonely Planet Television now has a web channel that features original LPTV-produced travel programming alongside the clips uploaded by viewers. “The idea was to create a place where travelers could share their own videos from their DV cams or cell phones and share real travel experiences with other travelers, as well as commenting, rating and interacting in a variety of ways with both professional and user generated content,” said Sohail Dahdal, manager of LonelyPlanet.tv.