TED brings 'Ideas Worth Spreading' to worldwide TV stations for free

TED, which has long been broadcasting its famous 18-minute inspiration talks on its website, announced at the Web 2.0 conference in San Francisco that it would bring the videos to broadcasters worldwide.

Launched May 4, the Open TV Project will enable countries with limited internet access to air the TED talks for free - and according to a statement released this week, "dozens of broadcasters" have already signed up for the service, with their collective audience numbers in the "hundreds of millions."

Nicoletta Iacobacci, Head of ITV & Crossmedia for the European Broadcasting Union whose members collectively reach 650 million viewers weekly, commented: "Their public-service approach is built around making the best knowledge and information available to vast audiences. As the largest association of television broadcasters in the world, the EBU is pleased to be entering into this partnership with TED and to participate in facilitating and encouraging the new global conversation."

TED said they would focus on partnerships with broadcasters in developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America where bandwidth is severely limited. Those countries where the Open TV Project is already in place include Argentina, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Pakistan, the Philippines, Portugal, Sweden and the United States, among others.

The only requirements to run the talks are to keep them unedited, uninterrupted and commercial-free, while stations are encouraged to produce their own content to air alongside the videos.

More information can be found online at http://www.ted.com/tv.

Web 2.0 runs through May 6: http://www.web2expo.com/webexsf2010