Is that all?

Wil Harris’ new venture Channel Flip launched earlier this week. For those of you who haven’t heard of it yet (it’s the Internet, word travels fast), Chanel Flip is a new media start-up creating video targeted at at the male 18-35 demographic. Or as the website puts it: “We make TV shows. But we put them on the Internet.”

At launch Channel Flip offers three shows: Unwired – a show about gadgets, consumer electronics and other shinies; Play:Digital – a show about games on a variety of platforms; and Discus – a show about movies (and movie snacks). A common theme among all three shows is the review aspect – they all take one item and over a period of a few minutes review it and giving it a rating of up to five stars. The concept works well, with well researched and thought out reviews and good production.

Of the three shows the clear star in my book is Discus. The host, Justin Gayner, makes for an entertaining few minutes, with with his in depth review of the DVD of the segment. It feels every bit how a movie review should feel. And a sprinkle of the dry British humour on top works perfectly.

So why the harsh headline? Lets just go back a bit and see what Channel Flip said about themselves: “We make TV shows”. No they don’t. Not yet, at least. What they do produce is great little videos that could slide right into any TV show as a recurring segment. But that is it. What Channel Flip has put out to date feels like segments, and not shows. I had high hopes for Channel Flip (and still do), but I have to admit I find the grand opening a bit underwhelming.

One thing Channel Flip has going for it is the professionalism and determination of the people behind it – with that in place Channel Flip has a fair chance of succeeding. And yes, I know it is only the first week of the channels existence, and that it will need some time to carve out its own little place on the web. But for now I’d call it a video review-site, and while that’s not necessarily a bad thing, in my head it’s going to be accompanied by a ‘just’ for some time still…