Only the first and last hour of the marathon are on the normal TV channel of the state broadcaster. The rest is on one of the broadcaster's satellite channels, so not very accessible to Italians (although it can be watched live on Internet as well). This created quite a few complaints from Italians - I have had more comments on this fact than on any other on my blog. I don't believe there are only plans to distribute the video after the event. By the way, most of the readers are not celebrities, but "normal" people that signed up to read a chapter.To me this just indicates the failure of traditional models of distribution to get to grips with the possibilities of electronic media.
forget baby photos in the wallet,
they've got kid videos on their cell phones
The failure is driven by the need to be commercial, and only advertising and porn make money on the Internet. With a different model - in this case one that the Bible societies (I include many organisations with somewhat different names under this blanket heading hence the small S) have been doing for years - you could harness the possibilities of the electronic medium and maximise distribution. Set the Bible free and unexpected people will hear... and hearing they might understand.
But how can they hear if the message is hidden away! "Broadcast" on a cable channel, or sold on DVDs is very narrow casting indeed ;) And in the world of Bible distribution, that is a con. People donate money to Bible societies to distribute the Bible, the means are available to do this almost infinitely more widely and freely than ever before. All that is needed is imagination and the willingness to take a small risk. Nike have the right slogan, just do it! Video a score of NZ celebrities reading Mark's gospel as a serial story, then set the video free, you can even sell DVDs to recoup some of the costs, and watch the fun!
Labels: audio.bible, culture, digital, video
¶ 6:07 AM
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Preach it brother!
By 
David Ker, at
October 8, 2008 7:48 AM
Have you seen this? Pope begins Bible-reading marathonWhat a neat way to use the pope's star status!
I could not help wondering what would happen if BibleSoc and the Scripture Union's Christians in sport group (and a few others) got together and got NZ celebrities to read a gospel. It might not get on free to air TV here, but it could be cheap (by TV standards) to make, at least if the celebs volunteered their time. It could also go on DVD and YouTube so get wide distribution. Even with some imagination, become a serial story, stopping at exciting places and distributed by mobile phone as well as the other routes.
What a way to get Kiwis in touch with the Bible! And the cumulative impact of a whole bunch of celebs could really help make faith cool. Each of them would only have to give an hour or so of their time...
Labels: audio.bible, bible, culture, video
¶ 9:37 AM
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I'm quite interested in the logistics. How will it be published/archived?
An important distinction for me between this and PodBible is they are targeting bigshots rather than everyman. I can see that as being a very effective strategy in Africa where if the bishops and superintendents of churches signed up to do reading it would legitimize the translation.
By David Ker, at
October 7, 2008 12:57 PM
I don't know about the "real" PopeBible, I suspect that it will only be available commercially on TV and DVD.
What I'd envisage is using the celebs and making it as widely available as possible, just think of kids SEEING that a whole bunch of celebs think the Bible is worth spending time to read... that's my vision. Plus I don't live in a "Christian country" like Italy, in NZ we'd have difficulty getting TV time, so we'd need to go under the radar and aim for mass distribution.
By Tim, at
October 7, 2008 1:06 PM
PS, I can see how in Africa a "Bishops' Bible" could be a really good way to "sell" a new translation - <WickedThought> it would also be flattering to the bishops asked to read, which should help persuade them ;) </WickedThought>
By Tim, at
October 7, 2008 1:10 PM
To clarify something in the article: Only the first and last hour of the marathon are on the normal TV channel of the state broadcaster. The rest is on one of the broadcaster's satellite channels, so not very accessible to Italians (although it can be watched live on Internet as well). This created quite a few complaints from Italians - I have had more comments on this fact than on any other on my blog. I don't believe there are only plans to distribute the video after the event. By the way, most of the readers are not celebrities, but "normal" people that signed up to read a chapter.
Basically Bible 60 packages chapters from the PodBible audio CEV in convenient clusters.
Each package is about 60 minutes playing time. That is perfect to dub onto a C60 cassette, or write to an audio CD, for someone who's eyesight is going. It is an easy 20-30MB download you can listen to on a journey...
We've begun Bible 60 with the first book of the Bible, Genesis:
- Bible 60 Genesis 1-20
- Bible 60 Genesis 21-35
- Bible 60 Genesis 36-50
Labels: audio.bible
¶ 7:00 PM
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