Ever wonder where .tv comes from?
So i was searching for a domain on godaddy.com today for a podcast I’m thinking about putting together and found out that the site i have in mind is available for *8.95 / year!!! I was very happy to see this. I also noticed that they were offering the same domain with the .tv domain for $39.99 / year. I was intrigued, so I consulted good ol’ wikipedia.org . Wikipedia tells a neat story.
Basically .tv is the internet country code for Tuvalu, an island between Hawaii and Australia. The Tuvalu government is paid $1,000,000 quarterly by Verisign and Demand Media so they may market the domain. Apparently anyone can register a free .tv domain. View the wikipedia entry. From here i linked to http://www.me.tv/ . I guess Verisign and Demand Media will be marketing this top level domain as the preferred domain for all internet video. Let’s see what happens.
Interesting. That little Island is banking some big bucks from two simple letters. I must admit, that the .tv domain seems to be picking up traction as more and more people work their way into producing their own video on the net.