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AltFinds: Mykaussie.com

MiC routinely explores beyond the main menu, sussing out alternative media options and finding niches where the fragmented masses are re-congregating. Enter Mykaussie.com, which includes Mykwebworld and MykwebTV - arguably the first-ever sports Internet TV show. The site may have been flying below the mainstream radar for several years, but it's been no secret to football lovers around the world, or almost anyone who's ever Googled NFL, football or cheerleaders.

Clocking about 2,000 visitors a day from a male-skewed audience primarily logging on from the U.S., Canada, Australia and Saudi Arabia, the site is the creation of Calgary-based "Myk Aussie" (real name, Andrew Harrison), a transplanted bloke from Down Under who bills himself as the sports-comedy-media guy. Consequently, Mykwebworld is the ultimate fan site - chock-a-block with sports, news, columns and hours of three-to five-minute TV shows covering NFL, CFL and Aussie football, plus lots and lots of cheerleader interviews. There's also some coverage of golf, snowboarding and skiing.

Advertisers have the option of buying regular online ads or spots built into three-to-five-minute Internet TV shows. To date, the site has been used successfully by a flock of online retailers of sports tickets and other companies targeting jocks. These include Pure Romo Nutrition, an energy-enhancing product from former NFL star linebacker Bill Romanowski, Sportsinteraction.com, Vividseats.com, tickco.com, buyselltix.com, gotickets.com, and a dating site for affluent singles called Millionairematch.com.

The former mechanical engineer and manager of a large Vancouver IT company, who immigrated to Canada in 1998, considers his site to be primarily an online TV station that serves advertisers well. "A sports bar in Calgary, for example, recently advertised in my Gaelic and Aussie Rules Football MykwebTV show. We included a tour of the bar and interviews with the barmaids, so the viewer was obliged to watch the commercial as they were watching the show," he explains. "There's no zapping with MykwebTV and we have full-screen, amazing quality on both PCs and TVs."

www.mykaussie.com, www.total-cfl.com

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