DotTV Channels Broadcasters to ‘.tv’

DotTV, the Idealab-backed company that is offering Internet names ending in “.tv” as an alternative to “.com,” plans to announce today that more than 40 broadcasters have agreed to switch to the new suffix.

Pasadena-based DotTV has snagged affiliates of ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, UPN, WB and the Pax TV network, Chief Executive Lou Kerner said.

Burbank-based KNBC is one of about 25 U.S. broadcasters that will make the switch, along with about 15 other overseas broadcasters affiliated with networks such as Britain’s BBC and Hong Kong’s TVB, Kerner said.

The broadcasters will receive their “.tv” names from DotTV for free in exchange for promoting them on the air, but others must pay. DotTV’s Web site (https://www.tv) lists dozens of names that are being auctioned for annual fees of $4,000 to $101,000. And other names that are not “in the dictionary of any major language” can be had for as little as $100 a year, Kerner said.

One such registrant is Ibidlive.tv, a Santa Barbara company that plans to run online auctions during the commercial breaks of popular television shows. The company began a six-week beta test of its service over the weekend.

DotTV offers the “.tv” names as part of a deal it struck with the Pacific Island nation of Tuvalu, which owns the rights to the “.tv” Internet suffix.