By: Daryl Chin

SETTING up your own TV channel online is now a reality - thanks to RazorTV.

The 100 per cent Singaporean video news channel now gives you the opportunity to create your Personal Broadcasting Station (PeBS).

Give your customisable "satellite" broadcasting station your own choice of name and branding. Then populate it with your favourite videos from RazorTV's video-on-demand library. Once that's done, share your PeBS with your friends, using whatever social-networking tool you use, such as Facebook.

You can even make your mark on the videos by inserting thought bubbles on the clip with the PeBS' "couch commentary" function.

RazorTV was launched only last August but has already built up a formidable array of videos in four categories: News, entertainment, lifestyle and sports.

The PeBS is the latest initiative launched by the station to empower its users who are frustrated with the restrictions of mainstream "appointment TV", which gives viewers no control over the content.

RazorTV's PeBS satisfies the current trend of viewing video content, that is, "watch what you want, when you want".

Said RazorTV editor Jonathan Ng: "RazorTV is always evolving to be a step ahead. It was not enough for us to set up a web-streaming and video-on-demand site. We strive constantly to add value to our user experience.

"So, what better way to achieve this than for our viewers to collate their favourite RazorTV videos, complete with their comments, in their own personalised and customised microsite."

The PeBS function is known as community-augmented content and it is part of many successful websites, so what sets RazorTV apart?

Here are the reactions of those who had a preview of RazorTV's PeBS.

On the "couch commentary" function, teacher Chen Ke Wei, 29, said: "Even though my overseas friends and I live in different parts of the world, I feel as though my friends are watching the videos with me because I get to see the comments and reactions they leave behind."

Commented 23-year-old sales executive Regina Koh: "Being able to group the videos on a particular topic is useful. Once the videos are grouped together, other netizens would be able to navigate through the site more easily and with more purpose."

She added: "The PeBS gives me more incentive to send the link to my site to my friends." Account executive Ronald Sim, 25, also gave the PeBS concept the thumbs up.

"For me, the potential for enjoying videos in a whole new way is great, especially when you have Singaporeans annotating hyperlocal videos produced for Singaporeans," he said.

"I believe it will create a more diverse culture in terms of how our netizens will interact online and enable content to grow in richness."

So if you, too, want to take your video viewing on RazorTV a step further, go ahead and customise your personal channel at www.razortv.com.sg

For more my paper stories click here.