Announcing a joint venture intended to "recognize and celebrate the internet as a new mass medium for audio and video," The Museum of Television and Radio (MTR) and RealNetworks say they will be acquiring internet programming both for the museum and for RealNetwork's Real.com site.

MTR was in the news on April 12 with the announcement that it would receive Broadway Digital Entertainment's 300-title archive, comprising theatre productions that were originally taped for PBS, WCET and WNET years ago.

The museum, meant to "collect, preserve, and interpret television and radio programming and make these programs available to the public," will now collect interviews with various media luminaries, and this material will be available at Real.com.

RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser will preview interview samples on May 24 in San Jose, California at the Real Conference.

It is not clear whether the Real.com content will be offered for a fee, and a call to MTR was not returned by press time. The five-year-old RealNetworks recently announced it is now reaching 115 million unique registered users of RealPlayer®, an audio and video player available on the Internet. "We are thrilled that The Museum of Television & Radio is taking the lead in recording the pivotal and unique role of the Internet as a mass medium, alongside radio, television and cable," said RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser in a prepared statement..

MTR president Robert M. Batscha added that, "the Museum looks forward to adding Internet programming to its collection."

-- By Murdoch McBride