In a connected world where webcams endlessly stream everything from Abbey Road to otters, there's a new cam in town. And it's making a splash of its own.
A 24-hour live stream of donair meat on a spit is attracting attention from meat lovers around the world.
Nova Scotia Webcams partnered with King of Donair on Quinpool Road to create the Donair Cam, allowing anyone with a computer an opportunity to study the slowly spinning meat.
“That's part of the beauty of it. It's the suspense, the anticipating,” says donair shop owner Nicholas Nahas. “'When is the cone going to come up? When is there gonna be meat? When is someone going to cut it?'”
The Donair camera has been in development for quite some time. Nova Scotia Webcams found success streaming picturesque landscapes for years, but wanted to kick it up a notch.
So they started with a key question.
"What's a typical Nova Scotian thing which we could put on camera? And they came up with donair," says Ralph Pickard of Nova Scotia Webcams.
An estimated 80,000 people tuned in to the camera when it first went live. Staff are still adjusting to the notion of being on camera while slinging donairs.
Viewers are already quite protective of their favourite meat camera. Complaints started rolling in when CTV News blocked the view for a few minutes while analyzing the meat. Administrators had to assure them we wouldn't be there long.
“We liken it to the burning fire log that's played at Christmas time. I guess it's the millennial’s burning fire log," says Nahas.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Bruce Frisko.