Vogue to Launch Broadband Channel

ShopVogue.TV hosts fashion world coverage as well as original programming from the iconic magazine title. Vogue is hoping to tap into the new taste for all things fashion-related, from TV shows to movies.The sites also sports links to products that appear in the print magazine’s advertising. Advertisers will be sorted by product and category to help consumers find them easily.

The site does not have any e-commerce functionality of its own but just points people to the advertiser’s site.

Advertisers will also be able to sponsor the original videos being produced. Nordstrom, for instance, is sponsoring an interview with rock star Gwen Stefani that gives the viewer the ability to click through to the retailer’s site.

MLB Plans Video Archive Launch

Major League Baseball is opening up its video archives for people to play with and create their own highlight reel, reports The Associate Press.

The newly created website Actober will house video footage from throughout the MLB’s broadcast history, including many classic moments from post-season competition. The site’s debut coincides with the MLB’s launch of a post-season specific campaign, dubbed “There’s Only One October.”

A number of celebrities will create their own highlight reels for the launch, with more to come later on. Like the celebrity lists, ordinary users will be able to share their compilations with others.

Broadband video is going utilitarian

“How-to” videos are popping up on the Web, giving everyone – from new mothers to fashionistas – a little life help, according to NewTeeVee.

Newbaby.com, an advice site for mothers, was developed after co-founder and parenting guru Maria Bailey discovered 43 percent of moms would watch videos providing expert advice and solutions. Harvard Pilgrim’s Child Health Guide hosts videos on what to do when children get sick, and lifestyle site chic.tv hired former America’s Next Top Model contestant Melrose to deliver clothing tips.

iAmplify, audio & video to amplify your life

iAmplify, a site serving just such “how-to” and advice videos, recently scored $6 million in venture funding. With topics ranging from parenting to weight loss, the site also enlists celebrities Marilu Henner and Marianne Williamson to deliver practical tips.

‘PumpTop TV’ Speeding to a City Near You

Westinghouse Digital Electronics and AdtekMedia Inc. have partnered to speed the national expansion of “PumpTop TV,” AdtekMedia’s digital media network that consists of television screens installed atop gas station pumps.
Westinghouse Digital will build and install display systems for fuel pumps in thousands of gas stations in each of the sixty largest U.S. markets. The screens will be serviced by AdtekMedia’s narrowcast network, which will deliver news content and advertising to gas station consumers as they fuel their vehicles.

The result will be one of the largest out-of-home digital media networks in the U.S., reaching more than 100 million drivers each month, according to the companies (pdf).

PumpTop TV runs a five-minute program of news, sports, entertainment, weather and traffic interspersed with advertising, complete with both audio and video. The system includes dual screens (on both sides of the pump), 19 inches wide, with high resolution displays.

HowStuffWorks to Build Out Video Content

HowStuffWorks is seeking to match its 30,000-plus articles, recipes and reviews with video content, reports AdWeek. The company is collecting advertiser-created instructional videos for the site, which aims to provide one-stop online shopping for all manner of information.

HowStuffWorks has already collected more than 1,000 clips, including content from General Electric about wind power, Intercontinental on city tours and Dell explaining how to set up a wireless router. To collect the clips, HowStuffWorks has set up an online upload system for brands to submit their instructional videos. Arnold said the content is screened to weed out sales pitches.

Its business model is based on the popularity of Internet search engines as user starting points for navigating the Web. Like the New York Times Co.-owned About.com, HowStuffWorks frequently ranks high on searches for information on topics like HDTV.

LonelyPlanet.tv Launches

Lonely Planet has launched LonelyPlanet.tv, an online community featuring Lonely Planet TV programming, user-generated videos, blogs, forums, ratings, geo-location information and other applications, writes MediaPost.

The new site is designed to enable travelers to easily share their own videos and experiences, even while on the road, as well as comment and rate professional and user-generated content.

Lonely Planet is offering two main advertising packages: a standard one that includes a banner and skyscraper plus Quigo contextual ads, and a premium package that includes banners and skyscrapers and enables “ownership” of a specific channel or content area.

A second sponsorship campaign option enables commercial use of LonelyPlanet.tv, in which a brand can make its own videos available to the site’s audience.

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