Hearst newspapers sign video deal with Brightcove
Cory Bergman April 11th, 2007
SFGate.com (San Francisco Chronicle) and Chron.com (Houston Chronicle) will be the first Hearst sites to roll out “internet video channels and vlogs” using technology powered by Brightcove. Other Hearst newspaper sites will follow. “The video will enhance offline content and will also build an entire experience and community around this new content,” said Lincoln Millstein, senior vice president & director of Digital Media for Hearst Newspapers. Release…
PRESS RELEASE — NEW YORK and CAMBRIDGE, MA – April 11, 2007 — Hearst Newspapers, a division of Hearst Corporation, and Brightcove, the Internet TV pioneer, today announced that Hearst Newspapers will be introducing ad-supported Internet video channels. The San Francisco Chronicle and Houston Chronicle are expected to be two of the first papers to launch this year.
“Video is a crucial piece to an online news and information presence today,” said Lincoln Millstein, senior vice president & director of Digital Media for Hearst Newspapers. “We are excited to roll out Internet video channels and vlogs using Brightcove on our newspapers’ Web sites and across the Web. The video will enhance offline content and will also build an entire experience and community around this new content.”
With Brightcove, Hearst Newspapers will be able to easily create ad-supported video channels that will be distributed on the newspapers’ Web sites, through affiliates across the Web and on Brightcove.com. Additionally, the company’s individual newspapers will be able to easily tap into the creativity and opinions in their communities by soliciting video from readers. Brightcove simplifies the process of soliciting, reviewing and posting consumer-generated video for newspapers and for readers. Hearst Interactive Media, a division of Hearst Corporation, is an investor in Brightcove.
“Hearst Newspapers includes some of the most respected and widely read publications in the news business today,” said Jeremy Allaire, chairman and chief executive officer, Brightcove. “We are excited to be working with Hearst to engage readers with new video offerings and encourage community involvement. The Internet video channels will not only expand the reach of individual newspaper brands, but will also foster new revenue opportunities through online advertising.”
About Hearst Corporation
Hearst Corporation (www.hearst.com) is one of the nation’s largest diversified media companies. Its major interests include 12 daily and 31 weekly newspapers, including the Houston Chronicle, San Francisco Chronicle, San Antonio Express-News, Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Albany Times Union; nearly 200 magazines around the world, including Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, and O, The Oprah Magazine; 29 television stations through Hearst-Argyle Television (NYSE: HTV), which reach a combined 18% of U.S. viewers; joint venture interests in leading cable networks, including Lifetime, A&E, The History Channel and ESPN; as well as business publishing, including a joint venture interest in Fitch Group; Internet businesses; television production; newspaper features distribution; and real estate.
10 Comments Add your own
1. invitedmedia | April 11th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
heck, here we have hearst PRINT referring to their video web “CHANNELS” while their tv counterparts have abandoned that term out of fear of cannibalization.
what a twisted WEB we weave.
2. Dan | April 11th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
The problem with Brightcove is their DRM is for
Windows only. I asked them today about it they said
they are not planning on allowing Mac users to make
purchases. If it’s free it works on Macs.
Dan
3. Z | April 12th, 2007 at 6:11 am
Hearst TV sites abandoned “channels” because the public didn’t (and don’t) understand the term on the Internet.
You think these print “channels” will actually have “channel” in the name? Not likely.
4. invitedmedia | April 12th, 2007 at 7:05 am
that statement (yours) surely held water in 2000 when the net was predominantly text.
“the public” now understands… far more than they’re given credit for. and that understanding is being reinforced EVERY day with releases such as this.
but, if we must disagree i would challenge your thinking with the thought that “the public” doesn’t understand the hoopla with a random collection of 4 letters either.
5. invitedmedia | April 12th, 2007 at 7:16 am
btw- just visited a little known site called YOUTUBE…ever heard of it?
it really is very small… and “the public” doesn’t really understand it.
anyways, i just skimmed the homepage there, and the word “channel” is only mentioned about 10 times.
maybe you’re right. “the public” doesn’t get it.
6. Z | April 12th, 2007 at 7:54 am
I suspect there’s a reason they don’t call it http://www.youtubechannel.com, though.
7. invitedmedia | April 12th, 2007 at 7:54 am
hey, “the public” might not understand the term “network” as it applies to the internet either.
but check back later today when cory or steve report on cbs’s “Audience Network” deal with aol, msn, nbcu-news, etc.
are you certain it’s “the public” that doesn’t get it?
8. invitedmedia | April 12th, 2007 at 8:00 am
i really cherish your insights.
i think i’ve made it clear that “theeveryplaceintheworldchannel” might not be the optimum domain name strategy.
i have even gone so far as to say denver.com, losangeles.com. etc. might be better since the debate is on L-O-C-A-L.
try accumulating that string of names.
herding cats comes to mind.
face it, you guys were way ahead of your time in 2000.
NOW’S YOUR TIME.
9. Sean | April 12th, 2007 at 8:53 am
Just to clarify Dan’s comment. We offer free as well as ad-supported Flash video which is accessible to both Mac and Windows viewers.
Currently our paid downloads use Microsoft Windows DRM technology and therefore require Windows for playback. We plan to offer unprotected MPEG-4 downloads in the future, for video publishers that prefer to use an open format.
Thanks for taking the time to explore our offering.
-Sean
Production Specialist
Brightcove
10. David Johnson | April 12th, 2007 at 9:01 am
back on the old lostremote, i posed the question why the term channel is applied to broadband video content online. i can deal with it in terms of a “distribution channel” as a marketer would refer to a means to deliver content and/or audience, but i think efforts to conceptually link it to broadcast channels (ie frequencies on a dial) has always been weak. as memory serves, though, saf had some good counterpoints though.
Leave a Comment
(Please keep URLs out of the comment body or the spam filter will block you.)Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed