Following Rafat’s report from last week’s Dealmakers Summit that Time Inc. would soon unveil a cable VOD channel, comes the full details: On Wednesday, Sports Illustrated will launch SI On Demand, Mediaweek reported. The new VOD channel will initially reach 7 million Time Warner Cable homes. SI On Demand marks the magazine’s return to cable after the demise of CNNSI in May 2002.
Initially, the channel will run pre-produced short clips – both from the making of the magazine’s newest “Swimsuit” issue, which is also being released this week. Other content will include instructional videos from Golf Magazine. Eventually, SI On Demand will produce original video created in the Time Inc. Studios, which not so coincidentally is also being unveiled this week, Mediaweek noted. This new unit is charged with producing video content for its 130 magazines to be used on the company’s growing stable of TV and digital platforms. Paul Speaker, a former independent film producer, has been tapped to serve as president of the new studio. Speaker previously headed RKO Pictures and worked for the NFL.
Brightcove deal: In conjunction with starting up Time Inc. Studios, the media giant also announced on Monday that it is expanding its partnership with internet TV producer and distributor Brightcove. While the release mainly says the deal entails having Brightcove extend its production, distribution and ad sales services on a corporate-wide basis, USA Today reported that the first thing the magazines plan to do right away is highlight various columnists, along with focusing on high-profile print features—Time’s “Person of the Year,” Fortune’s “Most Powerful Women in Business,” and Essence’s “Will You Marry Me?”
-- USA Today rounds out its report with news that TV Guide International’s TV Guide Broadband is also announcing a deal with Brightcove to syndicate celebrity gossip, interviews with Joan and Melissa Rivers, and other video fare to news and entertainment sites and blogs. The Time/Brightcove is release is here, while the TV Guide/Brightcove release can be found here.
Related:
-- Time Inc To Launch a Cable VOD Channel