Martha Stewart Omnimedia announced yesterday that the company will test a new model and start charging for online video downloads of Stewart’s archived TV show episodes and segments.
An MSLO rep added that the paid video downloads will be an addition to its revenue stream and that the company is still committed to its free, ad-supported model for its content.
This will be an interesting thing to follow for publishers to get a sense of how an audience that is so used to getting online content for free, feels about pay-to-download videos.
“It has to happen,” Stewart said at a panel discussion in New York City held by investment-banking firm DeSilva & Phillips. “We will see monetization on the Web.”
MSLO have not released information on pricing but they hope that this will genearte new revenue from archival video content not currently available on its website.
The company will launch the test using a platform from iAmplify that allows publishers to set up complex business rules like creating subscriptions and bundling multiple products from individual pieces of audio and video. iAmplify runs branded pages within its customers’ sites that facilitate online transactions and can also be used for additional advertising.
“All the focus for online video and audio has been on the ad model, but now the ad market is down in this economy and media companies are looking for ways to monetize and leverage their content through other means,” said Murray Hidary, chief executive with iAmplify, which will launch MSLO’s pay-for-video-download model. “Certain online content should be free, but premium content – really valuable content where so much production and effort has been put into it – should be charged for.”
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