Atlanta -- Cable News Network's CNN Interactive
announced last week that it has introduced a video-on-demand service, called Videoselect,
on its Web site, concurrent with a redesign of CNN.com.
Interactive customers had already discovered the VOD
service before last week's official press announcement. On May 28, visitors to the
site viewed 15,000 Videoselect streams, a company spokesman said.
The first Videoselect programs include the latest editions
of Larry King Live and Crossfire. Also available are 13-minute CNN Headline
News segments, updated every half-hour. At any given time, the VOD program will also
include about 15 video-news reports that viewers can see in order of preference, just as
they would browse through text.
Videoselect will also include hyperlinks to related text
stories and message boards.
Scott Woelfel, vice president and editor in chief of CNN
Interactive, said the company has no immediate plans to charge for Videoselect, which will
be supported by advertising. In the future, he added, CNN Interactive may charge for deep
archive stories or as the video becomes closer to broadcast quality.
RealNetworks Inc.'s RealPlayer or Microsoft
Corp.'s NetShow Player multimedia software are needed to view Videoselect.
