TV One will extend its African-American-targeted programming to the Web with the launch of a new broadband portal Monday.
The 37 million-subscriber network is hoping to significantly improve on its 1.4 million hits per month to its Web site through short, three- to five-minute vignettes featuring clips from existing network shows, as well as original fare, according to Katrice Jones, vice president of digital media and creative services.
The broadband portal will feature a gospel-music channel, which will offer music-video clips and interviews from the genre; a news-and-information area, which will offer highlights of such public-affairs/talk shows as Sharp Talk with Al Sharpton; and a lifestyles channel, which will feature outtakes and behind-the-scenes footage from programs like Turn Up the Heat with G. Garvin.
Overall, the broadband channel will offer more than 100 video clips running approximately 3-5 minutes, according to Jones. While the videos will mostly feature content from the network’s shows, she added that TV One will create original programming, including The Daily Dap, a daily, one-minute news show highlighting little known stories affecting African Americans.
“[Broadband] gives us the opportunity to try out something online that could extend to other platforms,” she said. “We’re also talking to documentarians about creating content that our audience would like to watch and talk about.”
TV One will also relaunch its site to include additional MySpace-like interactive features like blogging, video uploading and member profile pages.
“We really want to integrate as much as possible the community and interactive experience with the TV One show programming experience,” Jones said. “We have a strong sense of community within our audience, so when they’re watching a show like Sharp Talk with Al Sharpton, they’ll be able to debate the issue and talk about it.”
The network hopes to get its target 25-54 audience to seek out TV One content on the Web. “We want to teach and foster our TV audience about the Web," she said.
She added that the network is primarily generating advertisement and sponsorship through the upfront, although she would not reveal specific advertisers.
