MSN to Offer Free Advertising-supported Video via Broadband

Microsoft announced that its MSN Network will offer a wide variety of high-resolution, on-demand broadband video content for free. Special programming from NBC News and MSNBC.com is available now in a Beta version of MSN Video. Additional content from multiple providers and custom programming choices will be added to the service for the full consumer launch this winter in the United States only. The free service will be supported by advertising. MSN Video will include 15-second video ads for every five to six minutes of content as well as contextual stationary ads displayed within the video player between motion ads. Microsoft said that "consumers are increasingly turning off their televisions to go online," making its MSN Video offering an ideal way for advertisers to reach the Internet demographic.


MSN Video will offer custom programming choices to consumers, allowing them to watch the type of programming that most interests them, such as news, sports, entertainment and other topics, or even specific program segments. Viewers will be able to condense programs to watch specific segments, or combine shows to play back-to-back from multiple sources.


MSN Video is based on Windows Media 9 Series technology, and offers up to 300 Kbps playback speeds. MSN developed the new service with the brand communications firm Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG), which helped create the media-buying components of MSN Video.
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