--Hearst-Argyle Television Invests $5 Million in the Service
Ripe Digital Entertainment (RDE) says that, following a successful trial on Comcast systems this summer, its advertising-supported free VOD service, RipeTV, will on October 28th launch on three broadband platforms--Akimbo, MSN and Comcast.net--as well as on several, as-yet-undisclosed mobile platforms. The service, which launched on a trial basis on Comcast On Demand in July and which will continue to be offered on that platform, features short-form content--40% of which is original--targeted at males aged 18-34: content varies in length from three to 15 minutes, and includes such titles as "Bikini World," "Supermodel TV," "No Limits," and "Casting Ripe." RDE also says that it has secured a $5 million investment from Hearst-Argyle Television: the latter will, in addition, provide RDE with strategic help in distributing and in securing advertising for RipeTV.
RDE was founded by Ryan Magnussen (who serves as its CEO), Patrick Bradley (who serves as its president), Steve Voci (who serves as its VP of sales), and Jonathan Barbato: Magnussen, Bradley and Voci were also founding partners of interactive agency, Zentropy, while Barbato was closely involved in the launch of Starz On Demand. The company has created what it says is a new advertising platform, called Immersive Advertising, for which it has filed a patent. It claims that the platform makes its content fast-forward-resistant or "DVR-proof" because it embeds ads in that content: advertisers, it says, are only charged based on actual views (similar to Google's advertising model).
Click http://www.itvt.com to subscribe to our free email newsletter, which contains all the news stories you see on this Web site, and additional breaking news and scoops, in-depth features, interviews, and other exclusive content you will not read anywhere else.
