CBS - VIDEO COMES TO PRINT MAGAZINES

VIDEO COMES TO PRINT MAGAZINES

Readers of Time Warner's Entertainment Weekly who live in New York and Los Angeles will receive their September issue with a small screen that can display up to 40 minutes of video ads, the publishers have revealed. The ads, activated when a page is turned, will feature previews of upcoming CBS TV shows and show commercials for Pepsi Cola brands, reports said. The Financial Times cited an industry executive with knowledge of the technology as estimating that running one video ad will cost an advertiser several dollars per copy -- versus about 9 cents per copy for a full-page color ad in Entertainment Weekly. The technology has generated complaints that it will help nail the coffin of traditional print journalism. Writing in the London Times blog section, technology editor Nigel Kendall commented, "This may be a triumph of technology, but in an age that's defined by its ability to fast-forward through unwanted commercials, the prospect of 40 minutes of the damned things doesn't exactly fill me with glee." Internet marketing blogger Frank Reed remarked, "For me, sitting down with a magazine is more relaxing than ever just because nothing moves!"

20/08/2009