PBS Expands Online Video Offerings
Andrew LaVallee
PBS revamped its online video offering Wednesday, adding full-length episodes from shows such as "Antiques Roadshow" and "Nova", as it attempts to broaden its audience and sponsorship opportunities.
The public broadcaster is aiming for younger viewers who don't tune in to "Masterpiece Theater" on television, but - it hopes - will be interested in its programming if it's more accessible on the Web. It is adding archived TV, such as the late Julia Child's cooking series, as well as a show, "Time Team America", that will debut online in advance of a July air date.
"We know that there's a certain age group that may not be watching us on television, but it's not because they don't have an affinity for the brand", said Jason Seiken, who heads PBS's interactive unit. "They love PBS, they grew up with PBS, they have an attachment to programs like ˜Frontline" and ˜Nova." It's just that they consume their media in different ways than an older generation did. So we feel that this is a way to capture them, to meet that need.'
PBS began offering Web video in 2000, with "NewsHour," but its online-TV features eventually became what Mr. Seiken called a "confederacy of hundreds of different Web sites." It was awkward to go from program to program, since they were on different sites, and some shows, like "Antiques Roadshow," offered only brief clips from episodes.
The new player puts full-length shows in one place and features higher-quality video. About 200 hours of content are now online, and PBS plans to expand this over the coming months. It also organizes shows by topic, so viewers can select "performing arts," for example, to watch live music from all of its online programs.
In March, traffic to PBS.org fell 6.9% to 3.6 million unique visits, compared with 3.9 million in March 2008, according to comScore. Network-TV sites were a mixed bag over the same period, with NBC and CBS also declining, while ABC and Fox saw gains.
Bobby Tulsiani, an analyst at Forrester Research, said the launch gets PBS up to speed with larger TV sites, such as NBC.com and MTV.com. "It's what customers or consumers expect from any television network," he said. "This will put them in front of an audience that's younger, maybe a little more hip, a little more savvy."
By putting more of its content online, PBS could tap into the kinds of Web users who browse Wikipedia, he added, since its mix of history, science, culture and news programming is similarly encyclopedic. "PBS has those same topics and can start getting that same traffic as well," he said. "They can become a general brand, not in a bad way, but in a good way, for people on the Web."
PBS worked with New York agency Method in designing the video player, which is reminiscent of Hulu. Like it and other social-media sites, PBS.org lets viewers share clips on other sites and email links to friends. It has partnerships with YouTube, Hulu and other video hubs for some of its older content, though it has no plans to limit distribution of its new programming.
"The ultimate goal is to get as much of PBS video and other content out there, to spread it far and wide throughout the Web," Mr. Seiken said. "The specific steps we take to get there, that's what we're experimenting with now."
The number of shows available online for each show will vary. Most will offer the past two or three years of episodes, while some, including Ms. Child's, will eventually serve as a full catalog. Others, such as live performances with more restrictive rights, will be online for a window of time.
The relaunch opens PBS to more online advertising and e-commerce as well. On-air sponsors are recognized in a pre-roll ad, and the broadcaster is considering "enhanced sponsorships" for companies interested in providing additional funding in exchange for more prominence on the site. PBS.org is making selected videos available for purchase as DVDs or on Apple's iTunes, with an "Own It" button on the player.
The topic collections of videos are a new potential way for organizations to sponsor content, Mr. Seiken said. A company could buy advertising for "health and wellness" or "Earth Day," instead of one PBS show.
But PBS expects to maintain its TV messaging standards in this medium, said Andrew Russell, senior vice president of PBS ventures."One thing that's really importance to our audiences is that we present content uninterrupted," he said. "A lot of the guidelines that we use on-air will be carried over to online."
