During the long buildup to war in Iraq, a few online services have taken
their first confident steps toward becoming live, 24/7 Internet news networks.
"This is an infant that can stand up and become a full-fledged human being,
or fall flat on its face," ABCNews.com senior vice president Bernard
Gershon said of his company's venture.
The Web outlet recently launched ABC News Live, which features live feeds
from ABC correspondents and key events in the Iraqi crisis, such as
yesterday's news conference with Secretary of State Colin Powell.
ABC News Live, part of ABCNews.com's $4.95-a-month premium service, is
aimed at the growing number of people with high-speed - so-called broadband
- Internet access, which enhances video viewing.
"We estimate there are about 50 million people with office broadband and 20
million with broadband at home," Gershon added.
CNN includes many of its own Iraq-related video reports in CNN NewsPass, a
$4.95-a-month subscription service found at CNN.com.
Meanwhile, RealNetworks, the Seattle-based provider of multimedia
programing at Real.com, has partnerships with ABC and CNN so that video
reports from both can be viewed with its RealOne SuperPlayer.
The subscription-only media player, whose vast menu also includes Webcasts
of Major League Baseball games around the country, is available for $9.95 a
month.
A measure of how many people are signing up for premium online content
about Iraq is hard to come by - RealNetworks has more than 900,000
subscribers overall - but war is expected to spur growth.
"We typically see increased numbers of subscribers during major news
events, and we're seeing a similar trend now," CNN.com spokesowoman Edna
Johnson said.
Free video is available at MSNBC.com and other sites.
Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal's WSJ.com, which has nearly 700,000
subscribers, plans to ramp up its offerings to include daily interactive
maps showing battles and troop movements.
The site also will run dispatches - sometimes in the first person - from
Iraq and items that, a spokeswoman said, "don't fit within the confines of
traditional stories but that reporters and editors think ought to be seen."
Best media sites
Forbes.com tech columnist Arik Hesseldahl says, "In a way, almost every Web
log, or blog, is somehow about media. The links that make them interesting
to read invariably come from somewhere else."
After looking at many media blogs, he's picked what he considers the five
best. Top-rated MetaFilter.com is followed by Blogcritics.org, Patrick
Phillips' IWantMedia.com, Gawker.com and many journalists' favorite, Jim
Romenesko's daily media roundup, at Poynter.org.
http://www.nydailynews.com/business/col/story/68042p-63315c.html
