Huffington Post will launch a 24-hour a day online video network that features live programming, short-form on demand video, and original TV series and feature films, the media company announced Thursday.
The new network will be available on the main website website and apps. The video double-down, expanding beyond three-year-old HuffPost Live, is part of a 50-50 strategy, aiming to shift the company to 50 percent video 50 percent editorial.
“The big takeaway is this is a major investment and a major move in further positioning us a global video brand,” video GM Nathan Brown tells TheWrap.
“We’re going all in in terms of digital, we’ll be doing a lot of live content just like we’re currently producing, there’s going to be digital shorts, digital short originals and news, there’s going to be television formats we’re producing, and a major investment in feature films.”
The new channel will be distributed over-the-top over-the-top, on set top boxes, and elsewhere.
HuffPost Live will remain as a separate entity–potentially offering less hours–but also be weaved into HuffPost 24. The move to create original series and feature films borrows a page out of the Netflix playbook.
“It’s no secret how successful they’ve been…they’re proving that the content model is working, and we’re taking a little bit of the best of what they’re doing and what others are doing, and then looking at the way our audience consumes content and creating a really unique experience for them,” Brown said.
With the new 24-hour network will come a slew of hiring.
“We’re looking for swiss army knives–people who are muti-dispciplinary, multi-format, people who really live their lives as creators, and they’re just as comfortable picking up a camera and shooting something than writing a story.”