CNET has been at the forefront of technology television since the company was formed over 10 years ago. Over the past few years, it has amassed a huge video clip library of news, product reviews, interviews and "how to’s".
All this video content was launched recently in a nifty portal called CNETTV.com. What has just happened is that most of the content has become downloadable as a M4V file meaning you can save any of these clips to you PC or iPod.
OK, we think that this is very significant development in the distribution of online video by an established media company. I don’t believe there are any big companies providing free downloads of original material. Am I right? Plus, while the clips you watch on CNETTV have ads, there are no ads on the downloaded files. What’s happening here?
I spoke with CNETTV executive Editor Molly Wood who calls the freebie clips "ambassador" content. Plus, she explains, that while ads could be attached to a download, they can’t be updated or changed, so best to make it all ad-free. Also there is a very cool RSS functionality to get feeds to your iTunes of reviews of particular products or brands. Awesome.
— Andy Plesser
Coming Clean: Beet.TV is published by yours truly. I run a public relations firm headquartered in New York with my good buddy Kent Holland. CNET Networks is a longtime client of the firm.
