Published:
01-Sep-08
Virgin Media and online sports video distributor Perform have launched e-Player, an embeddable video player delivering ad-supported sports highlights to publishers' websites. A 'Virgin Media Sport' branded player will show football highlights from the English Premier League (EPL) and Football League while clips from other sports such as tennis, golf and rugby will be distributed under Perform's Omnisport.tv brand. Publishers including ITV Sport, News International and The Guardian will embed the player on their websites.
Perform is distributing e-Player for free, sharing the advertising revenue generated with the publisher. Ads are sold by the Online Video Alliance – an advertising partnership between Perform and ids, a subsidiary of Virgin Media.
Our take...
The launch of e-Player represents an extension of Virgin's previous video syndication strategy. In recent seasons the telco, in partnership with Perform, syndicated its EPL highlights to sites such as The Sun, FHM and 442. However, e-Player will feature a wider range of content, distributing both Virgin Media-owned clips and video under Perform's own sports brand.
Rather than restricting video to Virgin or Perform's own properties, delivery across multiple sites will greatly increase the reach of Virgin and Perform's content, maximizing the online audience for the clips provided. CPM rates are typically high for in-stream ads associated with premium sports video and distributing video through a number of outlets will help Virgin and Perform maximize their share of the ad-supported online sports video market – a market Screen Digest forecasts will generate revenues of £17m (€25m) in the UK in 2008.
