REDMOND, Wash. — Sept. 26, 2007 — Today, Microsoft Corp. released its latest version of MSN® Video, offering consumers and advertisers an enhanced experience by improving the ability to find and discover premium and user-generated video content from the expansive MSN Video library, adding new community sharing features, and introducing a new time-based advertising delivery model.
The new MSN Video makes it easier for viewers to find and discover the breadth of video content from more than 40 leading video content providers, as well as video from across the Web. MSN Video now also integrates Soapbox user-generated videos directly into the same easy-to-use destination, and enables people to search and browse the entire MSN Video catalog while concurrently watching a video in a split-screen format. In addition, MSN Video users are now able to easily create playlists of their favorite videos and share them with friends.
“This latest release of MSN Video will make discovering, watching and sharing video easier and more entertaining than ever before,” said Rob Bennett, general manager, entertainment, video and sports for MSN. “By increasing the discoverability of our deep catalog, making it easier to share videos with friends, and improving the advertising model, we are continuing in our mission to make video an integral part of the MSN experience.”
The advertising delivery model for MSN Video, a first of its kind for a major online portal, now delivers advertising based on the amount of time a viewer spends watching videos, instead of by the number of clips watched. This improvement will provide a more predictable viewing experience and enable people to “channel surf” without being interrupted. MSN users will now see pre-roll advertisements before the first video and then see additional advertisements no more than once every three minutes during their viewing session.
The new version of MSN Video is available today in the U.S. and in a beta version in more than 10 markets worldwide, including Brazil, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain and the U.K. Over the next several months, MSN Video will be incorporated throughout all the MSN channels to creative a cohesive experience video experience throughout the portal.
About MSN Video
MSN Video is one of the largest free programmed video services on the Web, watched by more than 12 million unique users per month. In addition to streaming news, entertainment and sports video clips from more than 50 content partners including “The Today Show,” FOX Sports, MSNBC, Reveille, Control Room, CBS, News Corp. and Fox Entertainment Group, MSN Video presents a broad array of live events to online audiences worldwide. More than 50 top advertisers support MSN Video, which is available to consumers at no charge. MSN Video is available on the Web at http://msnvideo.com to consumers in the U.S. MSN Video is also live in Australia, Canada, France (English and French), Japan, the Netherlands and the U.K., and in Spanish in the U.S. MSN Video is in beta in Germany, Spain and Italy. Microsoft is testing a new beta of the next generation of MSN Video in the U.S. at http://next.video.msn.com.
Overall, MSN attracts more than 465 million unique users worldwide per month. With localized versions available globally in 42 markets and 21 languages, MSN is a world leader in delivering Web services to consumers and online advertising opportunities to businesses worldwide. Most recently, MSN partnered with Control Room to stream Live Earth, the largest online entertainment event in history with over 62 million streams worldwide.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
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