<em>Financial Times</em> Launches New York Video Studio

Here's something that may surprise anyone not already familiar with the Financial Times website. All video is in front of the paywall. In recent years, video contributions from reporters in Europe, Asia and Africa have overtaken U.S. video content. However, thanks to a brand new fiber-tethered studio launching Monday at FT's New York offices, much more U.S. video content will soon be in the offing. "What I'm really focused on, for the rest of this year, is upping the contribution from the U.S. to our video output," head of video Veronica Kan-Dapaah tells FishbowlNY via telephone. "Although we've had a very strong contribution from the U.S., over the last couple of years we've really ramped up the amount that we've been doing from Europe, Africa and Asia. So that overall, percentage wise, the U.S. contribution has fallen back a bit." "We think that the U.S. stories are really key to the editorial," she adds. "The markets in particular." Kan-Dapaah, who heads a global team of 11, joined the Financial Times in 2011. She as previously with CNBC. She is also currently completing post-graduate studies at the University of London in global governance and public policy. In 2013, FT video views grew by 12% on the newspaper website and by 163% on YouTube compared to 2012. Even more importantly, revenue derived last year from video increased year-to-year by 66%. When asked to give an example of one of the FT videos that connected in a way that surprised her, Kan-Dapaah offers a couple of very intriguing examples. "One video that did extraordinarily well, with some infographic elements, was a piece that explained the Indonesian elections," she says. "It was extensively shared on Facebook." Another popular FT Video was food writer and author Tim Hayward's unusual cooking tip. In the June 2013 clip above, he shows how to cook a lobster in a wheelbarrow. "This was for us a great iPhone video," Kan-Dapaah recalls. "That was, for us, one of the videos that confirmed the feasibility of using an iPhone as a primary picture-gathering tool in the field. The U.S. video capabilities are being launched as FT's global media editor Matthew Garrahan is about to relocate from Los Angeles to New York. "Matthew was here yesterday and he was in fact immediately grabbed by the video guys here, and a producer in London," Kan-Dapaah says. "They wanted Matthew's comments on the Apple, Beats deal." FT's head of video herself has already traveled from London to New York several times this year and anticipates a number more back-and-forths throughout the course of the year. To take a look at the latest FT videos, click here.

Fishbowl

Financial Times Launches New York Video Studio

Richard Horgan

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Richard Horgan