Reuters Insider Goes to the Videotape .. A lot of Videotape

After nearly two years of research and development, Thomson Reuters is taking the wraps off a new product custom made for its financial services clients. Reuters Insider is a video platform that uses the latest technology, increased bandwith and the global resources of Reuters News -- including 70 live cameras around the world -- to deliver video news and interviews to Thomson Reuters desktop users. The platform is an add-on for existing terminal clients and not available to the general public. Thomson Reuters terminal clients pay upwards of $1,500 a month for the premium service. Reuters Insider aims to turn the standard TV distribution platform on its head by narrowcasting to the financial services sector. "Instead of us trying to fill 24 hours of coverage throughout the day, we decided to stay very focused on the stories we felt were appropirate to cover," Reuters News Managing Editor Mike Stepanovich tells WebNewser. In building the platform, Stepanovich then lined up 150 partners -- alternate channels -- including mainstream players CNBC, Forbes and ITN, to niche content producers MeettheBoss.tv, ForexTV.com, and PharmaTelevision.com. At least 130 new jobs have been created by Reuters Insider. Some of the positions were taken by Reuters journalists whose old positions were then filled. Perhaps the best-known hire is Chrystia Freeland, the former Financial Times writer joined Reuters as global Editor-at-large in March. In addition, three new studios and control rooms were built at Thomson Reuters' Times Square headquarters. The goal is to increase Thomson Reuters terminal business -- currently at a half a million global users -- and take on competitors, including Bloomberg and its 280,000 Terminal users. So, what makes Reuters Insider so unique? We took a test drive last Friday. • Related: NYT's David Carr: Imagine YouTube for Traders Stepanovich says there are three things that make Reuters Insider a game changer in the space. • Content: Both live and on-demand. "The one thing we're really proud of is the content we're creating. Really targeted, narrowcast content." • User Experience: Reuters Insider includes a transcript for each of thousands of videos allowing the user to quickly search, navigate, and preview a particular clip of a longer video. The clip whether it's 10 seconds or two minutes, can then be shared with colleagues. • Partners: "I think we have a fantastic lineup of content partners," says Stepanovich. "I know it sounds like there's nothing else out there like this, but this does seem to the be case right now," says Stepanovich, a 13-year veteran of Reuters. Reuters Insider, which goes live tomorrow, will also be launched as a smartphone app for the iPhone and Blackberry and in a couple of weeks will also be available on the iPad.

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Reuters Insider Goes to the Videotape .. A lot of Videotape

Chris Ariens

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