More than two years after the launch of HuffPost Live, The Huffington Post plans to significantly boost its video capabilities through the creation of a 24-hour online video network.
HuffPost 24 will feature live programming, short-form video, original series, documentaries and other video, Huffington Post founder and editor-in-chief Arianna Huffington announced to staff on Thursday morning. The network will be available on the HuffPost website, via apps, over-the-top and distributed as VOD content.
“It’s part of our growth plan to be 50-50 video,” Huffington tells The Hollywood Reporter. “As we see the world moving to mobile and global video, these are pretty big priorities. Being able to produce video that can be consumed both by over-the-top and mobile is a huge priority for us.”
The news website will also establish film and television divisions, in part, to produce content for HuffPost 24. HuffPost Films will produce, acquire, license and distribute feature-length films while HuffPost TV will develop and produce television projects.
These new initiatives will be led by video GM Nathan Brown, who is in the process of hiring to expand the company’s video team. He explains that the website is currently undergoing a redesign that will put video “front and center.”
In addition to film and television projects, HuffPost 24 programming will also include HuffPost’s new slate of original series, daily HuffPost news from local and international bureaus, AOL original programming, creator partners such as YouTube stars and other social media talent, and licensed content.
Brown says HuffPost 24 will look to sell sponsorships on its linear video stream.
HuffPost 24 is expected to launch in the third or fourth quarter of this year and will slowly ramp up to a full 24 hours of content.
The announcement about Huffington Post’s expanded video plans comes days after Verizon completed its acquisition of HuffPo parent AOL, a deal that Brown says “will really add rocket fuel to the ambitions that we laid out.”
This story, reported by Natalie Jarvey, first appeared in our sister publication The Hollywood Reporter.