Wall Street Journal Expanding Live Web Video News Programming

Last month, the Wall Street Journal launched an initiative around live video programming, with a twice daily, eight-minute show titled The News Hub, originating from the paper's newsroom. 

Earlier this week, I visited the Journal's new midtown Manhattan newsroom for a chat with Alan Murray, Deputy Managing Editor who also hold the title of Executive Editor, Online.

While the Journal and its sister publication Marketwatch produce a large number of taped pieces, over 500 per month, Alan told me that live news programming will expand. 

He sees high value in the immediacy of news video on the Web.   He also says that views of the shows can be watched later on an on demand basis.  (Videos on the WSJ.com are not behind a subscription wall.)

The 4:00 p.m. Webcast is co-anchored by Simon Constable and Kelsey Hubbard.  It features Journal and Dow Jones reporters and editors in New York and others who are patched-in from bureaus and various locations via Skype.  The 8:30 a.m. program is hosted by Kelly Evans.

Alan said in the interview that the live programming is streamed by service provider Akamai, the big global computer network, based in Cambridge, Mass.

The News Hub is attractive to advertisers, according to Brian Quinn, the Journal's  top digtal sales executive.  He told me that  there is a big demand for this sort of live programming with high rates paid by advertisers.  The show is presently sponsored by Charles Schwab. 

Brian will participate in Beet.TV Online Video Roundtable at 30 Rock on Tuesday.

Andy Plesser, Executive Producer