Martha to test online pay-per-view

Next week, Martha Stewart Living will begin testing a paid download model on its website, marthastewart.com, to allow consumers to view and listen to online segments of Martha Stewart Living Television, The Martha Stewart Show and Martha Stewart Living Radio not currently archived on the Web.

"It has to happen," Martha said at a panel discussion in New York City last week held by investment-banking firm DeSilva & Phillips. "We will see monetization on the Web."

Details about pricing for the offering have yet to be worked out, but it's an experiment for the company aimed at finding new ways to generate additional revenue online from archival video content. Its Web site will still largely remain a free, ad-supported venture.

The company will launch the test using a platform from iAmplify that allows publishers to set up complex business rules like creating subscriptions and bundling multiple products from individual pieces of audio and video. iAmplify runs branded pages within its customers' sites that facilitate online transactions and can also be used for additional advertising.

"All the focus for online video and audio has been on the ad model, but now the ad market is down in this economy and media companies are looking for ways to monetize and leverage their content through other means," said Murray Hidary, chief executive with iAmplify. "Certain online content should be free, but premium content - really valuable content where so much production and effort has been put into it - should be charged for."
-Wall Street Journal