Available initially only in the US, MSN Video will support the free broadband content offering by selling 15-second video ads to advertisers, along with stationary ads displayed within the MSN Video on-screen player.
The video ads will appear once for every five to six minutes of content, and the stationary ads will be synchronised to appear alongside the video ads and remain live on the player with a link to the advertiser's website until the next video ad appears.
MSN says that the service will help advertisers talk to those switching off their televisions and switching on their computers instead, and claims that the free-to-viewers, ad-driven model will attract substantially more viewers than subscription-only sites. The Microsoft-owned online service cites research saying that consumers spend a combined total of more than 1bn hours each week using streaming media and other online service.
Other internet companies, including Yahoo!, offer exclusive video but on a subscription or pay-per-view basis. MSN will offer news, sports and entertainment for free, as well as adding some subscription-only services.
Yusuf Mehdi, corporate vice-president of MSN, said: "The vast amount of broadband content that we will freely offer is unique to the web and is part of our vision to deliver essential information services to all consumers. We will be able to offer rich broadband content to all consumers because the broadband services MSN will offer advertisers is the next generation of brand advertising on the web."
MSN Video has been developed by MSN along with media agency Starcom MediaVest Group, which developed the media-buying components and the news site , the online presence of cable news station MSNBC.
Rishad Tobacowala, present of Starcom MediaVest Group's internet practice, said: "Advertisers can't afford to be cut off from the growing number of consumers who now spend less time in front of the TV and more time online via broadband. MSN Video will help fill this void and connect clients to the increasingly valuable broadband consumer."
The new services launch in the US this winter. MSN is the portal owned by Microsoft and has 34 local versions available in 18 languages, boasting 350m unique users a month.
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