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The Telegraph Group is to launch a number of new internet channels,

starting with a sports channel next month, as part of a multimillion

pound overhaul of its electronic publishing activities.

Despite being the first national newspaper group to go online with the

launch of Electronic Telegraph in 1994, the Telegraph’s owner, Hollinger

International, has trailed behind other newspaper groups that have

forged ahead in the electronic publishing arena in recent years.

Sport.telegraph.co.uk will launch to coincide with the Sydney Olympics

and a new version of the online football game the Telegraph Premier

League will go live on the channel later this year.

A money channel will launch in October with motoring, travel and jobs

channels to launch at a later date. A channel head is being recruited

for the jobs channel, and a number of ideas for other channels,

including property, are under discussion.

Users will be able to customise and prioritise content for the first

time; a sports channel user whose favourite sports are soccer and

basketball will be offered relevant in-depth reports at the top of the

page.

New channels will be branded under the Telegraph banner initially and

the main telegraph.co.uk portal, which will be relaunched in October

with new features such as content management and e-mail newsletters,

will act as a signpost for each of the new channels.

However, the intention is that each channel will exist as a standalone

site, according to Hugo Drayton, the managing director of Hollinger

Telegraph New Media.

He said: ’Each channel will operate as a discrete business and establish

its own business model. We are positioning each business so that

potentially it could float or form new partnerships.’

J. Walter Thompson will create a pounds 1 million press, online and

radio launch campaign focusing on the new sports channel and the

relaunch of the main telegraph.co.uk portal. Media buying and planning

will be through MindShare.