The primetime audience is online at work. And in a move that goes after the daytime primetime aud, the CBC is unveiling a broadband-heavy video channel today on cbc.ca/video. Bob Kerr, director of business and platform development says the site promises to host episodes of The National on demand, in addition to both clips and full episodes of documentaries, among other content. In addition, a microsite for the FIFA World Cup is in the works for the net, slated to go live in late May. Kerr says the microsite is available for sponsorship and speculates that it will likely net ‘half a million to one million page views daily. I expect really big traffic.’ Sponsorships on the World Cup site will be sold via AOL Canada, as the company sells ad inventory for CBC.ca. Jonathan Lister, VP, audience for AOL says: ‘The primetime audience is online during the daytime. We’ve watched this category grow over the last year and now we can target them. The benefits [to advertising online] is that it’s cost-efficient; we hit them during the time of day when they’re not used to being targeted, increasing relevancy, and it’s fully measureable. You’re now seeing tier-one content online.’
A study conducted by comScore Media Metrix has found that folks at work like to surf the net for news and info – and they don’t feel guilty about it, either. The stats, unveiled yesterday in a joint presentation given by folks from CBC and AOL Canada, points to an emerging daytime audience. Findings include:
* uniques to the news/info site category have increased 16.8% over the last year
* Canucks consume news/information at the highest rate (at a reach of 80%), versus those in the U.S. and in France (at 65%)
