Interactive Video Network (IVN), an Interep Interactive company, plans to launch a new video network called the Viral Video Network, offering a single point of contact enabling advertisers to place marketing-related video in front of large audiences, the company announced.

IVN will guarantee advertisers both placement on consumer-generated content sites and plays of videos that marketers want to establish as viral-worthy. Several sites, including photobucket.com, gofish.com, vmix.com and redbalcony.com have joined as distribution partners of Viral Video Network (VVN), which will reach over 15 million monthly unique users at first - nearly 9 percent of the total internet audience - and expects to reach 20 percent by yearend.

Campaigns will be sold on a CPM basis with a minimum number of guaranteed video plays; VVN will provide real-time reporting to assess progress and will optimize campaigns to assure delivery of video plays within specific date ranges, according to Kevin Gianatiempo, president of IVN.

“Viral Video Network gives advertisers the ability to ‘jump-start’ viral video campaigns with guaranteed positioning on sites that specialize in consumer generated content, especially video,” Gianatiempo said in a statement.

“We are making it easy and efficient to place marketing-related video, whether shot by professionals or just a guy with a cool idea, as an alternative or a supplement to ’seeding’ multiple sites and hoping a viral component takes over.Viral Video Network will bring order to the process.”

Viral Video Network will share revenue with its network publishers, on behalf of whom it will maintain client relationship, implementation and campaign management.

IVN is a division of Interep Interactive and a sister company of Winstar Interactive, the largest independent online ad sales company in the United States. IVN’s turnkey solution is used by Napster, vMix, GoFish and Winstar Interactive sites such as HistoryChannel.com and Biography.com.

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New digital video platforms are extending the reach of the traditional TV, especially among among viewers 18-34 who are affluent and highly educated, writes MediaPost, citing a new study by Nielsen Analytics together with Scarborough Research.

Perhaps the most surprising finding by Nielsen recently was that digital video is not eroding TV programming; rather, the trend is going in the other direction. Specifically, household viewing has risen by more than an hour a day over the past decade - to 8 hours, 14 minutes per person for the 2005-2006 TV season.

Nielsen says its findings pave the way for all TV content providers to build new digital revenue models. “By researching controlled broadband access, this study concludes that programmers have the opportunity to create new revenue models to benefit content owners and their affiliated stations,” said Larry Gerbrandt, general manager and SVP of Nielsen Analytics, author of the study, titled “Whatever, Whenever, Wherever: How Broadband is Redefining the Economics of Television.”

“Such ad-supported models are uniquely adaptable to the broadband environment and are potentially superior to existing models because they can take full advantage of the digital environment. With broadband streams, for example, fast-forwarding through commercials can be disabled making it more likely the consumers will watch the spots and possibly interact with them.”

Digital video businesses can easily disable fast-forward options so viewers can’t fast-forward through ads, usually 15: and 30: pre-rolls.

The report notes that the 18-34 demo represents 34 percent of those with broadband, while the 55+ demo is expected to grow, meaning this high-income group will become a valuable opportunity.

As Second Life’s membership soars, businesses and advertisers are beginning to create a presence in the virtual world in hopes of making real-world profits.

With Second Life’s online population nearing one million, more companies are beginning to flock to the service as a way to reach members - and digitally test marketing initiatives that could be applied offline - the New York Times reports. Around 30 companies have now set up shop in the virtual world, according to Philip Rosedale, chief executive of Linden Labs, the San Francisco company that operates Second Life, and corporate interests now own some 5 percent of the virtual world’s real estate.

The site is a relatively inexpensive way for businesses (including at least one ad agency) to reach and interact with consumers, test marketing plans and new product ideas, as well as provide information on current products. Nissan, for example, has set up a virtual racetrack that allows users to “test-drive” its Sentra. Moreover, a presence in the virtual world can translate into real revenue.

That’s because users have their own currency, the Linden Dollar; at current exchange rates, one dollar buys 400 Linden Dollars. An article of virtual clothing, such as a shirt, costs on average about 200 Lindens, or 50 cents. Second Life claims that as much as $500,000 a day in actual dollars changes hands on the site and that amount is growing by up to 15 percent a month.

Comcast and the Walt Disney Company have signed a multibillion-dollar deal that will allow the cable operator to distribute Disney programming on its video-on-demand service.

Comcast has also agreed to buy Disney’s 39.5 percent stake in the E Entertainment channel for $1.23 billion, writes the Associated Press (via MediaBuyerPlanner). CBS and NBC have made similar deals for VOD distribution, but this is ABC’s first deal to provide cable customers with on-demand content. Disney has had success, however, selling content via iTunes.

MediaPost points out that the deal takes care of three long-term problems for Disney: digital TV distribution, cable carriage of ABC stations and networks, and resolution of its partnership in E Entertainment.

The deal continues a content distribution agreement for the 10 ABC-owned broadcast stations and many of Disney’s TV networks, including Disney Channel, ABC Family, Toon Disney, ESPN and ESPN2, the companies said. Comcast has agreed to start a Spanish-language sports network called ESPN Deportes.

The shows Disney will allow Comcast to distribute on-demand include episodes of Desperate Housewives and Lost, as well as two unspecified new fall programs. The shows will be free within 12 hours of broadcast. Comcast will also add World News with Charles Gibson, Nightline and This Week to its on-demand roster.

Anatomy of Success

In the cross-platform battle to drive visitors to TV network websites, where users can view full-episode streams of programming, ABC is leading the rest.

Overall, the ABC and NBC sites are drawing 9.5 million unique visitors a month (October to December), much more than CBS and Fox sites, which are averaging 5.2 million and 2.8 million uniques, respectively, according to Neilsen/NetRatings (via MediaPost).

For streams of prime-time episodes, ABC again leads. In October, ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy and Desperate Housewives drew 3.1 million unique users.

All four networks include some sort of advertising in their streams, ranging from a small “presented by (insert sponsor name here)” logo on the top of the screen on ABC.com to mid-roll ads on CBS.com to pre-roll on NBC.com and the Fox site.

Advertisers include Allstate on ABC.com, AT&T on the CBS site, Cisco on NBC.com and Chase on Fox.