The Onion News Network, a parody of 24-hour news sites like CNN and Fox News from the same people behind the satirical weekly print product, goes live Tuesday. As we reported previously, ONN will stream original clips every week – it will initially start with two videos per week and expand that over the next few months – produced by a team of 15 new hires. Viewers will also be encouraged to embed clips on their own websites, in hopes of expanding its audience further. Original footage is based on the premise that the paper has been running a 24-hour news service for the past 75 years, only no one knew about it. Clips will cover the past seven decades, as well as current events.
The WSJ reports that Onion publishers invested $1 million in the video venture. The timing seems just about right, as The Onion’s former suitor, Comedy Central, has been ramping up its video offerings lately. Next month, IAC/InterActiveCorp., which bought the website CollegeHumor last year, will unveil the results of its partnership with the Huffington Post: a new comedic site called 23/6.
The Onion’s daily podcasts, which debuted early last year and have consistently been in the iTunes top ten podcast rankings. The introduction of video is seen as a way for The Onion, which was created in 1998, to keep up with its competition. Although the number of unique visitors to its website has increased 10 percent in the past year, the site attracts fewer visitors than video-heavy competitors such as Comedy Central, AOL Comedy and the National Lampoon’s network, according to comScore Media Metrix. The Onion’s website brought in $18 million in advertising revenue in 2006, according to TNS Media Intelligence.
Like its podcast series, ONN will also be available for free downloads from iTunes. The AP reports that the company is in talks with other web companies about possible distribution deals.
As for any ONN excerpts that might show up on YouTube, Sean Mills, The Onion’s president, tells the AP he has “some tolerance” for unauthorized use of clips, and is optimistic about reaching a mutually beneficial arrangement with the video sharing site.