NDN will do much of the heavy lifting when it comes to ad sales, thanks to support from its existing relationships with ad networks like ScanScout.  Pleitgen declined to say what the revenue split will ultimately be or to speculate on what sort of incremental dollars will roll in as a result.

The video-distribution plan is not directly related to Reuters’ recent website redesign, which was intended to build up Reuters’ consumer face. But Pleitgen did say it is a part of the general conceptual thinking at the news service in terms of broadening its presence and its revenues beyond Reuters’ professional audience.

Pleitgen said that the company is actively looking for other technology partners like NDN. “Our customers tell us they want quality content, but they also tell us it doesn’t necessarily have to come from us,” he said. “So we are actively looking for technology partners and content partners. In the U.S. market, we feel that that is the way to go. We have experimented with the ad-supported video distribution in other markets we’re in. We felt that the U.S. publishers were most ready for this type of arrangement.”