• by January 16, 2001

By Ken Liebeskind

Payforview.com, a Web based entertainment company that streams live concerts and sporting events on a pay for view basis, is entering the advertising business.

The New York based company will use its live entertainment format for endureAds, a new online advertising unit that combines streaming video with a variety of other elements that do everything from brand products to conduct consumer surveys.

Just as the computer screen for a Payforview entertainment program features live entertainment in the center and related content surrounding it, endureAds will feature streaming video in a central box surrounded by five different elements. As a tv commercial or another kind of video plays in the center box, a company logo that can be clicked through appears at the top of the page; large panels on the left and right of the center screen hold everything from static product images to moving graphics that can be triggered by the action in the video; a large tile beneath the center box can be used for brand awareness or become a survey, registration form or even an e-commerce platform; and a series of text based headers to the left and right of the tile can open graphics or text on any subject.

There's so much going on in an endureAd that it's like a Payforview entertainment program that features entertainment, chat sessions and more. Viewers can take their time viewing the ads and "control what they want to see when they want to see it, they intermingle as they wish," says Dan Scott, Payforview.com's chief marketing officer, who devised the new format.

The endureAd looks like a big bow tie, with the video clip the bow tie's knot and the panels to the left and right the bulk of the tie.

The endureAd will be accessed through opt in e-mail programs or by clicking on banners or buttons on portals and other Web sites. Scott says the company will design its own customized buttons that will appear on sites. "We're hoping to have an icon that people will recognize," he says.

Scott says Payforview.com won't just sell endureAds, it will "do everything from pre- to post-production," including serving and tracking the ads.

EndureAds will be priced on a CPM basis to start, Scott says, although he is considering pricing alternatives he would not disclose.

Payforview.com tested the endureAd with Chrysler and is meeting with major advertising agencies, potential advertisers and media buyers to introduce the new format Scott says the first ad will debut in late February.

To see a sample of endureAd, go to: www.payforview.com/enduread1-2.