• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, August 2, 2007

The internet strategy of TV networks to date consists mainly of pushing primetime shows onto the Web after airing. ABC is going a step beyond that approach by creating original online shorts. The first of these video series, "Voicemail," which uses actual voicemail messages as the basis for humorous vignettes, was launched in March and ran until mid-June.

ABC now has a dozen other original short-form Web shows in production, spanning various genres from comedy to sci-fi.

"We're trying to create something new for this medium instead of just repurposing TV content," says Rick Mandler, vice president and general manager of the Walt Disney Internet Group and ABC's Enhanced TV.

He says ABC is making a "modest investment" in creating the shows as an experiment in short-form Web content. Still, it's a more ambitious effort than other networks have undertaken online. Advertising for ABC web programming is being sold on a single-sponsor model, in which a marketer is the exclusive sponsor for a show for a certain period.

Dove Cookies and T-Mobile Sidekick were among sponsors of Voicemail, usually running 15- or 30-second spots after every two-minute episode.

But Mandler emphasizes there aren't any set rules for the length of video ads or where they'll run -pre-roll, mid-roll or post-roll - in upcoming series. "We're trying to be flexible," he says.