• by Erik Sass , March 2, 2010

In a deal that brings together several new trends -- namely, the growth of health-focused digital out-of-home networks and partnerships between DO networks and Web sites -- Everwell TV announced a new multi-front content and promotional partnership with SparkPeople, a Web site devoted to fitness and weight-loss issues.

Everwell TV, which operates a network of digital displays in doctors' waiting rooms, will carry promotional messages for SparkPeople's new book, "The Spark," which include related promotions for the SparkPeople Web site. The book offers guidance for a directed weight-loss program based on the editorial expertise of SparkPeople contributors.

The SparkPeople Web site will also begin carrying some of Everwell's video content on the site and in its e-newsletters.

The partnership is part of a larger Everwell initiative to expand its content distribution to the Web, email and mobile devices (including an iPhone app). The push also involved new partnerships with content distributors and syndicators like WorldNow, DivX, Inc. and 5min, which distributes video for broadband, among others.

The last few years have seen a proliferation of health-focused DO networks, as well as more cross-channel content-sharing partnerships between DO, broadcast and cable TV, and Web sites with relevant video content.

One national network, Healium, delivers a mix of CBS content and healthcare-related programs to digital monitors in doctors' offices around the country, reaching roughly 3 million viewers per month.

NBC's Digital Health Network expanded its health content and advertising partnerships in 2008 to include the Patient Channel and the Newborn Channel -- national networks based in hospitals. Both networks were developed as joint ventures by NBCU and its parent company GE, as part of GE Healthcare.