• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, December 1, 2010

Health and fitness publisher Rodale has partnered with MSN to launch a new interactive, multimedia online channel, Fitbie, devoted to fitness, nutrition and weight loss. The new vertical content site includes original reporting and also draws on content from Rodale publications, including Men's Health, Women's Health, Prevention, Runner's World and Bicycling, among others.

Weight loss is one of the main areas of Fitbie, with front-page features on "Amazing Weight Loss Success Stories" and "The Smartest Weight Loss Tricks Ever," as well as content wells titled "Get Fit" and "Lose Weight" and "Choose a Plan." Although the site appears to primarily target women, there is a fair amount of content drawn from Men's Health on muscle-building and toning.

The partners touted ad opportunities, including prominent ad placements alongside engaging multimedia content experiences. Links to Fitbie will appear on the MSN home page, as well as across the MSN portfolio of editorial sites. Rodale said links to Fitbie will appear on its magazine Web sites.

Fitbie joins several other lifestyle channels created by MSN using content from major magazine publishers.

Last year, Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. joined forces with MSN and BermanBraun to launch Glo.msn.com, a new multifaceted lifestyle site targeting women ages 25-49 drawing on the programming and content expertise of Hachette publications Elle, Elle Decor and Woman's Day.

In 2008, MSN launched food site Delish.com with Hearst; other lifestyle content sites include celebrity news and gossip site Wonderwall and video game channel Game On.