• by Shankar Gupta , October 11, 2006

In a move that expands available video ad inventory, Home and Garden TV's kitchen design broadband site, HGTVKitchenDesign, Tuesday launched a pair of new Web series.

The two series, "8 Fresh Ideas for Kitchen Backsplashes" and "Getting Started--10 Steps to a New Kitchen," are based on user input gathered since the site launched 10 months ago, said Jim Sexton, senior vice president of interactive brands for Scripps Networks, HGTV's parent company.

"Backsplash" had been one of the top search terms on the site, and some users had asked for a starter's guide to kitchen design, Sexton said.

Although the new channels don't yet have specific sponsors, ad inventory on the broadband site was largely sold out before these shows launched.

"The inventory on the site is incredibly valuable right now, and we're in a situation where we're sold out a good part of the time," he said. "Anything new that goes up is going to get advertising in it that's going to pay off for us."

Ad inventory on the site includes leaderboards, a 300x250 unit, and 15- and 30-second pre-roll ads that precede the videos.