• by Erik Sass , October 23, 2007

The Meredith Corporation is continuing a push to expand its video offerings with a new multichannel cable video-on-demand platform called Parents TV. Delivered free of charge to Comcast's 14 million digital subscribers, it features VOD programs ranging from a few minutes to 22 minutes in length on six separate channels.

The content, created by Meredith's in-house Video Solutions unit, draws on the expertise of editors at Meredith magazines, including Family Circle, American Baby and Parents. At launch, the VOD service will feature five hours of ad-supported programming. Inaugural advertisers including Kimberly-Clark and Discover Card. Ads are mostly limited to pre-roll spots, but longer segments may have brief advertising breaks. Advertisers can also benefit from some product placement in the content itself, where appropriate.

The video offerings will be promoted through Meredith's various properties, including magazines, Web sites and its own network of TV stations. An accompanying Web site, Parents.tv, has already launched.

Meredith Broadcasting Group President Paul Karpowicz added that the future could air a similar cable VOD service for Better.tv, an existing Web video service drawing on content from Meredith's lifestyle magazines. Better.tv offers 20 channels covering food, style, relationships, fitness and health.

Although parenting content is booming online, the print side has endured its ups and downs over the last two years. While ad pages are flat or up at Family Circle, Parents and American Baby, Meredith folded Child magazine, saying its content would be transferred to its new online parenthood portal. By June, its last issue, the magazine had suffered a 15.8% drop in ad pages.