• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, May 13, 2008

Expanding its lineup of niche ad networks, NBC Universal on Monday unveiled a new initiative targeting the health category.

The NBC Digital Health Network will distribute dozens of videos weekly across a group of sites launching with Healthline Networks, RightHealth and YourTotalHealth.com (currently part of NBCU-owned iVillage.) The properties have a combined online audience of 27 million.

The videos, focusing on healthy living and specific conditions, will be drawn from sources including "NBC Nightly News," "The Today Show," NBC Local Media and Healthology.com. Programming may eventually be created specifically for the Digital Health Network, as well.

While the Web is rife with health sites, "we think we're the only large-scale entrant in the category producing anywhere near the quantity and quality of video we are on a weekly basis," said George Kliavkoff, NBCU's chief digital officer.

In that vein, online health portals including WebMD Health, Revolution Health Network and Everyday Health would be potential partners in NBC's new video-centric venture. "There's a larger share of budget moving onto these platforms and very little competition for premium, high-quality produced video," Kliavkoff said.

Pharmaceutical marketers said they planned to spend more this year on Web sites, search and e-mail marketing and less on traditional media, according to a recent e-Marketer report.

Sites joining the Digital Health Network will typically have three options regarding ad sales: Pay an upfront fee to license the NBCU video and monetize it themselves; let NBCU handle ad sales and split the revenue; handle ad sales themselves and keep a larger proportion of revenue.

Kliavkoff said the health network will offer standard IAB display and video advertising formats initially but may add newer, more experimental units at a later point. No advertisers have been named yet in connection with the new effort.

Mitzi Reaugh will be responsible for day-to-day operations of the Digital Health Network. Reaugh was part of the original team that developed video hub Hulu, NBCU's joint venture with News Corp.

The health venture is the latest in a series of vertical networks NBCU is creating around key advertising categories. Last year, the company paired with Procter & Gamble to create Petside.com, a portal for animal lovers with social networking features and relevant ads.

And in March, NBCU also took a 35% stake in DriverTV to create auto-related video content for car buyers on the Web as well as long- and short-form TV programming.

Kliavkoff said NBCU would continue to develop niche digital networks in major ad categories "we think are underserved by professional quality video on digital platforms." He wouldn't specify which areas it would focus on next, however.

Separately, the company last week announced Women@NBCU, a new cross-media platform for advertisers that target female demographics under former Bravo Media and Oxygen Media executive Lauren Zalaznick.