RipeTV is the Fruit of Broadband

Streaming digital entertainment purveyor RipeTV wants to capture the bandwidth of the 18 to 34 year-old male, and is doing so with racy videos available on multiple platforms. At launch, the company had signed advertisers Dodge, Proctor & Gamble’s Old Spice, Boost Mobile and Midway Games.

RipeTV tries to appeal to that audience through video edited specifically for the channel, though some of the original material comes from outside sources. The upcoming “Supermodel TV” show consists of interviews with models and clips of fashion shows and events. Other shows on the network include the international-reaching search for the world’s hottest women, “Bikini World;” indie-band videos, “Ripe Rocks;” and “American Idol” -style “Casting Ripe Live,” where viewers vote on “The Ripe Girl” each month.

For its ad offerings, RipeTV created what it calls embedded advertising, where several ad formats layer into — and on top of — video streams. There are nine ad units, including a short-form banner, a (logo) bug, a pre-roll ad, and a video spot at the end of each stream with built-in viral capabilities. Current streams contain ads that run :15, though RipeTV is experimenting with a range between 8 to 15 seconds.

“We don’t see that much of a difference [in the length of the spot], and all of our content is free,” RipeTV CEO and founder Ryan Magnussen told ClickZ News. “People are used to commercials in front of

on the Internet, it’s just a matter of how long.”

The Video on Demand (VoD) channel, on Comcast, will include advertainment elements. Advertisers may include a logo that links to a branded microsite, where they may collect information from users.

Ripe charges advertisers based on the number of ad impressions delivered. With VoD service, billing is calculated by session detail instead of the traditional ratings-based TV ad model.

Four advertisers signed advertising agreements with RipeTV. Dodge, Procter & Gamble’s Old Spice, Boost Mobile and Midway Games have commitments to run spots in the various programming. Ad buys are placed at the show-level, and run across all platforms.

The cost of advertising ranges depending on the buy, length and dollar commitment. Magnussen said they are 12 to 15 cents per view, resulting in an effective CPM of $120 to $150. Charter advertisers making media buys in 2005 will have rates locked in for 2006.

The network completed a soft launch period with Comcast on Demand that began in June, and is beginning a shorter “soft launch” on its Web site at ripe.tv. Content is also formatted for mobile services and users of the Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP).

In the next few weeks RipeTV plans to implement a grass roots viral marketing campaign.

The Internet site goes up against competitors like Heavy.com, though Magnussen boasts that RipeTV is the only ad-supported multi-platform network.