Nat Geo, other nets jump headfirst in video stream; Was it just a year ago that TV's online offerings caught on? Now Web, mobile are crucial.

Advertising Age, May, 2006 by STILSON, JANET

Byline: JANET STILSON

A river runs through the upfront this year. Make that a stream-a video stream. It's hard to find a broadcast or cable network out there that hasn't added more new-media opportunities since last year's upfront market, as major online portals provide more video elements in their pitches to Madison Avenue.

By and large, portals like AOL.com, Yahoo.com and Google.com have chosen not to play an active role in the upfront negotiating process this year. "We think that in many ways the upfront is an antiquated model,'' says Patrick Keane, director of sales strategy at Google. "We think advertising and ad strategy need to be more fluid.''

Regardless, portals see big business in video streaming, and that competitive positioning...

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