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 Conde Nast Entertainment (CNE), the publisher's film, television and
video division, will unveil two original virtual reality series for
the upcoming year at its Tuesday presentation before advertisers at
the Newfronts, an annual digital content showcase in New York.
While the company is keeping tight-lipped on the details of the
shows it will produce with virtual reality company Jaunt VR, one of
which will be in a narrative reality format, it is the first major
publisher to use the technology for serialized storytelling.
"We're speaking to some very impressive film makers to partner with
us on this venture," said Dawn Ostroff, president of CNE. "The
virtual reality space not only will allow the viewer to become more
engaged, it'll make them more immersed."
Print publishers have been ramping up their online video content in
an attempt to draw digital consumers to their brands and revive
interest from advertisers. Conde Nast's digital audience has now
surpassed its print audience, the company said.
The two series will air on CNE's The Scene, launched a year ago and
home to 2,500 original videos created in 2014 by Conde Nast's brands
as well as partners such as ABC News and Buzzfeed.
The Scene is available on multiple platforms such as Apple TV, Roku
and its website, and CNE said it is developing smartphones apps.
The options for viewing virtual reality are still limited, with only
Samsung's Galaxy Gear VR headset and Google's Cardboard VR devices
available, both to use with smartphones.
But Jens Christensen, founder and chief executive officer of Jaunt
VR, said virtual reality will be part of the mainstream smartphone
experience. The content being made for CNE is likely to have an
option to view without a virtual reality device as well.
"Imagine being on the front row of a fashion show, or at a red
carpet event, that'd be very compelling to people," he said.
DIGITAL DRAWS ADVERTISERS, MILLENNIALS
CNE will also unveil new scripted series "The Tyler Zone," starring
actor Danny Pudi from the TV show "Community," in association with
20th Century Fox, and comedy group The Lonely Island, which will air
exclusively on The Scene.
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"The Tyler Zone," a sci-fi comedy about a man experiencing bizarre
phenomenon in a small town, is an example of how CNE is hoping to
develop TV-quality programming that doesn't necessarily overlap with
its print audience.
In 2014, CNE said it had 1.8 billion views of its original videos
and averaged 17 million U.S. viewers a month, excluding mobile and
some syndication viewers.
For advertisers, digital is not only cheaper - about half of
standard print advertising rates - but also reaches a much larger
audience, especially among Millennials, said Jenny Schauer,
associate media director at marketing agency DigitasLBi.
CNE will produce more than 2,500 videos in the next year, more than
any other publisher, the company said. It will also add ten new
content partners, including Billboard, Pitchfork and The Onion.
"There isn't very much overlap between people who are watching
digital video and people who read all our magazines," Ostroff said.
"We're able to go into a different medium and introduce our brand to
different audiences."
(This story corrects to Conde Nast from CNE in paragraph 5)
(Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
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