Seven starts HBBTV push with Healthy Me TV launch
The first channel destined to be part of Channel Seven’s promised Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HBBTV) offering, Healthy Me TV, has launched today.
A partnership between Brand New Media (BNM) and Seven West Media Healthy Me TV, available online and through internet TV boxes like Apple TV, launches with around 200 three-minute videos covering all categories of health and fitness.
New videos will be uploaded to the site daily featuring presenters including former Australia rugby union captain George Gregan, journalist Kellie Sloan and media personality Shelly Horton.
CEO of BNM Perry Smith said the platform will follow the traditional publishing model of editorial led content, but will also allow its advertising partners to steer the direction of subjects explored in the videos.
Content will also be available on advertisers’ own websites, filling the need for brands to develop video content that tells stories aligned with their products.
“Video storytelling is a big part of your marketing asset and you need the very best partners there to make that content,” Smith said. “Part of the strategy on building this channel here pretty quickly is the growing thirst for video content production and the shortage of that within this sector. There is just not the available video content to meet the demand.”
The channel launched as an advertising platform in October and aims to confirm six foundation partners in the next two weeks. Monthly advertising packages will also be available to brands and advertising will be integrated across the site in the traditional way of broadcast TV, including video pre and post roll.
The channel will be promoted across Seven’s broadcast platforms and mastheads, and shows will be available on Seven’s online catch-up TV service Plus 7. It will also feature on Seven’s yet-to-be-launched HBBTV channel.
BNM has chosen the Audited Media Association of Australia (AMAA) as its audience measurement system as Smith said it will provide an accurate outlook of audience engagement. Although forecasts are conservative at present, he expects numbers will be boosted by the collective assets of Plus 7 audiences will grow as the content builds.
“We’ve always had the view that the assessment is not just about viewing, it’s about engagement,” he said. “Our metric for our partners will be how long consumers are engaged with an advertiser’ brand, and I think the engagement, as well as the viewing, will form an integral part of how this will be evaluated for our partners.”
During the last year a version of the site has been available in Singapore which has had 2m views in the last 12 months, with around half of viewers watching through a PC or tablet and the other half on internet TV viewing devices, Smith said. Content created by the Singapore team will also be used on the Australian Healthy Me TV site.
BNM also launched a digital channel with Surfing Australia, My Surf TV earlier this year.
Kurt Burnette, chief revenue officer at Seven West, announced the launch of Healthy Me TV as Australia’s first dedicated health focused online TV channel at the Channel Seven up fronts in October. Burnette said HBBTV will be a “game changer” for content and the channel launch is a strategic move that will tie in with its Health Engine search website run in a partnership with Telstra.
Megan Reynolds
Great- except the link seems to be to the Singapore site and should be to the .com.au site!
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Anyone else a little disappointed?
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Does AMAA measure video? I thought they only measured webpages. Measuring a video player is a different ballgame.
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Hi CJ,
Thanks for pointing that out – I’ve updated the link.
Cheers,
Megan – Mumbrella
So they’re creating a ‘HUB’ of content that’s readily available on a website, but now…thanks to HBBTV technology also on other connected devices like connected TVs, PS4, mobiles etc – is this it, is this the plan in Australia for HBBTV?
Could have just created a Channel on youtube to house the content?
Harry…i’m extremely disappointed, and i hope other broadcasters take note
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This is certainly nothing compared to HBBTV in other countries. All healthymetv.com.au is at the moment, is a collection of videos. There isn’t even a live channel! Why don’t they do what they’ve done in the UK and allow the channels to stream over the internet onto Freeview.
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