By Ken Liebeskind
ATLANTA --The Weather Channel Mobile, which added video forecasts to its mobile site, is offering a video advertising sponsorship package that includes a five second pre-roll that plays while the content is loading and a 15 second post-roll.
The package also includes a banner on the video index page.
The Weather Channel announced the new ad opportunity on March 12 as part of its 2008 upfront plans. It’s the first time it has offered a mobile video ad opportunity, according to Rebecca Barnett, The Weather Channel’s mobile ad sales director.
“We’ve used mobile web banners and links to jump pages or WAP sites, but this is the first time we’ve offered mobile video,” she said.
The advertising wraps around local forecast information that is one-and-a-half minutes long.
Barnett said The Weather Channel is selling the mobile video advertising on a sponsorship basis. “Until we get some scale behind it, it’s a sponsorship package, so one advertiser owns all the plays.” She said monthly packages are being sold.
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More