NewFronts 2013: The Wall Street Journal
Programming
WSJ Start-up of the Year: A new episodic documentary series for the Journal’s online video platform, WSJ Live, which currently averages 20-25 million streams per month across 30 platforms. Scheduled to premiere on June 24, the documentary will follow 25 start-ups over the course of five months. Along the way, the start-ups will receive guidance from a number of big-name business leaders and influencers, including: Sir Richard Branson (Virgin Group), Steve Case (former CEO of AOL), will.i.am (musician and Founder of i.am.Angel), Ray Kurzweil (Director/Engineering at Google), Carly Fiorina (former Chairman and CEo of Hewlett-Packard), David Sacks (CEO and Founder of Yammer, and producer on Thank You for Smoking), and MC Hammer (the one and only), among others. WSJ editors, working with the mentors, will consider viewer votes and ultimately decide the winner. WSJ says this is its most expensive foray into original online programming to date. WSJ will announce the 25 start-ups selected to participate in the series in the coming weeks. Each start-up is based in the US, has a prototype or proof of concept in place, and is generating less than $10 million in revenue. The show is produced in conjunction with NY-based production company Ish Entertainment.
Seib & Wessel: An existing news series hosted by Gerald F. Seib, WSJ’s Washington Bureau Chief, and David Wessel, the company’s Economics Editor. The series features roundtable discussions related to the biggest news, political, and policy stories of the week.
Business of Celebrity: Hosted by Lee Hawkins, News Editor at WSJ, this talk show, another existing program on WSJ Live, brings in celebrities to discuss their business ventures as well as other timely topics.
WSJ Cafe: A returning series hosted by Chris Farley, Senior Editorial Director/Digital Features at The Journal. Each episode features a performance and one-on-one interview with a musician/band.
Marketing, Promotions, and Distribution
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has signed on as exclusive sponsor for WSJ’s Start-up of the Year. Opting for “content marketing” rather than just regular ads, NYSE’s sponsored content will include interviews with the entrepreneurs behind Box and Evernote, as well as Guy Kawasaki. Last year, NYSE launched Big Start-Up, a nationwide jobs growth initiative designed to connect new companies and entrepreneurs with corporate America by implementing programs that make it easier to access capital, business opportunities, and education.
WSJ WorldStream: Features unscripted, unedited videos from WSJ’s editorial team. WSJ plans to sell sponsorships in monthly packages starting in June.
WSJ Custom Content Group: It’s an in-house production unit that can help brands create videos around relevant “themes,” which would then be distributed to targeted spots on WSJ Live.
The Wall Street Journal’s NewFront pitch focused on its ability to help advertisers reach an “affluent, influential” audience across the globe. “We can get you to people that own Apple, GE, and IBM,” said Dow Jones CEO Lex Fenwick. “Our content travels the world. Most people only care about the politics or sports of their own town or country. However, business news, finance, luxury, the stuff that we write about, travels extremely well. We have started to open international sites in places like China, Japan, Turkey, Germany, and soon, Brazil.”
And video is increasingly becoming an important part of the WSJ package: “We turn to digital products to keep our readers and viewers — increasingly viewers — informed. Today our video footprint is vast,” added Gerard Baker, Managing Editor of WSJ and Editor-in-Chief of Dow Jones. “[We are producing] over 100 hours of new video each month.”
This content will also be accessible in a number of ways, as WSJ Live is available on 30 different platforms, including distribution partners like AOL On and YouTube.
“Wherever you need to reach affluent and influential people, WSJ will be there to lead the way,” said Michael Rooney, CRO at WSJ.
