Dive Brief:

• Time Inc. used the IAB NewFronts event to announce a wide range of new programming, brand extensions and products with a bent toward creating more digital video for the publisher, according to a news release.
• New offerings include a Sports Illustrated streaming service; a weekly "Essence Now" live show that will be syndicated to Twitter; a video ad product called Adapt that purportedly quintuples the publisher's video ad inventory; a second "People Now" live daily talk show and three "all-social" video brands launching this year — The Pretty, The Barrel and ReMade.
• The running theme through the varied announcements is more Time Inc. video content, which the press release pointed out has seen record growth in viewership and engagement. "[W]e couldn't be more excited to build on our digital momentum by continuing to innovate and evolve how we create and deliver compelling video content to fans and marketers across all platforms," Time Inc. President and CEO Rich Battista said in a statement.

Dive Insight:

Time Inc.'s full slate of NewFronts announcements points to video's growing role in a publishing landscape that is still grappling with the prevalence of technology like ad blockers and the ever-shorter attention spans of site visitors.

Time Inc. is one of the largest and most storied publishers in the media landscape but has been as battered by these digital headwinds as anyone, to the point where it was rumored to be exploring selling itself this year — a shift that never came to fruition in Q1, which sent stocks down last week. 

Stemming from these developments, Time Inc. is in need of a serious turnaround to sustain growth and monetize its offerings, and the news release described video as a "linchpin" in the development of Time's storytelling. The publisher expects to produce more than 50,000 videos for 150 new and returning franchises and broadcast more than 1,500 live programming hours.

Marketers, for their part, are similarly obsessing over video content, and original digital video programming, in particular — something Time Inc. might start to specialize more in as it builds out its roster of titles and shows. The publisher's efforts with its in-house agency Harpoon Digital also recently saw a major national expansion following a successful first year in operation. 

Last month, Time Inc. hit more than 1 billion video views across its entire network and is expected to surpass 8.5 billion views this year, which would almost double last year's total, per the release.