CNN will be allowing free access to its online video service, beginning July 1, 2007. Currently, the fee is twenty five dollars per year. The CNN spokeswoman said:

“…”People don’t like to pay for stuff on the Internet,” she said. “We’re not going to deny it, but we also had to make sure from a cost perspective that we got to the stage where it made sense to offer it for free.”"

link: CNN.com to stop charging for live video

This may not be grand largess on the part of CNN. Advertising may appear on the videos eventually. However, it is a good strategy to keep its audience and to compete with services like YouTube. In this day of the ‘citizen journalist’, with video cell phones, breaking news can appear on services like YouTube as quickly as on the major news services. And it is free.

Catherine Forsythe

Tags: cnn, video, free, advertising, youtube