WINNIPEG – The Winnipeg Free Press, one of Canada’s oldest newspapers, and Manitoba’s largest daily, has broken new ground with the launch on Tuesday of its new digital (online) television channel.
Visitors to the Free Press web site can now go to WFPtv to see four-minute live stories on life-branded content.
“We are pleased that we are able to show – with the launch of WFPtv – that we can be a multimedia news company,” said Bruce Leslie, vice-president of marketing at the Free Press.
Leslie reports that Free Press management began planning the new service early in the fall. “We began approaching advertisers and promoting WPFtv in November,” he added. “We also began developing programming at the same time.”
WFPtv combines a mixture of ads and content and production of the stories has been outsourced to Winnipeg-based Numan Films. Programming is being hosted by Aisha Alfa who, Leslie predicts, will become Winnipeg’s newest media star.
Among the regular features will be Willy’s Garage, an automotive show hosted by Paul Williamson, a regular contributor in the weekly Free Press auto section.
Also on tap this past weekend was a regular live feed from the Super Bowl being broadcast by one of the Free Press sports columnists.
Leslie notes that WFPtv will not impact on the core newspaper product not is it meant to replace the paper but rather complement the video stories presented on the paper’s home page.
– Myron Love
