NYTimes.com Gets Its Rapt on

The New York Times' advertising infrastructure is getting swallowed by Rapt, in a new deal where the nytimes.com adopts Rapt's advertising yield-management platform.

According to DM News, Rapt will "provide strategic advisory services and activate its entire software suite in support of NYTimes.com’s advertising sales operations."

Other Rapt clients include MTV Networks, CNET Networks and Fox Interactive Media.

YouTube Introduces Video Advertising

NEW YORK, August 22: YouTube today introduced video advertising on the site, opting for “overlays” as opposed to pre-rolls where ads are featured at the beginning of a clip.

The overlay ad appears at the bottom of a clip 15 seconds after the video begins and disappears within 10 seconds if the user doesn’t click on it. The user can also opt to close the ad. If the user clicks on the campaign, the video clip they were watching automatically pauses and the full ad appears.

“What we have come up with is a user-controlled ad format that is engaging,” said Eileen Naughton, Google’s director for media platforms, in the New York Times. “We want our users to be able to accept and choose what type of advertising they engage in.”

Shiva Rajaraman, the product manager for YouTube, told the AP that based on internal research, more than 70 percent of people give up when they see a pre-roll. By contrast, less than 10 percent decide to close an overlay.

Initial video advertisers on YouTube include 20th Century Fox and New Line Cinema; about 50 companies have signed up for the new service, Reuters indicates. The clips that advertising will be featured in have all been legally licensed to the Google-owned site; no ads will appear in user-generated content. Revenues from video advertising on YouTube will be shared with the content owners. Advertisers will be charged $20 for every 1,000 times the ad is displayed.

Conde Nast Seeks Journalists, Actors for Webcast

The Web site of Conde Nast's business magazine Portfolio is planning a Rocketboom-like business news Webcast to be presented by either journalists or actors. The magazine is looking to hire Web hosts who are "intelligent, charismatic and humorous."

New York Times has the full story.

NY Times Launches In-Flight Video Magazine

The New York Times and JetBlue Airways are launching "Times on Air," an in-flight video magazine offering content from the newspaper's TimesTalks events, which feature interviews of newsmakers and cultural leaders, as well as material from NYTimes.com.

Editor & Publisher reports today.

Where do media moguls go...?

As the media business goes through a generational shift, several former industry titans appear to be seeking a compass for their lives.

WHEN Michael D. Eisner left the Walt Disney Company after a shareholder revolt in 2005, the former chief executive was forced to rethink his life. Where once he had commanded a private plane to fly around the world, last year he pedaled around Italy on a bicycle. Instead of wielding the power to back the next “Pirates of the Caribbean,” today Mr. Eisner is financing a modest Web video series called “Prom Queen,” e-mailing his friends to remind them to watch.

While Viacom boss Tom Freston admits: "I'm trying to figure out what to do." Ex-Time Warner CEO Gerald Levin says: "I'm going to find myself."

New York Times has more.