Net2TV Launches, Focusing on Streaming to the Living Room

Targeting the still young, still underserved area of living room streaming, Net2TV has launched. The Redwood City, California-based company will work with major entertainment brands to create long-form streaming content for living room viewing. At launch, it announced its first service: Portico.

Portico combines content from CBS Interactive's food site Chow.com, Popular Science, Revision3, and the Wall Street Journal's WSJ Live. The service streams ad-supported content and is available to Philips smart TV owners with a 2011 or later model. It includes long-form videos grouped by topic, such as food, entertainment, and science and technology. Net2TV didn't announce if Portico will expand to other destinations.

When viewers select a topic in Portico, they're greeted by a host explaining what's new, as well as smaller windows showing content available on branded channels. They can then select the video they want.

Net2TV's goal is to create streaming services that offer content grouped by areas of interest, supplied by major brands. Delivery is handled by ActiveVideo Networks. The company says that content will be updated every day, and that future channels will focus on other topics. Ad revenue will be split between Net2TV and its content partners. While ads are crucial for free service, commercial loads need to be reasonable to respect the viewers, notes Net2TV CEO Thomas Morgan.