Destination fitness site, Sweat TV, is launched for active women by Meredith Corporation

Meredith Corporation has launched Sweat TV, an online workout portal that features more than 200 exercise videos. Many of the videos come through Fitness magazine's existing video library, but content is included from Shape.com, FitStar, Grokker and POPSUGAR. According to a release, the workout videos allow users to target each body part, including abs, arms, and thighs; and workout type, including yoga, cardio and post-pregnancy. Each workout is divided into video “playlists” of individual workout moves, so users can jump to and replay specific sections for additional instruction. 

“Workout videos are by far one of the most popular reasons consumers visit Fitnessmagazine.com,” says Melissa Inman, general manager of Fitnessmagazine.com and Shape.com. “So we saw building a destination site for workouts as a huge opportunity. Through SweatTV, we’ve curated an extensive library of videos so users can easily find the workout they’re looking for. And with 60 percent of our users accessing the site on mobile and 33 percent of video views taking place on mobile, we made it a priority to optimize the platform on those devices for on-the-go workouts when traveling, at the gym or at home.”

Users can either become members or choose to get a 24-hour free workout experience after seeing a sponsored message.

Paywall for videos would let readers watch a little, then ask them to pay

Press+, which helps publishers erect paywalls on their sites, has launched a new tool that will do the same thing for the increasingly numerous of videos magazines are posting. While the Press+ paywalls let people read a set number of articles before payment is required, the video metering system allows users to watch a few minutes before they're asked to pay. So far, most publishers are simply providing video free to drive site traffic, but more and more are looking for ways to gain incremental revenue. Essentially, they are finding that ads are not enough. 

"Press+ cofounder Steve Brill told The Wrap that the videos likely to work best for this are longer ones “with some kind of narrative arc” and that “the way to get people into video stories is to let them watch it for a little while.”