For a long time the New Yorker has offered cartoons in the print form. They have now partnered with RingTales to bring the static cartoons to an animated state and offer them both online and to mobile devices using an ad model to monetize the venture.
The New Yorker has about 100,000 cartoons in its database and RingTales will animate them all and put them in a podcast format. They can be accessed online at Newyorker.com, or via iTunes as a podcast.
Jim Cox, CEO of RingTales said that the purpose of RingTales is to build 
newspaper-type comic pages in an online version which will be ad-supported using post-roll commercials.
"The main objective has always been for them to be ad-supported and syndicated across the Internet. So they would remain free gifts of humor for the viewers," said Cox. "This is content [advertisers] can be assured is popular… and they can piggy back their message. It's an effective way to get beyond the :30 commercial."
Michael Fry, president of RingTales added that one strength that the New Yorker database has is its size. With that many cartoons they'll be able to customize cartoons in connection to specific advertisers.
Fry is known for creating the comic strip "Over the Hedge," which was then taken by Dreamworks last year and made into a film. Cox co-produced it.
This has an excellent chance at succeeding in my opinion, as it is targeting what is happening today, in that shorter clips are much more workable online and on mobile devices than longer clips. I think that's where video will need to be for at least several years; at least stuff that will be consumed on computer or mobile screens.
Comment Preview