Scripps takes lifestyle programming to YouTube

Scripps, the owner of HGTV, and the Food Network, DIY Network and the Fine Living Network, has partnered with YouTube to create an online channel for each of their on-air channels.  While none of the first 200 or so Scripps clips was actually produced specifically for the web, segments from these kinds of lifestyle shows do tend to be inherently bite-sized--and Scripps has even sped up the slower ones for the YouTube attention span.

Cooking show fans will be happy that they can now make "chocolate gooey butter cookies" with Paula Deen or, for you calorie-averse treat-o-phobes, "fresh fruit stack sticks" with Rachel Ray.

How-to and instructional videos are becoming an important commodity online, so these clips could well be stumbled upon by someone searching for "custom home" or "Chorizo burger w/pimento mayonnaise."  Scripps has already begun selling advertising against their YouTube content--commercials for a brand of baked beans pop up a few seconds into every clip.  And while the revenue from that may not amount to much more than a hill of beans now, with a large enough library and a stable of sponsors, this approach could make sense for TV companies looking to give their short-form content a second life.