AOL-Microsoft Deal Means A HuffPo Media Monster

AOL’s billion-dollar payday in a patent and licensing agreement with Microsoft is standalone news. But the real story has more to do with the future of the Huffington Post.

We’ve known for months that HuffPo is pulling the partnership into the new wild west of big-time online video, drawing $30 million from AOL’s coffers to kickstart the major enterprise:

As envisioned by Mr. Sekoff and Ms. Huffington, the network won’t be CNN or YouTube or “The View,” but it will incorporate elements of all three. Mr. Sekoff described it as a “never-ending talk show.”

The ambitious plans come at a time when all manner of media organizations are trying to expand into live video, creating a new set of online competition to established television channels like CNN. The Wall Street Journal streams about four hours of live video each weekday on its Web site. The New York Times started its first daily business Webcast earlier this week.        More