"XBiz Video was launched to satisfy the market's demand for a purely B2B-focused video publication," XBiz founder and President Alec Helmy said. "XBiz has had phenomenal growth over the past year, and we aim to achieve even more in 2006."
“XBiz World has earned a reputation as a valuable resource for the industry, with solid news coverage on relevant, important issues,” XBiz Video Executive Editor Matt O’Conner added. “We’re going to take that same approach at XBiz Video and focus our editorial content on hard news and feature stories that help people run their businesses more effectively.”
O’Conner said XBiz Video will be distributed for free to adult retail outlets, distribution companies and production studios. He stressed that the new publication would not be a fan magazine.
“Don’t look for gossip and reviews,” O’Conner said. “This will be about news and analysis of major deals, launches, technology and content trends.”
Recognizing the need for some light-hearted fare, even in a trade publication, O’Conner said XBiz Video also would include stories on the personalities behind the businesses, as well as humor pieces that reveal the less-serious side of the adult business world.
“It should be informative but also fun to read,” O’Conner said.
On the new XBiz Video editorial team are a number of professional journalists with experience at trade publications and newspapers, with some crossover between XBiz World and XBiz Video.
O’Conner said the magazine would begin slowly, listening to reader feedback to fine-tune the magazine directly to its core audience.
“It’s a matter of baby steps,” O’Conner said. “We’re starting small and being humble about it. We know it’s going to take time to gain a foothold in the industry.”
O’Conner said one ongoing feature in the new publication would be listings of new releases by genre, giving producers and distributors an opportunity to list their releases for free in the magazine, with box covers and ordering information, by uploading them online at www.xbiz.com/video.
Over the next few months, XBiz Video also will be adding coverage of the toy and novelty end of the business.
“[That] goes hand-in-hand with DVDs since many retailers sell both and many distributors carry both,” O’Conner said.
