AOL plans to announce on Monday it will test launch a new Internet video service in an attempt to demonstrate how much it has learned from mistakes that cost the once reigning king of the online world its leading position.
The new service, AOL Video, aims to be the one-stop shop for online videos and will let users search for videos across the Web, upload their own, or buy or watch for free thousands of TV shows from any one of 45 video-on-demand channels on nearly any device.
Users will also be able to subscribe and rent videos later this year, executives said.
These channels will include shows licensed from Viacom Inc."s MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central networks, A&E Television Networks, and corporate sibling Warner Bros.
The launch comes at a critical moment at the online division of Time Warner Inc. and precedes a presentation by AOL on Wednesday, when it will lay out a new strategic plan widely believed to involve giving away its e-mail and Web services away for free to boost online advertising sales.