Online Media Daily: Esurance, MPG Back New Ad-Supported Video Service: Provide Pay TV Series Free To College Kids

In a first-of-its-kind test of a new ad-supported online video distribution system, students at some of America's leading universities will get to watch premium TV shows from Paramount's Showtime network for free. The programming, including series like "Dexter," "The Tudors," and "Californiacation," normally are available only to subscribers who pay monthly cable or satellite TV fees, but they are being made available for free to students who agree to watch ads on a the new online service, Kazam, being tested at schools such as New York's Columbia University, and Indiana's Perdue University. Among the advertisers participating in the test is online insurance broker Esurance, which struck the unusual sponsorship deal as part of a series of meetings its media shop, MPG, held with a variety of interactive vendors in New York several weeks ago.