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Aiming to combine broadcast news with social media, AOL’s The Huffington Post (News - Alert) is set to launch a live video network. AOL previewed The Huffington Post streaming network Thursday at AOL's Manhattan headquarters, according to the Associated Press (News - Alert). As per the AP report, the Huffington Post is planning to launch the online video network in summer. It will carry streaming news video live 12 hours a day on weekdays, expanding to 16 hours a day next year, wrote AP entertainment writer Jake Coyle.

According to the AP report, AOL (News - Alert) purchased the Huffington Post for $315 million a year ago. The Huffington Post is now dedicating 100 employees to the project, which will be webcast from studios in New York and Los Angeles as well a satellite studio in Washington.

The live video network project is being headed by Huffington Post founding editor Roy Sekoff, who declined to talk about AOL’s investment in the new venture. But, he called it a "substantial investment," wrote Coyle. However, Sekoff compared the live video network to a "never-ending talk show" that will "mirror the Internet experience," Coyle wrote.

During the demonstration, AOL CEO Tim Armstrong told reporters that AOL is shifting from the obsolete business of dial-up Internet to a contemporary media company. Consequently, he reiterated, “AOL has sought to invest in the content business,” Coyle wrote.

Coyle wrote that CEO Armstrong is calling the launch of HPSN, as the network is referred to internally, as a bigger "bet" for AOL than its purchase of the Huffington Post. In fact, according to Armstrong, the HPSN network is "a game-changing idea."

Well, AOL is not alone. Reports indicate that there are other digital media players in this video race. For example, wrote Coyle, the Wall Street Journal started its first live online program in 2008. It is presently producing about four hours of live video on weekdays for WSJ.com.

Although, Sekoff thinks the WSJ video project is fine, he is hoping that the much-commenting Huffington Post community will differentiate its network, the editor told the press, reports AP.

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