• by Steve Smith , Staff Writer @popeyesm, May 11, 2010

Thomson Reuters is getting into the financial news video business, because, well, apparently there isn't enough of the stuff to go around. Wall Street Journal reports that the new Reuters Insider offering has a special mission to counteract cable's tendency to make even business news as much about entertainment as information. "This is about turning video into actionable information," Devin Wenig, chief executive of Thomson Reuters told WSJ. The service will be part of the existing news product that goes to a half million current Reuters financial services customers.

No screaming Jim Cramers here, we guess. No, wait. They are not talking about CNBC in that little snipe, because that network is one of the content partners. Reuters is mixing its own homegrown feeds with 150 or more partner sources. At its core Reuters Insider is promising live coverage when big news breaks as well as over 2,000 shows each week leveraging new studios they have been building at major financial hubs around the world. At Reuters, all the business journalists are getting Flips and expected to use them. No, you are not expected to watch all of that video and still have time to, ya know, actually make money with it. The site says you will be able to personalize the experience to creating your own channel of videos. Apparently there will be mobile access via Blackberry, iPhone and iPad.

The real value add here for financial clients is the semantic search technology that Reuters bought to use on the service. The videos will all be transcribed so the content can be searched for meaning by the engine. The promise here is that financial researchers will be able to assemble analysis and news historically on segments, broader investment topics and even moods and trends off of the right search. You will even be able to pass along edited passages from the videos you find.

According to Chris Cramer, global editor of multimedia, "Reuters, unveils what we believe will be the future of news dissemination - not broadcasting, but narrowcasting." He feels the keys to the project is non-linear programming, short snips that are fully searchable. "We plan to offer deep verticals of content relevant to our clients -- ranging from Commodities and Energy to Emerging Markets to Islamic Finance," he says in his blog. "Each program segment specifically targeted to what our clients and partners tell us they need to inform and enable them to make smarter business decisions."

"Not broadcasting, but narrowcasting," he says.

Does that mean no "Booyahs?"