New WSJ.com show “Off Duty” to air five days a week

TALKING BIZ NEWS EXCLUSIVE

“Off Duty,” a new 30-minute video show that will launch next month on The Wall Street Journal’s website, will air five days a week, said Alan Murray, executive editor of WSJ Online and deputy managing editor of the paper, on Tuesday.

The show will air at 6 p.m. EST. He declined to give its start date, saying only that it will begin in February. Journal reporter Wendy Bounds will be the host.

“If you look at what we have done so far with our video programming, it has been very news focused,” said Murray in a phone conversation Tuesday afternoon with Talking Biz News. “This has been an opportunity for us to take what we’re doing that’s not so newsy — theater, fashion, art, cooking travel and music — that has a longer life and do more video on them.”

The show will be modeled after the Off Duty section that runs in the Weekend Journal.

The Journal has been heavily expanding its video news offerings during the week as a way of expanding its reach. “WSJ Live” currently offers up to four total hours of live programming each business day from across the company’s network of sites. Its primary news show, “The Hub,” airs every morning at 8:30 a.m. EST and is hosted by Journal reporter Kelly Evans.

“We use live programming just as a means of creating on-demand programming,” said Murray about “Off Duty”‘s content. “Each day’s shows will be cut into five or six pieces, which will be available both on You Tube and on the WSJ Network.

“When you go to You Tube, I am not even sure you will be able to find the 30-minute show. But you will be able to find the five to six components. We will do five or six a day, 25 or 30 a week.”