Ben Silverman's Electus Launches Online Morning Show 'AOL Daybreak'

NEW YORK - AOL Inc. on Monday launched a new morning video show, called AOL Daybreak, on its home page in partnership with Ben Silverman's multimedia studio Electus. 

Lindsay Campbell, best known for her work hosting humorous financial web series Wallstrip and then news and politics series MobLogic, serves as the host for the morning news roundup with "a lighthearted take on recent headlines." The launch of the series, expected to be available on demand in the early morning, comes as AOL has looked to create more online video offers. 
 
"On any given day AOL.com has a larger audience than most television networks," said David Eun, president of AOL Media and Studios. "We want to provide our audience with the most engaging, informative and entertaining content on the Internet, and 'AOL Daybreak' delivers."

Said Silverman: "We are thrilled to partner with AOL on the next generation of morning news. Lindsay Campbell's fun and contemporary point of view will resonate with approachable content in a dynamic medium."
 
The new series, about two minutes long in its debut that featured Campbell asking people in the streets of Manhattan what they would like from a morning news show, is produced by network TV veteran, Diane Masciale, Adam Eland and Jeff Marks. Masciale, who serves as senior executive producer, previously was executive editor of ABC's Good Morning America and executive producer in the ABC long form unit. She also formerly worked for NBC's Today Show and Dateline NBC. Al Roker makes a guest appearance in the AOL show's first edition.

Amid the continuing cord cutting debate in the cable industry that has seen some suggest that some consumers are looking to end their pay TV subscriptions to watch more Web video, at least one young woman interviewed by Campbell for the Monday launch episode seemed confused about where to find AOL Daybreak. Asked if she would watch a morning show on AOL, the woman said she may do so if she was at home and flipped through the channels, although she added she wasn't sure if she even had AOL. Campbell then pointed out that she was not referring to a TV network, but the AOL home page.