Today, the Huffington Post Media Group announces "HuffPost Live 3,2,1..." a section that introduces Huffington Post users to "HuffPost Live," the site's new live streaming network, which uses the HuffPost universe -- the stories, editors, reporters, bloggers, and community -- as its real-time script. The section includes a clock counting down to the August 13th launch of "HuffPost Live." Arianna Huffington, President and Editor-in-Chief of the Huffington Post Media Group, and Roy Sekoff, President of "HuffPost Live," made the announcement.

"'HuffPost Live' is all about engagement and making the HuffPost community an integral part of the dynamic, ongoing conversation that will be the heart and soul of the network," said Arianna Huffington. "And we wanted to have a launch as innovative as the project itself, as opposed to a traditional top-down approach. 'HuffPost Live 3,2,1...' allows us to reach out to our community members and begin a dialogue with them about what kind of network they want to be part of, as well as what kind of stories they want to talk about."

"One of our main goals with 'HuffPost Live' is to make it the most social video experience possible -- capitalizing on the ongoing shift from presentation to participation," said Sekoff. "People don't want to be talked at any more; they want to be talked with. 'HuffPost Live 3, 2, 1...' will allow us to deeply connect with our users and have them be real partners in what we are building. This way, when we launch 'HuffPost Live' in August, our community members will be as prepared as our hosts and producers."

"HuffPost Live 3, 2, 1..." is the central part of a broad outreach to Huffington Post community members, inviting them to sign up to be on-air contributors. As part of the process, they are being asked to record a video sounding off on what they are passionate about, what ticks them off, or what they'd like to see the network cover. The most engaging submissions will be posted on the "3, 2, 1..." section - and those who left them will be invited to become regular guests on "HuffPost Live."

"HuffPost Live 3, 2, 1..." will also feature lively conversations led by the new hosts of "HuffPost Live," and behind-the-scenes footage of the production team, including a 24-hour live feed of the newsroom being built in New York.

"HuffPost Live" is a cross-platform video experience, distributed online, mobile, and over-the-top (OTT) that allows users to both watch and engage with the stories they are viewing - either live or on-demand. Programming will spotlight the hottest stories on The Huffington Post across a full range of topics and use them as jumping off points for conversations and commentary.

"HuffPost Live" will live-stream 12 hours of original programming, five days a week, with highlights shown overnight and on the weekends. It will be produced out of state-of-the-art studios in New York and Los Angeles, with a satellite studio in Washington, DC.

Cadillac and a major wireless provider have signed on to be sponsors of this highly innovative media experience and conversations are still underway with other potential brands in non-competitive categories.

More information about "HuffPost Live 3,2,1..." and the launch of "HuffPost Live" can be found here.

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The Huffington Post
Media:
Jessica Hanks, 212-402-7232
Jessica.hanks@huffingtonpost.com