The player: Peter Hoskins, CEO of ManiaTV

The play: ManiaTV produces, packages and distributes made-for-Internet programming. The online network’s shows are targeted to the 18 to 34 age group and draw pretty evenly from men and women. Over the last year, the network has produced more than 30 shows; it’s currently creating fresh episodes for six shows, including “Spread Entertainment” with Dave Navarro. Mania plans to launch more shows in the coming months. Most programs tend to be 30 minutes in duration or longer, though viewers can tune into the segments that most interest them. “People will watch good content. And good content is not defined by two to three minutes,” Mr. Hoskins said.

The pitch: Mania’s content is targeted to 18- to 34-year-olds who are comfortable sitting down with their laptop for their entertainment fix. The network only produces shows that have advertisers on board from the get-go. ManiaTV conducts “mini-upfronts” for all its shows before putting them on. “We pre-sell advertising associated with the shows, and it’s category-exclusive,” Mr. Hoskins said. “We then produce with the advertisers in mind for branded entertainment and ‘brought to you by’ segments.” That strategy also means that each show is profitable because ManiaTV won’t launch a show until it has lined up enough sponsors to cover the costs.

In the mix: ManiaTV has primarily distributed its shows on its own site at maniatv.com for the last three years in order to build its brand. The network will begin implementing a wider distribution strategy this quarter and has struck deals for its shows to be carried on portals like Yahoo Video as well as niche sites in the topic areas for the shows. ManiaTV has been circumspect about iTunes distribution because it’s difficult to track ads on iTunes downloads, Mr. Hoskins said. However, ManiaTV is talking to tech vendors about solving that problem.

The numbers: ManiaTV draws 4 million unique visitors each month from a base of about 9 million total viewers. That’s up from about 1 million total viewers a year ago. About 53% of the audience is male and 47% female. About 70% of viewers are 18 to 39. The network said 84% of ManiaTV viewers have researched at least one product after seeing an ad on the network.

The money guys: ManiaTV is ad-supported; sponsors have included Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Nike, Adidas, Honda, Chevrolet, Ford, Best Buy, Jeep, Nikon and Showtime. “No show gets produced unless it has ad dollars tied into it,” Mr. Hoskins said. “We manage the costs of production proportionally to what the audience is and revenue for that show.” ManiaTV has raised $26 million in venture funding capital from Intel, Centennial Ventures, Benchmark Capital and Dag Ventures. While each show is profitable, the company as a whole will be profitable by next year, he said.

The backstory: The company was founded in Denver in 2004 by Drew Massey, who remains with the company on the board. Mr. Hoskins became CEO in June 2007. The company moved to Los Angeles at the start of this year and originates its programs from there.

The pros: ManiaTV is smart financially and doesn’t produce a show until it has ad support.

The cons: Web video is hyper-competitive, with TV networks, portals and indie producers vying for the same $1.4 billion in ad spend for online video.

Background: Mr. Hoskins was born in Park City, Utah, and grew up in Las Vegas. He studied physics and math at Berkeley. He worked as a managing principal with IBM’s consulting group and then served as CEO of a software company before joining ManiaTV. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children.

Who knew? Mr. Hoskins said Gene Simmons nearly choked him out in a bar fight at the Dragonfly in Hollywood because Mr. Hoskins referred to Shannon Tweed, Mr. Simmons’ longtime partner, as Mr. Simmons’ wife. Mr. Hoskins quickly recovered, he says, joking that he won the brawl by bending Mr. Simmons’ arm back in “an arm bar submission.” The whole incident was just “in good fun,” he added.