The ClassicComedy.net Web site launched on 1 April last year, broadcasting clips by British comedy greats. Two key staff are Richard Bentine, the firm's "chief fool", and Guy de Ferrer, technical director.

The two began to collaborate when de Ferrer built an official tribute site for Bentine's late father, the ex-Goon Michael Bentine. As de Ferrer explains, "I had a background in games design and Richard was working in print. I built the site while he did the writing."

In 1999 Bentine decided he would like another outlet for his father's material. "I had control over the broadcast rights, but only a small amount of comedy can be shown on TV at any time, so most classic British comedy is just sitting in storage. Because the performer or writer retains the broadcast rights, I saw the Internet as the medium for broadcasting this material."

The two men set about creating ClassicComedy.net and finding content. "We launched on April Fool's Day, with the right to broadcast clips from my father and from the estate of Benny Hill and Monty Python's Flying Circus," says Bentine. After five days, 500 clips had been downloaded, which grew to 10,000 after the first weekend.

Deciding the size and price of clips was a key issue. Short clips of about 10 seconds are available free, while longer clips can be paid for using online systems such as Worldpay, or by reverse-charging SMS. The cost is about £1 per clip. "The aim was to use the Web as a promotional device," says Bentine. "But how do you deliver video to users of 56kbit/s modems? Luckily, comedy works well in a small window and short clips, but with broadband everything is bigger, faster and you get bigger smiles."

The service needed a reliable online host. "We use a server hosted by Netbenefit. I've used this firm throughout my career and it has always been a decent host," says de Ferrer. Resilience is crucial because it is hard to predict peaks in demand, he adds.

Comedy is by its nature a good subject for online broadcasts, argues Bentine. "It is iconic, even 10 seconds is a complete entity. You could not say the same thing for a song." BT seems to agree and is sponsoring an area of the site called BT Broadband Comedy Lounge. During February and March, BT will offer free broadband activation and discounted modems via the site, and will sponsor clips of up to 40 minutes.

Bentine is keen to continue and develop such sponsorship deals. "You need people to register but if you make people sign up, it reduces attendance," he says. "However, if comedy is the most forwarded type of email then we should exploit this, by offering the clips for free but getting companies to sponsor them."

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ABOUT BENTINE and DE FERRER

Richard Bentine is founder and "chief fool", or chief executive, of ClassicComedy.net.

He is responsible for business development of the site and has marketing experience with many high-profile firms in various sectors.

Guy de Ferrer is technical director of ClassicComedy.net.

He has worked for motor sports sites and in games development, particularly with Philips.