HuffPost Live, the 8-month-old, online-native video news network from AOL's Huffington Post Media Group, will begin syndicating to cable on May 13. The live network has struck a deal with AXS TV to bring half of HuffPost Live's 12 hours of live weekday programming to the channel, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET Monday through Friday.

The deal is surprising, not least because HuffPost Live has long insisted that it's not a cable news network, and had no ambitions to become one. As founder Roy Sekoff said at launch, "[We're] not going to become a cable network." He added, "What's the point of doing this if it just becomes the same old thing?"

The addition of HuffPost Live will diversify AXS TV's programming, whose stated mission is to provide live, 24/7 coverage of pop culture, music and fashion. The 9-month-old network is backed by billionaire Mark Cuban, who helped engineer the deal. The channel says it reaches 41 million homes.

Since this is HuffPost Live, there will be "social" elements to the broadcast. Running alongside the live video will be a audience comment stream, "designed to encourage real-time participation from the AXS TV audience," per a press statement. An app for interacting with HuffPost Live on AXS TV is on the way, the companies said.

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