Brief Original Broadcasts Plans 2004 Debut

Plans for one short-form TV network have been delayed a year while the other, which grew out of a successful production company and Web site, has been testing in video on demand and may become a full-fledged channel by the end of the year.

Brief Original Broadcasts was originally supposed to start in the first quarter of 2003. But securing financing, distribution and advertiser support has taken a little longer than BOB's executives expected. President and co-founder Olivier Katz said Wednesday that the network expects to be on the air sometime in the first quarter 2004.

Another network with similar aspirations to air short-form programming and innovative advertising and sponsorship seems a bit closer to reality. Atom Television, a partnership between Global Media Holdings and AtomShockwave Corp., has been involved in Comcast, Cablevision and other VOD services. It's also got a five-year track record of delivering short-form content via the Web, garnering millions of hits a month. Global Media Holdings President Andrew Tow said Wednesday that Atom Television will become a 24/7 digital channel by the end of this year or early next year.

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Both channels have been hailed as a unique combination of short-form content and potentially long-form advertising, the intersection that has already created BMW Films, the Aeropostale spot that ran on MTV and a seven-minute-plus Budweiser advertainment piece that ran on TNN and Comedy Central last year. Between programs, Trio has inserted some short-form programming as a connector between shows on occasion.

But BOB and Atom Television would take the concept a step further, running short-form content - mostly under eight-minutes - made by professional and amateurs dabbling in drama, comedy, animation and just about every other genre under the sun. The target: 18- to 34-year-olds (and sometimes younger people) with the famously short attention spans.

Tim Hanlon, vice president and director of emerging contacts at Chicago-based Starcom MediaVest Group, said the Internet has shown there's an audience for nontraditional television. There's also a growing realization among advertisers that to escape the clutter, new ways have to be found to engage the consumer. One way? Producing the type of short-form advertainment - Starcom calls them messaging units to get away from the restraints of the "commercial" - that BOB and Atom Television seeks from sponsors. "When you call it a messaging unit, then you can open your mind to using television with no preconceived notion. It doesn't have to be a 30-second window, a 15-second window, a 60-second window," Hanlon said.

After a flurry of activity, including signing Anheuser-Busch as a charter sponsor and partnering with at least two content providers, BOB has taken a step back while it finds the financing needed to gain nationwide distribution. Katz said BOB is beginning to state its case among potential investors, following discussions with the top 10 MSOs. He said BOB was on target for a distribution of 12 million digital households upon launch and that progressive and mainstream advertisers have signed on. For competitive reasons, he declined to name the MSOs and advertisers. Katz acknowledged that the timeline had changed as the channel attempts to secure adequate distribution and financial support.

"We really didn't want to approach the financial community without the accomplishments and achievements we have made," said Katz. "We feel we're at a point where all the elements are in place." He said major media agencies have also been interested.

"We are getting a tremendous validation from all of those agencies, and they are validating what we already knew, that BOB provides a very, very compelling alternative to marketers and brands to television," Katz said.

Atom Television's Tow acknowledged that it's been a tough economic climate from which to launch a new cable network. He said that cable companies have had their hands full with other distractions and that getting on the radar screen hasn't been easy. But he said that the VOD coverage has produced good take rates and, in the case of Comcast, it will be further rolled out in VOD markets for the rest of the year. It's also on other companies' VOD services as well. The last piece, becoming a full-fledged digital network, could happen soon. Tow said Atom Television had received a commitment from a "good-sized MSO" to launch the 24-hour channel. If it doesn't happen by the end of the year, then it will happen early next year.

Tow said Atom Film's Web site has been active since 1998 and has built a substantial following with tens of millions of users. It's got other things going for it, including exclusive, first-run content for television in a format that appeals to the demographic. Atom's Web site has 18 million unique monthly visitors and 40 million registered users.

"We have a brand that exists and a very powerful promotional vehicle that already exists to a loyal audience that already exists," Tow said. "That's the reason we have gotten as far as we have, because we have a very good selling proposition."

Atom Television already has an agreement with a major clothing manufacturer, and Tow said the company is working on others who focus on the youth market. He said Atom is looking for sponsors who are willing to experiment to create branded, short-form entertainment. It doesn't need to be expensive or flashy, a la BMW Films.

"There are many simpler ways and cheaper ways for advertisers to cleverly communicate their message via our forum and have the content be the message," Tow said.

Starcom's Hanlon said Atom and its partner, Shockwave, have done a pretty good job of bringing advertisers into the new paradigm and seen success in longer-form messages. The only place to see a marketer's longer-form commercials used to be the company's own Web site, but that's changing. Long-form content could be a significant form for advertisers, particularly edgy ones.

"These could be places where fun, cutting edge, risk-taking advertisers can play," Hanlon said.

But for channels like BOB and Atom Television, it will come down to distribution. Both are independents, which don't have the power - or the bargaining room of a Viacom or AOL Time Warner - to convince MSOs to carry the channel. Some of the more successful recent launches were channels like G4 or Outdoor Life Network that are partially owned by MSOs, in both cases Comcast Corp.

""Both of them have just as much of a shot as any digital cable concept out there," Hanlon said. "It's different, it's unique, it's fresh. It seems to align itself with some forces that are happening in terms of commercial clutter. The big problem is that they don't have any major media company backing or distribution. It's very hard for a small independent player to get there. All the charter advertisers in the world aren't going to make a difference if there's no distribution."

Yet Hanlon can see a scenario with distribution and advertising similar to MTV, circa 1981.

"It's conceivable it could be a cool, buzz-worthy destination," Hanlon said.

Tow declined to discuss specifics about distribution, but said Atom's distribution doesn't have to be large for them to meet goals. It's partnership with Atom Films means they've got a headstart on production and other creative efforts.

"Our needs, in terms of being able to break our company even, are substantially more modest than those of other people who are out there launching their ventures," Tow said.

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