Commentary

Get With the Programming

  • by March 15, 2006
The idea of AOL execs power-lunching at The Ivy might be viewed as something of an anomaly. After all, the Los Angeles eatery is better known for hosting the likes of Jennifer Aniston, Tom Cruise, and Drew Barrymore. But Jim Bankoff, executive vice president of programming and products at AOL, and other company execs are increasingly hunkered down in discussions there and at other Hollywood hot spots with directors, producers, writers, and all manner of talent.

It was after a series of meetings like these, culminating in a lunch at the tony Four Seasons in Beverly Hills, that Bankoff and his team secured a deal with Katalyst Films for a series of interactive comedy shows that will be developed exclusively for AOL.com and AIM (AOL Instant Messenger). Katalyst, co-owned by wünderkinds Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg, is responsible for such reality TV hits as "Punk'd" and "Beauty and the Geek," as well as a handful of films. The pair will develop and produce at least five comedies for AOL, comprising nearly 20 episodes apiece. That's the plan, anyway.

"Jason and Ashton are repped by Endeavor. AOL has friends at Endeavor, and they hooked us up," Bankoff explains, adding, "They get it. And not only do they get it, but they pushed my thinking." Katalyst has several shows in development, the first of which online audiences should see by this spring or early summer.

The Katalyst deal marked the second high-profile Hollywood pact in a one-month period for AOL (a deal with reality über-producer Mark Burnett came first). It also occurred three weeks prior to Yahoo's about-face, in which the Internet media giant announced it wouldn't focus on developing original content, but instead on content syndication deals and user-generated content.

At AOL, it's full steam ahead: The company partnered with Burnett on the new Web series "Gold Rush," likely to launch by the fall; it's headed into the second season of "The Biz," which pits contestants against each other for a shot at becoming a record producer; and another new music show is in the works, said to be in the vein of AOL Music's "Top 11" format. In recent months, AOL has also greatly expanded the programming in "Coaches," a self-help content area with interactive video workshops.

"We'll take the ideas no matter where they come from," Bankoff says. "We are finding ways to partner with the creative community in Hollywood. We'll continue to do smart deals."

No One-Off

With ambitious plans like these, Bankoff and a phalanx of AOL execs, including Michael Wolfson, vice president, creative development and production, are aggressively working on the best formulas for mounting original content on the network. Most important, they are focused on creating interactive experiences that not only will keep visitors coming back for more, but will also involve them more deeply in other network services like instant messaging, shopping, community, video, and music.

"When we talk about original programming, I don't like to view my role as just picking cute Webisodes or vignettes. I want to develop programming that draws people deeper into the aol.com experience and turns them on to interactive behaviors," Bankoff emphasizes. "In the case of Katalyst, the stuff the guys are creating will get people using IM, social networking, and our video offerings more. It's not a one-off."

Janet Rolle, who runs AOL's "Coaches" business as vice president/general manager of Women's and Lifestyle Programming, underscores Bankoff's point but goes further. "The sky's the limit. Any genre that exists is fodder for material. But we don't want to recreate a television experience online. We want to bring our users highly engaging and interactive experiences."

Of the Katalyst deal, Bankoff says, "It's going to be a catalyst -- pun intended -- for all sorts of other behaviors across AOL.com. 'Gold Rush' in and of itself is a very entertaining program, but it's going to integrate throughout all of aol.com and aim. It's about getting people to use more of our stuff. We want to know how it ladders up to the bigger picture across our network."

Bankoff says AOL is also looking for properties that can have a life of their own, such as TMZ.com, AOL's entertainment news-oriented property.

With "The Biz," envisioned by Warner Music Group Chairman-CEO Lyor Cohen and Kevin Conroy, executive vice president, AOL Media Networks, AOL racked up 1 million unique visitors in October and November, according to comScore Media Metrics. It continues to learn lessons from both "The Biz" and its production of the Live 8 concert. "What's most important is how deeply the users are engaged in the experience," Bankoff notes.

While In2TV, AOL's venture with Warner Bros., isn't a showcase for original programming but an on-demand venue for 4,800 vintage TV shows, AOL also plans to sell programming on its network by mid-year -- a radical new idea. AOL's comedy channel already offers viral videos, on-demand standup performances, radio shows from XM Radio, and the Moviefone Short Film Festival. There are also plans to leverage user-generated content and to integrate Weblogs' content as part of the original programming strategy. (AOL acquired Weblogs, Inc. in 2005.)

Help Yourself

But it's not only HollyWeb content that's getting AOL's original programming juices flowing. Its "Coaches" self-help area is growing from a niche presence to a full-blown destination with multistep interactive video workshops. By year-end, it will offer 15 A-list self-help gurus and dozens of lesser-known talents. "Coaches" takes full advantage of the online medium, offering tools, quizzes, resources, expert questions and answers, and exercises to improve consumers' lives. There are also links to purchase books and videos.

"It's a platform to empower people to get the answers to their questions," Rolle notes. For example, a video workshop with "The View's" Star Jones Reynolds addresses the question: "Is he 'the one'?" and proceeds to help women ask themselves the right questions before making a critical life decision. "Authors are trying to reach as large an audience as possible. We pay the production costs to make the workshops. There are no fees to the talent," Rolle adds. "If a particular author wants us to drive people to a particular destination for purchase, we do it. We don't preselect the destination for book buying."

"The analogy we make internally is that 'Coaches' is to the publishing business as 'Sessions' is to AOL music," Rolle says. "The natural evolution, beyond providing information to our users, is having users provide information to one another on empowerment and self-improvement. We can also use people who have blogs that resonate with the user base and use the platform for a more interactive dialogue." Rolle says user-moderated discussions are planned for the second half of the year.

Daily Learning Curve

Creating long-term ad-supported franchises is the name of the game. AOL has creative development, design, and production teams focused on baking interactive experiences throughout each content property, original or not. "Our original programs are integrated into the offerings; it's all one offering," says Wolfson, who along with three others founded the Knot.com in 1996. "Live 8 could have been done as a one-off, but instead we were set up to make it part and parcel of AOL Music. Integration is key."

Development and production are different in the online universe, Wolfson explains. "In the offline media world you have existing production and new development. But this medium is so new that we have combined those two disciplines. We are constantly working to make existing productions better and to catch new ideas."

Wolfson says AOL's secret sauce is its understanding of production values and knowing what to put in front of its audience. "We have a leadership team committed to staying true to everything we do whether it's successful or less successful. The idea is that if it's not useful and engaging, we've failed."

Even so, every project has a learning curve. "There are always things we learn," Wolfson notes. For example, AOL's Super Bowl Commercials franchise racked up 40 million streams in one week this year. In 2005, it logged 22 million. AOL, wanting to monetize that traffic, placed a video ad in front of the package.

"What Live 8 taught us is that there was a voracious interest in that kind of programming, and it drove people to experience other content of ours. The learning is cumulative," Wolfson observes. The next challenge: to make sure that AOL's social networking and video platforms get the audience to "walk around the mansion," he says.

To be sure, AOL learns as it goes. For example, when the announcement of this year's Grammy nominees was made, content about the 140 nominees lay buried behind a marquee. "It was overcomplicated, and we missed it," Wolfson recalls. "The morning after the announcements, you want the information about the Grammy nominees [to be accessible]," he says. "It's the difference between one big story versus an experience. We worked with the development and music teams to relaunch the Grammy thing and drove traffic up by four times."

With "Coaches," AOL is learning daily about the way people engage with content from self-help gurus, including John Gray and Stephen Covey. A creative development team works closely with "Coaches" staffers to figure out the next steps for interactive experiences based on the way visitors are engaging with the content.

"Our point of view is that when we're looking to develop original content in any of the areas of AOL, we want to ensure that we aren't just recreating a linear experience in the online space," Rolle says. "We're not looking to recreate a linear experience like TV."

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