"You've got TV" from Warner Bros. on AOL.
Yes, that's right. AOL today announced that In2TV, its broadband TV push, will launch in January 2006 with six channels and episodes from more
than 100 popular shows from the '70s, '80s, and '90s. We can hear Jose Feliciano singing "Chico and the Man" now: "Chico, don't be discouraged, The Man he ain't so hard to understand. Chico, if you
try now, I know that you can lend a helping hand."
OK, that's enough of that.
In2TV is a mind-boggling and ambitious effort to offer consumers complete episodes of classic TV shows
that have been buried in the Warner catalog. Think of hits like "Growing Pains," (ahhhh, the young Kirk Cameron); "Sanford & Son" (we loved it); "Wonder Woman" (we invoked her in a recent column and
think Lynda Carter is just as beautiful as ever in her 50s); "Lois and Clark" (behold a young Teri Hatcher working her magic on Clark Kent); "Eight is Enough" (Betty Buckley was so plucky); "Welcome
Back, Kotter" (John Travolta gets his groove on); and many more that we, and hopefully you, recall fondly.
This gargantuan effort, which will result in hundreds more shows being available
next year, is the culmination of more than two years of yeoman's labor, and the result of a close working relationship between Kevin Conroy, executive vice president, AOL Media Networks, and Eric
Frankel, president, Warner Bros. Domestic Cable Distribution, along with other Warner execs.
In2TV will offer the largest cache of on-demand TV programming (albeit not first-run programming)
ever. Viewers can watch in a full-screen view. At launch, more than 80 episodes will offer fully interactive features--trivia quizzes, polls, links to instant messaging, games, and other stuff.
Viewers can interact with the episodes and one can easily imagine trivia quizzes with prizes, free downloads, and promotions from sponsors.
AOL has done a lot of the heavy lifting to make
on-demand programming a reality on the Web. It's not just In2TV; it's Live8 and other AOL Music fare, the forthcoming celeb gossip venue TMZ.com, and a lot more. While we hear that Yahoo! is about to
flip the switch on its own online TV channels, we haven't seen anything yet. We've heard the rumblings, though, and fully expect a robust offering. The thing, is though, Yahoo! doesn't have access to
the Warner catalog, or any catalog for that matter--yet. Yahoo! and other players are racing to cut deals to license programming from all the major studios, production companies, writers, and other
entities.
Most importantly, In2TV is ad-supported with pre-roll, post-roll, and synchronized banners. AOL plans to place one ad insertion at the end of each of the natural breaks in the
episode--that's about four 15-second streaming video ads per 30-minute episode. Viewers who tune in won't be able to skip through the commercials.
AOL is also selling sponsorships around the
interactive features that accompany the episodes. In fact, we understand that Pepsi's Mountain Dew brand is a likely sponsor, as are many other package goods brands. Mountain Dew is a great fit for
this.
There will be six channels of programming planned for launch: "LOL," a comedy channel; "Dramarama;" "Heroes and Horrors;" "Rush," featuring action shows like "Kung Fu;" and
"Vintage"--think Nick at Nite, only with shows from the Warner archives.
The on-demand network will be available at AOL.com, AOL Video on Demand (http://www.aol.com/video), and AOL Video
Search (http://www.aol.com/videosearch), as well as through AOL Television (http://www.aol.com/television). Here's a fun factoid: AOL Video on Demand's archive contains more than 18,000 licensed and
originally produced assets. AOL's Singingfish has more than 1.5 million video assets.
We expect more announcements like AOL's in the near future, but perhaps none with the breadth and scope of
this one. There are other developments in this hot segment: Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network will make several half-hour programs available for $2.99 per download to Hasbro's VuGo portable media
player, according to a report today in the Wall Street Journal. And Viacom's Nickelodeon will offer shows such as "SpongeBob SquarePants," "Unfabulous," and "Rugrats" for download at VuGo.com.