TV Networks Try, Fail to Create New Media

 Email

By Mallory Dash (with John Cantwell)

It’s no secret that the major broadcast networks want to get a big piece of online digital media revenue for themselves. But two recent projects show that they still have a long way to go.

NBC added Quarterlife, the made-for-Internet series, to its primetime schedule. The move may have been motivated by the fact that NBC wasn’t sure when the writer’s strike would end, and was looking for new, ready-made content. Regardless of the motivating factors, Quarterlife tanked in its first week, attracting only 3.86 million viewers in the network’s high-profile 10 pm slot. It was a lazy attempt by NBC to capitalize on online content. The problem was that they didn’t choose the right content - Quarterlife, while well-written and produced to a high standard, wasn’t even that popular online. NBC would have been better off doing a co-branded “America’s Funniest YouTube Videos” series - something that honors the DIY spirit of online media, which people are clearly responsive to.

ABC’s Stage 9 Digital Media, a new production studio that aims to bring high-quality, professional videos to the online space, misunderstands the importance of content, as well - it assumes online users will automatically be drawn to slick Hollywood content because it’s slick Hollywood content, which people have always liked (because they had few alternatives). They’re missing the point. Slick content is not new - everyone’s seen Star Wars. But, until recently, no one had ever seen a boy named Charlie biting his brother.

Interestingly, both projects ignore the important link between online video and targeted ad content. Quarterlife was tailor-made for targeted ad content when it was on MySpace - the show’s producers had access to an incredible amount of user information. All of that information was lost, however, when Quarterlife was transitioned to primetime.

As for Studio 9 - check out its (lousy) series Squeegees and notice that ABC runs the same commercials it airs on TV. In the two times Mallory and I watched Squeegees, we saw ads for dog food and a car. Neither of us owns a dog and we both live in New York City, so we don’t drive. Those ad impressions were wasted on us - and they were annoying. In other words, they came with the same limitations as old TV advertisements. This begs the question, Why use a new medium if you’re going to stick to the same old ideas???!!!

Of course, all is not lost. NBC and ABC both have tons of money, and, if they’re patient, they can save these projects. They just need to realize the relative strengths and weaknesses of both mediums and account for them accordingly. For example, e-Consultancy points out that NBC didn’t do itself any favors by repackaging Quarterlife (which originally ran as 36 eight-minute episodes) into six, hour-long episodes. The appealing factor of Quarterlife as a Myspace show was its brevity and appropriateness for the Web-savvy, teenage crowd. Perhaps Quarterlife will hit a better niche on Bravo, where the show is rumored to end up. And ABC needs to understand that people aren’t necessarily clamoring for well-produced online content - just good content. There’s a difference.