AOL Takes Aim at TV Ad Dollars
Mike Shields
APRIL 18, 2007 -
AOL unveiled an aggressive slate of original programs set to premiere over the next year, including a game that will see Web users competing for a million-dollar prize and an elaborate contest through which users will compete to win their own private island, as the Time Warner-owned portal takes direct aim at TV advertising dollars.
Taking a page out of classic broadcast TV sales, AOL introduced five new programs to advertisers and the media during its inaugural First Look event, a flashy upfront-like sales presentation scheduled for April 17 at the Jazz at Lincoln Center venue within the Time Warner Center in New York. The new and returning online series are all set to debut either this coming fall or in the first half of 2008.
AOL executives were upfront, no pun intended, about the purpose of hosting such an elaborate presentation before a room packed with top media executives – they were hoping to get into buyers heads prior to the coming broadcast TV upfront sales period.
“Our customers have been asking for this sort of programming,” said Janet Balis, AOL’s senior vp of sales development. “We wanted to do this event before the broadcast upfronts so buyers can consider their full array of options [before making commitments]."
Standing before a floor-to-ceiling glass backdrop that overlooks Central Park, amidst a dozen oversized TV screens, AOL chairman and CEO Randy Falco emphasized that AOL can deliver broadcast-like reach with the interactivity and targetability of the Internet, a medium that he believes is still underutilized. “The gap remains between where consumers are and where
marketing dollars are being spent,” he said. Thus, Tuesday’s presentation was “so you have [AOL’s new shows] in mind as you make your plans for the year.”
Balis added that because the majority of ad opportunities that will be available in the new slate of programs would involve elaborate executional demands, presenting these concepts to advertisers early was imperative.
“These are not simple media buys.”
Among the five programs in the works are iLand, a reality-styled competition where contestants will vie for a chance to live on and eventually own a tropical island. iLand, which will debut in the second quarter of 2008, is said to feature elements social networking and fan voting that will help determine who wins and loses the game. Produced by Endemol, the company behind the TV hits Deal or No Deal and Extreme Makeover, the series is being
hosted by TV personality Brook Burns.
Also coming to AOL in the near future is Million Dollar Bill, a daily online game planned for first quarter of 2008 through which players will use serial numbers from real dollar bills to compete in various games, ultimately playing for a chance to land a million dollars in cash. Besides AOL,
90-second video segments of Million Dollar Bill, which is being hosted by Entertainment Tonight host and Dancing With the Stars contestant Leeza Gibbons, will also air on TV.
Speaking of TV tie-ins, AOL has also inked a new cross-platform partnership with The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Starting during the fourth quarter of 2007, fans of that talker will be invited to visit a new Ellen-dedicated channel on AOL to post photos, videos and stories about interesting and entertaining aspects of their lives, with select submissions to be featured during a regular segment on the show. The online Ellen initiative is being produced
by AOL and Telepictures Productions, which previously collaborated to launch the popular Hollywood gossip blog TMZ.com.
AOL has also announced a second season of Gold Rush, the online trivia game created last year by reality TV producers Mark Burnett. The second season, Gold Rush Goes Hollywood, starts in the third quarter of this year. AOL says that unlike the show’s first season, the finalists of this year’s contest will go on a live, real world hunt through Los Angeles for a million dollars in gold.
Lastly, AOL has also tapped Burnett to produce the coming Ye Olde Shrek the Third Royal Tournament, a promotional game that will launch this summer in conjunction with the launch of the Shrek the Third movie. The tournament will feature 25 unique Shrek-related games over a six-week period starting on April 26, three weeks before the animated sequel hits theaters.
Besides borrowing from the broadcast TV world in holding an upfront sales event, AOL didn't hold back from TV-like showmanship (and like many TV upfront presentations, some buyers grumbled). During a presentation by Burnett, a group of blonde models in gold dresses arrived, holding signs that spelled out "Gold Rush". Later, A.C. Slater himself, former Dancing with the Stars contestant Mario Lopez joined Burnett onstage to quiz the audience with several celebrity-related trivia questions.
Also, during Gibbons’ presentation, a collection of fake million-dollar bills were dropped into the audience. And following the presentation of the AOL/Shrek partnership, the audience watched a video clip of Dreamworks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg playing a Shrek game while awkwardly claiming to be hard at work.
As for whether AOL’s new programs will draw interest, buyers at the event were mixed. Several who spoke to Mediaweek off the record praised the portal for laying out a clear strategy and for emphasizing interactivity. Yet some said they wondered just how advertisers might be able to integrate their brands within some of the more complicated concepts, and others wondered whether AOL was too focused on games rather than pure entertainment programs.