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Wednesday, Dec 3, 2008
Jim Moloshok just launched the multimillion-dollar Entertaindom portal. Can he create the successor to network TV?
Dec 6, 1999 | Jim Moloshok sits comfortably astride what may be the Web's next big thing -- or what could be the latest in its history of costly entertainment bombs. Entertaindom, Time Warner's multimillion-dollar entertainment hub launched last week, is the culmination of two years' hard work by the 50-year-old president of Warner Bros. Online and a crew of 100.
Moloshok's easy-going manner and affable story-telling ways evidence no fear of failure; instead, he conveys a contagious excitement about the project at hand. Moloshok wants to be the first to use the Web to give prime-time TV a run for its money. So, in addition to the usual entertainment portal fare -- a jukebox, movie clips and news from Entertainment Weekly -- he has commissioned original animated "Webisodes" for Entertaindom. Probably the edgiest of the original content is The God & Devil Show, an animated talk show hosted by that eponymous couple, created by Mondo Media. It features caricatures of celebrities -- starting with Keith Richards; after an interview, fans can send the celeb to heaven or hell; they can also listen to the Devil's answering machine message or ask God a question. The site also streams shorts of cartoon classics like "Marvin the Martian" and full-length original Looney Tunes cartoons that have been digitized.
Of course, creating original entertainment for the Web is a concept that's had more than one high-profile failure (both MSN and America Online pulled the plug on their attempts at original programming several years ago), but Moloshok believes he's the guy to make it work. These days a number of competitors, including Macromedia's Rob Burgess, are singing the same tune. But Moloshok's got a track record in the entertainment world; he started as a camera operator in high school and worked his way up to television director and then studio executive. If he succeeds with the latest venture, it will be because his marketing chops are as strong as his creative ones.
The movie bug caught Moloshok early -- he produced and directed his first short film when he was 15. After several stints in television production, he moved to the marketing side. In an industry noted for job-hopping, he stayed in one place and let his employer grow up around him; and when TV distributor Telepictures, where he worked in marketing, merged with Lorimar, he became vice president of marketing -- then stuck around until Warner Bros. acquired Lorimar in 1989.
The kind of guy who always has a computer stashed in the corner of the bedroom, Moloshok persuaded Warner Bros. to let him promote some of its shows online. As senior vice-president of marketing, he helped launch the Warner Bros. Studio Store online, the official "Friends" fan community, and "The People's Court" site, which was the first TV show Web site to stream live episodes. To combat content piracy and the unauthorized use online of studio assets, he helped create AcmeCity, a community site that lets fans decorate their personal home pages with images of their favorite WB characters and personalities; it boasts 750,000 registered users.
Despite his gee-whiz attitude toward the Web, Moloshok is careful to back up techno tricks with a solid business plan. Banner ads on AcmeCity sell for as much as $65 per thousand impressions, while the industry average lurks down around $10.
Still a geek and fan himself, Moloshok eats in his own restaurant, as the saying goes. "I work here, then go home and surf the Internet."
Original entertainment on the Web has been many people's dream since the Web began. But it has failed over and over. What makes you think it will work this time?
People who are coming on now are buying computers because they see it not as an information retrieval device but as an entertaining experience. A lot of analysts say, "This is what's always worked, therefore something else won't work." No one said, "We need a music video" [yet look at the success of MTV]. It may be that the "experts" don't recognize that there's already a marketplace.
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