Jenny Butler. Back in action: Ex-MSNBCer Brown joins the competition.
Back in the old days — 1997 — RealNetworks gave us streaming video that looked like a tiny flip book with most of the pages ripped out. This fall, Real released the ninth version of its player, a full-screen model that handles more than 50 formats, including QuickTime, MPEG-4, and even arch rival Microsoftés Windows Media. Amid the advertising slump and a software slowdown, Real says its product will finally make good on its early promise to take on TV. Notoriously cheap Web surfers are buying in. More than 750,000 have signed up for Realés $9.95-a-month subscription plan, which gives them access to ABCNews, Nascar, and every sodden corner of the Big Brother house. To expand the newly booming subscription biz, Real brought in former journalist and Web-publishing pioneer Merrill Brown, founding editor of MSNBC.com. Brownés mission: Make Web video as popular as TV.
REALNETWORKS RELOADS WITH SPORTS, MAYBE EVEN PORN
WIRED: RealNetworks and Microsoft have slugged it out over media formats since the mid-é90s. Whatés it like working for the enemy?
DRAPER: Ités pretty common for someone to jump to the competition; from Time to Newsweek, from The Washington Post to The New York Times. But the competition with Microsoft isnét a focus of mine. Iém focused on creating a ubiquity about the medium that is television-like. Besides, I never had Microsoft stock options.
What convinced you that people will pay for Realés service rather than scour the Net for free players and content?
Thereés got to be content on the Internet that people pay for, or else ités not viable. The Internet needs to be a vehicle for mass-market advertising and for compelling content. We have to figure out the advertising part, because multiple streams of revenue are vital.
Advertisers were quick to bolt from the Internet when the economy soured. How will you get them back?
Paid subscribers in our medium are very desirable to advertisers. The average time spent online in front of Big Brother is 1 hour 40 minutes. The advertisers are looking for a level of conscious engagement, and our services are really great examples of that. Whatés the clickthrough rate on a magazine ad?
With webcams trained on the Big Brother hotties and Anna Nicole Smith, you seem to have lowbrow covered. Any plans to go all the way — and offer porn?
Well, how do you define porn? Ités a sensitive topic, over which thereés a great deal of discussion within the company. Real is certainly in a position to consider adult and any other content deals that make sense.
Do you see yourself competing for household entertainment dollars with cable and satellite TV, or are you planning to replace them?
Weére already competing with broadcast and cable television. Dialup Internet users typically spend one hour a day online. With broadband, it doubles to two hours. Weére competing for attention, and our products are going to be on refrigerator doors and in every room of the house. I donét know if Real will ever be in a position to create The Sopranos. So no, weéll never be able to replace well-run TV networks.
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