Microsoft, Hollywood team to offer original Web shows

But instead of attempting to contort itself into a media company by hiring scores of relatively unknown writers and producers and go it virtually alone, this time Microsoft has chosen to team up with some high-profile Hollywood talent.

The first deal for its MSN Originals initiative is an alliance with Ben Silverman, one of the prime movers behind importing the reality show craze to the United States and the producer of shows like "The Office" and "The Biggest Loser" on NBC.

The one-year, multimillion-dollar deal calls for the creation of 10 Web pilots for MSN, each tailored to one or more strengths of the Web. Four shows have already been given the go-ahead, including a short-form comedy that can be described, in classic high-concept Hollywood style, as "The Office" meets "Reno 911" meets "Airplane," doled out in two-and-a-half minute bits starting this fall. Adding to the sitcom verisimilitude: Tom Arnold is close to signing on to star as the lovably flawed pilot for a commuter airline.

Another show, "Under the Influence," plans to pair a musician with one of his or her inspirations ("Unplugged" meets "Crossroads"), have them engage in a musical give-and-take, and then allow the audience to delve more deeply into the lives and music of other important figures in the musicians' lives.

Other approved pilots are "Face Off," an interactive "Crossfire" with a pop-culture slant, and the tentatively titled "Chef to the Rescue," which will allow people whipping up meals to get specific advice from a celebrity chef.

To harness the Web's attributes, many of the shows and applications will wrap around them community offshoots, commerce opportunities and the ability to dig deeper for related segments or information. Product placement, a specialty of Silverman, will also be an integral part of the programming.

And in a final twist, Silverman's Reveille, the independent production company he founded and runs, will be able to turn any of the Web shows into television series. Microsoft will have a financial stake in any resulting show. "We are all about building brands that can go across mediums," Silverman said.

Microsoft's move comes as it is looking to jazz up its MSN portal, one part of its accelerating competition with Google, Yahoo and AOL. Ultimately Microsoft executives want to lure more Web users to MSN, keep them there longer than they have stayed in the past and sell plenty of advertising to marketers wishing to woo them.

The deal is expected to be announced today at the MSN Strategic Account Summit, a Microsoft-convened gathering of marketing, technology and entertainment executives in Redmond, Wash.

Microsoft's previous foray into original Web content was not particularly auspicious. In 1996 and 1997 the company poured about a $100 million into shows like "475 Madison" (a dark comedy about a New York advertising agency) and "Project: Watchfire" (a serious look at UFO's) and mini-sites like Mungo Park (an outdoor adventure project) and the movie-obsessed Cinemania.

Develop and cancel, TV style
In November 1996, when MSN announced its transition from a proprietary service to a Web supersite, it unveiled a lineup of more than two dozen shows for what its executives--borrowing from the language of television--called a new season. In the ensuing months it found itself mimicking another tradition of the television business when it canceled almost all of the shows.

Within a few years Microsoft had dumped nearly all of the original entertainment programming for more practical, utilitarian services. "Perhaps we invested too much too quickly in content before the audience was there and the bandwidth was there," said Gayle Troberman, the director of branded entertainment and experiences for MSN.

Faster connections and the audience's embrace of Web video have persuaded Microsoft executives to intensify their original programming ambitions. But Microsoft executives have also learned to play to the company's strength: its collection of large numbers of Web users, thanks largely to the power of its Web browser and its ability to steer people to MSN.

While continuing to license content from existing media and entertainment companies (like clips of NBC shows or the streaming of new shows before they make their debuts on network television) and beefing up its user-generated content platform, MSN is adding a third pillar to its content strategy.

"We're going to partner with the experts," the new generation of content creators for the broadband experience, said Rob Bennett, general manager of entertainment and video services for MSN.

"We're not going to go build a massive studio in Santa Monica and go give someone a Handycam," Bennett added, in a playful dig at Yahoo's media efforts. (Yahoo recently scaled back its ambitious plans to produce television-style programming for the Web site, shifting more to user-generated content as well as repurposed fare from media and entertainment companies.)

Silverman and his staff--and the connections to talent they bring--are the attraction for MSN. Silverman's longtime relationship with Arnold, for example, helped interest the actor in the concept for the Web sitcom, tentatively titled "Airplane." And for "Face Off," Reveille is working with Woody Thompson, a co-creator of "Pop-Up Video," the VH1 creation in the 1990's that spurred a generation of wisecrackers to ironically and affectionately deconstruct the detritus of popular culture.

"We told Woody, 'The same way you took on the static music video, you should be attacking this new medium,'" Silverman said.

MSN meanwhile has the distribution to get these new shows in front of millions of people, quickly. And MSN has plenty of knowledge about what their audience flocks to. Entertainment, for example, represents about half of the searches on MSN, according to Silverman. Knowing that tidbit helped Reveille decide to make the most-searched entertainment-related query become the topic for the debate of the day for "Face Off."

MSN and Reveille executives understand that Web users want content they can snack on, and then--when the mood strikes and spare time materializes--immerse themselves in offshoots. That characteristic causes Silverman to rave about the possibilities of creating programming for the Web.

"It's creativity without walls," Silverman said. "You're never in one room."