Times syndicate adds showbiz site
The New York Times Syndicate is the latest of many print media giants that are expanding their Web offerings, especially in the entertainment arena.
It also shows the boom in entertainment news on the Web, alongside breaking news about technology, business, and health. Competition for eyeballs, which translate into ad revenue, for these sites is fierce, however.
The syndicate is inviting the media to a party on November 20 to celebrate the launch of Entertainment News Daily, but the site already is running a daily update of entertainment news. It includes content from Billboard and the Hollywood Reporter. The free site runs banner ads.
"The syndicate's sites on the World Wide Web include Entertainment News Daily, providing news of movies, television, music, and books. Our other sites are Your Health Daily, with up-to-the-minute health and medical news, and Computer News Daily, featuring timely news, features, and columns about the world of computers," the site reads.
Your Health Daily includes content from the Medical Tribune News Service and daily newspapers. An example from today's headlines: "Using Mozart to help trigger the healing process."
The Entertainment Daily site also lists content from papers belonging to the Times Syndicate, which bills itself as the largest supplemental news service in the world, reaching 85 million readers. The site lists icons for latest news, music, movies, TV tonight, inside "treks," books, and theater as well as a keyword search function.
Today's lead story: "Tim Matheson has been slated to star in the Concorde-New Horizons production, 'A Very Unlucky Leprechaun.'" The site also lists an icon for entertainment press releases: "Greg Norman to Make Personal Appearance at Bloomingdale's In Century City, California" on Friday, November 14.
Entertainment News Daily is free to all Internet users, but the complete archives of the BPI Entertainment News Wire will be available on the site to subscribers at $4.95 per month.
The Times Syndicate is not alone in the expansion, largely aimed at capturing Internet advertising revenue. Newspapers also are beefing up their Web sites to include more entertainment-related content.
Variety already has struck a partnership with Reuters wire service to provide entertainment news.
And Internet companies, including Net directories such as Yahoo and Excite as well as Web sites belonging to Microsoft Network and America Online also are involved. Microsoft's Sidewalk also features entertainment on its local city guides.