Sorority Social
As more cable content owners hunt for ways to exploit the social networking craze, it’s perhaps not surprising that Warner Bros TV’s TheWB.com and News Corp-owned MySpace are partnering to produce a new original online series. The new show—“Sorority Forever”—premieres today and will post every day at noon EST. Original episodes of “Sorority Forever” will appear exclusively on TheWB.com and MySpaceTV for 24 hours and then will become available through TheWB.com’s additional broadband distribution partners. Five new episodes per week (one new episode each weekday) will be available to view on MySpaceTV, in addition to character profiles and other interactive features.
And as more evidence that online series are attracting big-name talent, Hollywood heavyweight director McG (yeah, that’s his full name… kinda like Madonna) will oversee the series, which also stars Internet sensation Jessica Rose. Rose recently took part in perhaps one of the most famous dupes in YouTube history when she pretended to be a normal teenager named “lonelygirl15” but turned out to be an actress and part of a Web-based fictional thriller created by indie filmmakers.
In any event, all of this creates yet another opportunity for cross-platform promotion as TheWB.com uses potential SF fandom to fuel more viewership on TheWB TV network—all while MySpace uses the series to drive more traffic and participation among its online community. Like some cable content owners, TheWB has become increasingly aggressive in developing online content. And SF—with its promise of “mystery around every corner” and “a sexy and immersive experience that is simultaneously realistic and voyeuristic.” Hmmmm. Something tells us MySpace and TheWB know their youth demo well. Meanwhile, TheWB is also launching several other MySpace channels related to many of its other shows. One interesting aspect of this entire deal is the way that the Internet has created partnerships and synergies between media companies that usually fight to beat each other in the ratings and at the box office. But in this case, it seems that content goliaths News Corp and Time Warner Inc see enough mutual benefit to justify the symbiosis. At least for now.
