Parallels between television programming and online content were more apparent than ever last week as America Online's Greenhouse Networks tapped former NBC entertainment head Brandon Tartikoff to lead its original content development efforts.

``I was too young to participate in the pioneering days of television,'' Mr. Tartikoff said. ``This is my chance to be there at the dawn of a new form of entertainment.''

Among Mr. Tartikoff's goals will be to attract more top-name talent and star power to the online world. As such, he will lead a staff of more than 50 in Los Angeles, where he and Greenhouse can tap into the Hollywood community's talent pool in developing properties for online distribution.

Also last week, at Internet World in Los Angeles, AOL unveiled its new interface, called Casablanca, which it expects to roll out later this spring. This version of AOL will have powerful built-in multimedia capabilities, including audio and video streaming.

Get the picture here? AOL, which has traditionally viewed television as its main competitor for users' attention, is migrating toward a more televisionlike presentation.

Original content on the Web has taken a beating in recent months. American Cybercast, home of ``The Spot,'' is now a shell of its former self after filing for bankruptcy protection earlier this year. The Microsoft Network too has scaled back the number of entertainment-content features it offers.

How much Mr. Tartikoff's involvement will be able to change this business, which has offered more hype than revenues, remains to be seen. But in general, the news of his involvement in America Online was greeted positively, legitimizing an area of entertainment that is still struggling for credibility.

Steve Perlman, WebTV Networks president and CEO, said he thought Mr. Tartikoff's entry into the Internet content business was ``great. People want the Internet to be more like TV, and you need the content.''

Financial markets responded positively to the news as well, with America Online's stock rising more than 10 percent to close at 47 on March 10, the day that Mr. Tartikoff's announcement was made.

Mr. Tartikoff, who headed NBC from 1980 to 1991, was named chairman of Greenhouse Networks, the original content division of AOL Studios. Greenhouse will now develop a new online entertainment network-free to users and supported by advertiser and transactional revenue-to showcase the content developed by Mr. Tartikoff and others. A series of production and distribution deals is expected to be announced shortly.

Also in the deal, AOL purchased LightSpeed Media, whose founding members include Scott Zakarin and Troy Bolotnick, who created ``The Spot.'' Mr. Zakarin was named president of programming at Greenhouse.

``[This] is an important step toward Greenhouse Network's goal of building the top content brands in cyberspace,'' said Danny Krifcher, president and CEO of Greenhouse Networks.

``We're going to do this through a focused strategy-acquiring successful properties, purchasing and partnering with established content studios, building interactive brands in top consumer categories and then distributing those brands through AOL, the Internet and other channels with support through aggressive marketing,'' he said.

Fall launch planned

The new online entertainment network will launch this fall, featuring celebrity hosts, fictional and nonfictional personalities, live real-time events, search functions and sales transactions.

The entertainment network will be based in Los Angeles, where through Mr. Tartikoff's connections, it can tap into the Hollywood talent pool.

The entertainment network is planned as the first of several ``networks'' Greenhouse plans to offer. Others include sports, romance, young adults, health and women.

The deal further strengthens an earlier relationship between Mr. Tartikoff and AOL. Last October, the two partnered to produce new online properties that will simultaneously launch on television and in book form.

The first project in that arrangement, ``Beggars and Choosers,'' is an online serial set in the insecure world of a television network that is last in the ratings. Mr. Zakarin and Mr. Bolotnick will executive produce.

``Beggars and Choosers'' will launch on America Online this fall and is being developed as either a movie or a series on Showtime. Production of the television project could begin this June.

An online children's game show and interactive pop culture magazine are also said to be in the works.

In the meantime, Mr. Tartikoff will continue with his own production company, H. Beale Co. Mr. Tartikoff also has a book imprint with Avon Books.

Ironically, Mr. Zakarin and Mr. Bolotnick had last year struck a deal to develop online content and television programming for NBC. That deal ultimately fell through, however, leading the pair to form LightSpeed, which then partnered with the former NBC president on ``Beggars and Choosers'' for AOL Greenhouse.

Source: Electronic Media