NBC Pulls The Curtain Up On Vitual Women's Network; Plans Hyper-local Content Center In NYC
This story was written by David Kaplan.
NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) has finally launched Women@NBCU, its long-anticipated virtual female-targeted content and ad network. Also as expected (by us, at least), Lauren Zalaznick has been promoted to president, Women and Lifestyle Entertainment Networksand adds iVillage to her portfolio. Zalaznick had been president of Bravo Media and Oxygen Media; she will still report to Jeff Gaspin, president and COO, Universal Television Group. Gaspin took over iVillage on an interim basis following Beth Comstock's recent return to GE. Combined, the two moves leave NBCU with very little in the way of excuses when it comes to integrating expensive acquisitions iVillage and Oxygen and making the most of the virtual network's advertising and marketing potential.
Zalaznick won't be running iVillage day to day but Deborah Fine, president of iVillage Properties, will report to her. This completes a significant evolution for iVillage from standalone property reporting to one of the top NBCU corporate execs to life within a group within a bigger group. How it actually will affect iVillage remains to be seen.
Virtual content and ad network Women@NBCU also will serve as a hub for other properties, such as eco-friendly site Green is Universal and other female-skewing properties such as the Today show and a number of other NBC primetime programs (think The Biggest Loser, Lipstick Jungle. Zalaznick will continue to report to Jeff Gaspin, president and COO of the Universal Television Group.
-- Women are 'in' these days: Although NBCU has been working on this effort for months, the online space targeting women has suddenly become very crowded. In just the past two months, Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) has launched its women's site, Shine, while traditional media stars Liz Smith, Lesley Stahl, Peggy Noonan, Mary Wells and others linked arms to launch WowoWow (WomanOnTheWeb). Meanwhile, AOL (NYSE: TWX) has been quietly developing its own women's site, albeit one that's targeted to younger demographics.
-- Getting it right this time: The effort can also be seen as a way to pave over the kinds of cross-platform stuggles iVillage has gone since being acquired bythrough the past year, such as when NBCU pulled the plug on the iVillage Live TV show due to disastrous ratings. The site itself has been trying to keep its head above water with a series of overhauls as well since being acquired by NBCU for $600 million over two years ago. More about Zalaznick's promotion here, while more details about Women@NBCU are available here.
-- NBCU Forms Local 'Content Center': Separately, NBCU announced it is creating a 24-hour news network focusing on "hyper-local" coverage around its east coast operations in general and its New York-based broadcast affiliae WNBC. The revamped news network is part of a larger plan to rebuild ts 30 Rockefeller Center HQ into a "multimillion dollar content center." The company has a similar operation already set up on the west coast in LA. The NYT reports that NBC will remove WNBC's name off its local news site and rename it NBC New York. In addition to the website, the local content will run through an out-of-home network that includes gas pumps and the recently installed video screens in the back of NYC taxis. As for the cable channel, it will be shown on the digital tier of cable systems in the metro area, including Time Warner, Cablevision (NYSE: CVC) and Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA). It is expected to start broadcasting in November.
By David Kaplan