Company Town

Multimedia: Time Warner Interactive and advertising conglomerate Interpublic Group of Companies have formed a joint venture to produce information, entertainment and advertising programming in a variety of interactive formats. The goal of several of the prototypes is to integrate each of the three elements into one product--a departure from traditional media in which commercials are typically separate from other programming. Interpublic’s agencies include McCann-Erickson, Lintas and Lowe Group. . . . In a preview of what life may be like when and if computers and TV sets converge, CNBC’s 24-hour talk show, “America’s Talking,” will use a computer and the Prodigy on-line service to allow viewers to send questions and comments onto the set by electronic mail. The hosts will take questions from the audience in cyberspace as well as from the traditional audience in the studio. After a given segment, Prodigy members can use the service’s real-time chat feature to continue the discussion over their computers and phone lines. Producers of the show, which premieres July 4, also plan to experiment with instant polls of the computer-equipped viewers.