Cox Preparing to Launch O.C. Online Guide

The buzz around local online guides will get louder soon, as Cox Interactive Media prepares to launch a World Wide Web site devoted to Orange County happenings.

Cox will provide local content, including community news, information and entertainment tips. The site, dubbed OCNOW.com, will be updated several times a day. It is set to launch by spring, said Orange County site manager Braxton Jarratt.

The site, with offices in Irvine, will have a marketing and editorial staff of about 30 people, said Cox spokeswoman Marleen Burford.

Cox already has similar sites in 15 cities. Ten more, including the one here, will launch by March.

The competition for online readers is already heavy; more than a dozen guides exist for the Southern California region. And several start-ups, regional phone companies and others either are getting ready to launch or are developing their own guides.

“There are a lot of guides and a lot of ways to look up research,” Burford said. “The only way to stay ahead is to do something completely different.”

Indeed, the battle to be recognized as the in-the-know source for local news has pitched new media against old media. In their emphasis on sports and entertainment information, many of these online guides vie against alternative weekly newspapers and big city dailies as they compete for the listings in their leisure, arts and entertainment sections.

In the case of Cox Interactive Media, the cable interest is actually competing against itself. Cox Newspapers Inc., a sister company of the cable firm, has launched its own online guide in several markets, including Atlanta and Austin, Texas.

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P.J. Huffstutter covers high technology for The Times. She can be reached at (714) 966-7830 and at p.j.huffstutter@latimes.com