‘Wild Wild Web’ Thrives in No Man’s Land of TV and Net
During a fall press conference for the AIDS charity Red Hot, singer Natalie Merchant announced to the throngs of camera crews, “I’ll only do one-on-one interviews with CNN and ‘Wild Wild Web.’ ”
In a February essay about hip-hop music for Time, Public Enemy rapper Chuck D. called the Internet the “wild, wild Web” as an homage to the TV show.
Aerosmith, David Bowie and Mick Fleetwood have all hung out at its loft-like production studio.
So why haven’t you heard of it?
Relax.
“Wild Wild Web” is probably the hippest show you’ve never seen.
The first weekly syndicated TV show to cover entertainment and pop culture on the Web, the program has picked up a cult following, particularly among cyber-savvy celebs. It also has a Web site (https://www.getwild.com) through Alta Vista (which also sponsors the TV show) that offers supplemental information, video streams and links to Web sites and e-commerce, the Web version of home shopping, mentioned on the program.
On June 1, the show will consolidate its brand under the Wild Web banner: the TV show changes to “WildWebTV” and its URL to https://www.wildweb.com, while One Zero Media, the $4-million Newton, Mass., multimedia entertainment company that produces the show, becomes Wild Web Inc.
CBS’ Eyemark Entertainment syndicates the show in 141 markets, where stations generally drop it into overnight / early morning or weekend schedules. Its highly targeted audience--a 60-40 male-female split, ages 18 to 34--draws advertisers as diverse as Web TV, Corona beer and Procter & Gamble. It has been renewed for a third season, which begins in September, and Eyemark may pick it up as a daily show in 2000. More significantly, the production illustrates the synergy possible between TV and the Internet.
“We’re really the first TV show to come out and say, ‘The Internet is an entertainment and pop culture medium,’ ” says Alan Chebot, “Wild Wild Web” co-creator and One Zero Media founder. “We’re covering how it affects society, mostly from the standpoint of affecting pop culture and how people get entertained.”
The idea is to watch the program while simultaneously surfing the Web. Co-hosts Matt Lindley and Beth Lahr direct viewers to the Web site, which supplements the information being broadcast. For example, when Aerosmith visited the studio, viewers learned about the band and their Web fascination. The show’s Web site then offered additional articles on the band, a contest for listeners and links to other Aerosmith-related sites.
“Our whole plan is to build up expertise in both TV and online, and expand into radio, print and entertainment-based e-commerce,” says Tom Aley, another co-creator and One Zero’s senior vice president of business development.
Lindley, a “geek turned TV host” (his words), was a former radio deejay, and Lahr worked as a producer-director for Boston’s NBC affiliate, WHDH. Together, they hold court from a set transformed into an industrial brick loft stocked with pinball machines, poofy couches and lava lamps. The show averages about 2 million viewers a week in the U.S., Australia and Singapore, and 4 million page views a month from 1.3 million users.
* “Wild Wild Web” airs Sundays at 2:30 a.m. on KCBS. The network has rated it TV-PG (may be unsuitable for children younger than 14).