NBC Chooses Talk City as Internet Chat Programming Partner for NBC.com's 'At The Max' Teen Site and NBC Interactive Neighborhood
PR Newswire - March 10, 1998 08:54
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NBC Takes Equity Stake in Talk City's Parent Company,
LiveWorld Productions Inc.
CAMPBELL, Calif., March 10 /PRNewswire/ -- NBC announced today a strategic
alliance with leading Internet Community service, Talk City(TM)
( www.talkcity.com ), to deliver moderated Internet chat and message board
programming to NBC.com's popular At the Max teen-oriented Web site
( www.nbc.com/atthemax ) and to NBC Interactive Neighborhood, a locally
customized Internet content package of Community information and services
offered to NBC owned stations and affiliates ( www.nbcin.com ).
In addition, NBC has acquired an equity interest in LiveWorld(TM)
Productions Inc., the parent company of Talk City, the Internet's leading
Community service, with over four million users to date. Financial terms of
the agreement were not disclosed.
"Chat is what makes the Internet sizzle as an interactive medium and Talk
City enhances the chat experience like no one else on the Web," said Martin J.
Yudkovitz, president, NBC Interactive. "We think there's enormous potential
in this area for both traffic and revenue, and Talk City is the leader to
prove it. The fit with NBC and our programming is just exceptional."
"We're thrilled that NBC, the No. 1 TV network in terms of quality as well
as viewership has chosen Talk City, the No. 1 online Community service in
terms of quality and customer usage, as their Community partner. And we're
proud that they've become an equity investor in our growing services," said
Peter Friedman, chairman and chief executive officer, Talk City. "We believe
that the inevitable convergence of TV and Internet is as much about integrated
programming as it is about technology; as a result this partnership should
reap exceptional results."
* Talk City programming services are scheduled to roll out this spring on
NBC.com's At the Max, the first dedicated teen site on the World Wide Web to
feature on-air promotion and in-show integration in NBC's Saturday morning
TNBC shows, Saved by the Bell: The New Class, Hang Time and City Guys. At
the Max launched in September, 1997.
* At the Max chat rooms and message boards will be accessible through
both the TNBC At the Max site, as well as via Talk City. NBC and Talk City
together will coordinate advertising and sales activities. Additionally, At
the Max will become the exclusive TV network teen brand on the Talk City Web
site, which features one of the largest teen Communities on the Web.
* Talk City chat and message board services will launch this spring on
NBC Interactive Neighborhood, (NBC-IN) a localized Internet Community guide
service, customized for local Communities and local NBC station home pages.
Talk City will create local Community chat rooms and message boards for
participating NBC Interactive Neighborhood stations, focusing on NBC content.
NBC-IN offers one-stop shopping for a wide variety of services, ranging from
local theater and restaurant listings provided by Microsoft Sidewalk to Yellow
Page directories from BigYellow to automobile and home sales listings. The
service currently features commitments from over 100 NBC stations, reaching
over 78 percent of the country.
NBC joins New York Life Insurance, Patricof & Company, Softbank Holdings,
Quantum Group (managed by Soros Fund Management), John Sculley and Joe
Graziano as investors in LiveWorld, Talk City's parent studio.
NBC and Talk City previously collaborated on ERLive.com, the
groundbreaking integration of television and the Internet for the 1997-98
season premiere of ER. Talk City offered week-long chat services to a joint
NBC-Warner Bros. Interactive ER Live Web site, featuring live Internet chats
with the show's stars, as well as real-time moderated simulchat discussions
which ran during the show's premiere.
Apart from its Community and chat agreements with NBC, Talk City today
unveiled a free home page program (see Talk City Introduces Free Personal Home
Pages).
About Talk City
Talk City is the Internet's leading Community site, and has, as of the end
of February, 1998, more than four million users to date. Since its inception
in 1996, Talk City's customer usage patterns have reached impressive levels,
with users racking up more than six million cumulative minutes of usage
online, every day. Visits to Talk City average more than 20 minutes per
session -- more than 300 percent longer than average visits to many high
traffic Web sites, according to published industry reports.
Talk City consists of online neighborhoods -- or Communities -- organized
around the interests of teen, family, entertainment, and college audiences,
and other subjects. These neighborhoods comprise information created by Talk
City users -- from personal home pages and celebrity conversations to
discussion boards and moderated chatrooms. Talk City is acknowledged as the
Internet's premier "clean, well-lighted" Community destination on the Web, by
virtue of its army of more than 700 trained Community moderators, who manage
and maintain Talk City's friendly culture.
About At the Max
NBC.com's At the Max teen site, which launched in Fall 1997, allows teens
to interact with each other as well as with the on-air characters and
environments of their favorite TNBC shows. Highlights of At the Max include
"How Do You Rate?," "Get That Look," "The Game Zone," "Take A Stand," the
"Speak Your Peace" chat room and others. In addition, "The Grand Prize"
awards $1,000 bonds for work in art, music, science, math, writing and humor.
In addition to online-only activities and contests, the At the Max site boasts
individual TNBC show areas for Saved By The Bell: The New Class, Hang Time,
and City Guys, containing previews of upcoming episodes and biographies of
cast members. The Web site frequently offers additional information about
educational messages woven into NBC's Saturday morning TNBC shows. Teens can
also order tickets to TNBC show tapings.
About NBC Interactive Neighborhood
NBC Interactive Neighborhood (NBC-IN), which launched in October, 1997,
offers the very best NBC and the Web has to offer and is designed to help
local NBC stations start or enhance their Internet businesses. NBC-IN
features content from a wide variety of leading companies including Auto-
ByTel, BigYellow, Gist, HOT Coupons,**** InfoSeek*****, Microsoft's Sidewalk, The
Mining Co., The Monster Board, Preview Travel, Realtor.com, Rent Net and Talk
City. The service is accessible on the Internet on the home pages of
participating NBC stations, as well as through a station directory at
www.nbcin.com.
LiveWorld and Talk City are trademarks of LiveWorld Productions, Inc. All
other brands and products are trademarks of their respective companies. |
