July 27, 1999
The Web Goes into Syndication
"StudioOne: Barter syndication for the Net"
Kevin Werbach

StudioOne CEO Andrew Susman was responsible for sponsored content on Time-Warner's late, not-so-lamented Pathfinder site. Swimming against the corporate tide, he launched programs to syndicate content from publications such as Time and People. "Instead of the belief that Pathfinder woul suck everyone onto the Net, it was the idea of disaggregating those brands and taking them out to the most appropriate places," he says. Time-Warner couldn't make Pathfinder successful, but Susman remained convinced the syndication model could work for the Web.

Susman founded StudioOne in the late 1997 along with former NBC EVP Bob Blackmore, who serves as the company's chairman. Where iSyndicate wants to be an intermediary, much like print syndicators such as United Feature Syndicate, StudioOne develops content itself like King World or Carsey Werner. "We're not recycling existing programs that other people have created," Susman says, "We're creating the programs and other elements from scratch for first-run syndication." The company, based in New York City, currently has 10 employees. So far it has been self-funded and profitable, although Susman is "mindfully exploring" the possiblity of raising venture funding.

StudioOne develops Web-based programming targeted to specific audience niches, and then syndicates it out for free to as many sites as possible. Advertisers pay StudioOne to sponsor channels as a means of promoting to their desired audiences online, an arrangement known as barter syndication in the offline media world. Because StudioOne, rather than the distribution site, sells the advertising, it can tailor the content as needed to attract sponsors. "We're creating original programming that meets the exact needs of an advertiser and the people they are trying to reach," says Susman.

StudioOne has created two programs so far, targeted to gamers and car enthusiasts, both sponsored by Honda. Susman expects the company will have ten programs available by the end of the year. The programs feature authoritative personalities in the field, such as former Motor Trend editor Jack Nerad for "Driving Today." They create a sticky experience for users -- Susman says they spend an average of eight minutes inside the programs, a significant length for Web content.

Susman points out that barter syndication has worked for every other mass medium, and he sees no reason the Web will be different. "Not everyone has the money and ability to create an unlimited amount of quality programs," he explains.

"When you have distribution fragmentation like you do on the Net, it is an ideal situation for syndication, because programmers have all the leverage." StudioOne in effect consolidates advertising dollars and uses

that revenue to finance programming, rather than attempting to recoup the cost of content creation by selling individual ad banners at ever-dropping cost-per-thousand rates.

StudioOne's TV-based model makes even more sense as the Web expands to support rich media. Susman says the company is preparing its content for widespread availability of high-speed Internet connections, which will allow more TV and radio-like streaming content.