Updated: AOL Lands Obama, Celebs for Series

AOL thinks Web users are ready for appointment TV.The beleaguered portal on Monday (Nov. 1) will roll out three new daily series, which will be scheduled much like traditional TV. The new shows include You’ve Got, which will consist of a 45-second monologue conducted by various celebrities and average citizens. AOL has lined up President Barack Obama to appear on You’ve Got on Election Day to urge viewers to vote. Other guests include Sesame Street’s Elmo and Kelly Ripa, co-host of Live with Regis and Kelly.Speaking of Ripa, AOL is also looking to replicate her type of morning show magic with AOL Daybreak, a daily morning talker hosted by Lindsay Campbell, the former host of the satirical financial Web series Wallstrip. Daybreak, which is being produced in conjunction with IAC’s red-hot Electus, will be posted on AOL’s home page each weekday morning. Executives have described the show’s feel as “like morning radio on the Internet.”Also on the docket is The One, a series AOL is producing in conjunction with the Web video company Next New Networks. An afternoon series, The One will feature celebrities, comedians and AOL staffers discussing the biggest story of the day in two-minute sessions.The new series rollout is part of a major overhaul of AOL.com, one in which video, particularly AOL-produced content, will be front and center. With the new home page and series, AOL is betting that users will be interested in coming back on a regular basis for programming in a medium that is all about content that is on-demand.“This is event-oriented content,” said Chris Grosso, general manager, AOL Homepages. He argues that the 15 million users who visit the home page each day are heavy consumers of media—despite AOL’s image of being popular among middle-aged women from the Midwest. “Our users are very media savvy. They are already habituated to come to our home page sometimes two and three times a day.”That sort of predictability should attract traditional advertisers, argued AOL CEO and chairman Tim Armstrong. And these shows should also travel well. “They are meant to be lifted and shared,” he said. Of course, AOL is also hoping to broaden its reach with its new home page, ideally bringing home some Web users who have long abandoned the property or attracting users who never checked in during the dial-up subscription days.To that end, AOL is veering away from the customization trend that has been perpetuated by Yahoo and social media sites like Twitter. “The new home page is about curation. It is really the anti-RSS experience,” said Armstrong. “If you think about AOL, we have a different set of values than Silicon Valley. We’re for high curation and passive personalization. The truth of the matter is most of the world doesn’t wake up every day and think about setting up their RSS feed.”

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Updated: AOL Lands Obama, Celebs for Series

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