Cable Focus on VOD Left Spiderdance Stuck in Web

Cable World, April 29, 2002

Byline: anthony crupi

In a bearish market, a little hibernation is to be expected.

Execrable puns aside, however, interactive TV content-application developer Spiderdance's announcement last week that it was settling down for a long winter's nap came as a surprise to some industry observers. Long considered to be on the vanguard of the Enhanced TV space, the Venice, Calif.-based company's programming partners included NBC, the WB Television Network, TBS Superstation, MTV Networks and A&E Network's History Channel.

Spiderdance CEO Steve Hoffman said the main factor in the decision to close shop was a certain shortsightedness on the part of cable operators. "Everybody is just so high on VOD right now," Hoffman said. "To a certain extent, ITV is being sidelined because of that."

Analysts agree with Hoffman's contention, although a convincing case for the viability of the Enhanced TV model remains to be heard. According to J. Brian O'Loughlin, an associate professor of media studies at the University of Alabama, television has always been a passive medium. "I haven't seen any data that suggests that people will take to the kind of elements Enhanced TV offers. As cable companies make their push for VOD services and as PVRs take hold, Enhanced TV will fall by the wayside.

"People on the whole do not want to chitchat with their TVs," O'Loughlin said.

While Spiderdance managed for a time to subsist on revenues rather than on venture capital, lack of profits ultimately spelled its doom. "We couldn't keep losing money on each project we took on," Hoffman said. One such project, a two-screen ITV offering for the Ford Motor Co.-sponsored WB reality show No Boundaries, promised to be Spiderdance's most ambitious offering. Unfortunately, the title "No Audience" may have been closer to the mark, as the show was canceled after four episodes.

As for preexisting relationships with ongoing programs like NBC's The Weakest Link, Hoffman said the company "has completed and will fulfill all our obligations with all our customers."

Although Hoffman foresaw no immediate fix for what he called "a dearth of revenue in the sector," he remained upbeat about his company's prospects. "We're positive about the potential of the market," he said. "We've been ahead of the curve, and we want to put ourselves in position to be ready to jump on when it swings our way again.

"We're in this for the long haul," Hoffman said.