Winning on the Web

Cable World, June 4, 2001 by Janice Rhoshalle Littlejohn

CARTOON NETWORK (CARTOONNETWORK.COM)

This is a virtual online cartoon museum. Here, visitors can view streaming videos, get bios and interact with dozens of Hanna-Barbera's classic cartoon characters and new favorites like Johnny Bravo. Cartoon Orbit is the electronic trading card outpost, which allows fans to connect and swap cards or share stories about their favorite toons. Of course, there are also puzzles, trivia and games, which are faster to play and more fun with a broadband connection. And don't miss the latest Batman interactive adventure--it's an in-house favorite, says SVP-GM Jim Samples.

COURT TV (COURTTV.COM)

Newly acquired links to thesmokinggun.com and crimelibrary.com have given a content boost to Courttv.com's information content on crime and justice. At the Crime Library, visitors get in touch with legal minds, such as Joyce Oates and Phillip Margolin, who've created award-winning, fictional short stories--but none are stranger than the real deal you get with Court TV drama.

SHOWTIME (SHO.COM)

Expanding the "No Limits" brand into the infiniteness of cyberspace, sho.com takes visitors beyond the linear television world, allowing them to parallel the activities and interests of their favorite series characters in their own lives. And if it's stars they want, fans can get 'em via weekly hourlong online chats. "Unlike Jay Leno, you can hear from the actors on the shows you're interested in and offer up your own questions," says Gene Folk, SVP of Showtime's Digital Meida Group. "And the actors really get into it."

FOOD NETWORK (FOODTV.COM)

This site is pretty self-explanatory. It's all about food--where to buy it, how to prepare it and how long it'll take you to do it. In Forums & Chats, visitors can share their culinary secrets with others around the globe and get tips from experts from the Food Network Kitchen. Wine for Food is the ultimate wine guide on selecting vintage, matching wine with meals, tasting techniques and ratings. Foodtv.com plans more interactive components this fall, with a new series in which a spa chef will go one-on-one with viewers to plan nutritional diets for people with ailments like diabetes.

BLACK ENTERTAINMENT TELEVISION (BET.COM)

BET uses its Web site to provide general interest, lifestyle and entertainment information to the African-American public in ways that far surpasses its music-infomercial-laden channel. Visitors to the site will find detailed information on topical news events, money matters, technology, food, health, careers, and even advice for those looking for love and finding it in the wrong places on Love-line. "We wanted to build the definitive online location for the African-American population," says BET. com COO Scott Mills. The site also has interactive components for BEE. corn Countdown and 106th & Park

OXYGEN (OXYGEN.COM)

Somewhat of an anomaly in cable-to-Web convergence, oxygen.com was the cart that ran nearly two years before the network horse got out of the starting gate, and the site continues to be an online home for women like none other with its fresh, innovative activities. With AOL Time Warner breathing new life and 10 million additional new subscribers into the network, Oxygen may finally have a significant cable presence for its inventive programming.