Tulsa entrepreneurs to launch Auction Network on TV, Web

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Sep 19, 2007 by Kirby Lee Davis

In six weeks a group of Tulsa entrepreneurs will launch the Auction Network, the first Internet and television network to focus on the $257 billion auction sector.

Within a year, they expect to oversee a multimillion-dollar enterprise.

"This is the first live, interactive, real-time global auction network," said Chief Executive Pam McKissick, the former president and chief operating officer of TV Guide Networks. Her young firm's promotional video casts Auction Network as a mixture of eBay and ESPN, one tapping a sector used by 70 million people annually.

"Ebay is more passive," she said. "This is like a sporting event."

Hosted by Tava Smiley, known for her General Hospital and E! channel appearances, the new network promises to turn viewers around the world into "virtual bidders" in auctions of everything from homes, horses and guitars to paintings, baseballs and Hollywood collectables.

"We will be a phenomenally profitable network," said McKissick, who led the formation of Auction Network with Dean Williams, chief executive of the Tulsa real estate auction firm Williams & Williams. "And we will incubate a second network, the Real Estate Network."

That will not be an arm for Williams & Williams, she added, but serve the wide, growing spectrum of real estate auction houses - of which Williams & Williams is the largest, selling more than 1,200 homes a month.

"We're perfectly positioned to be turning that into a network," she said. "But it won't be a pipeline for Williams & Williams."

A former director of creative services for Disney and chief operating officer for TV Guide (a post she now holds for Williams & Williams until Auction Network takes off), McKissick dreamed up the concept after realizing how entertaining auctions could be - a feeling shared by 97 percent of the people who attend them.

"It's exciting," she said. "It's exciting just watching them."

She brought the idea to Williams, who appreciated the concept but didn't want to dive into a site that didn't specialize in real estate. Instead he provided the initial capital to allow McKissick to start hiring staff and get the ball rolling.

With a crew of four behind her, McKissick continues to court investors even as her firm prepares content. She expects to have generated $5 million in capital when the network debuts.

Phase one will start Oct. 28 with streaming video at www.AuctionNetwork.tv. It will then beta test several interactive auctions from London to Las Vegas to Los Angeles, video on demand and gaming content, all towards building cable and satellite TV platforms it hopes to launch early next year.

McKissick said the Auction Network will meet an untapped cable niche, allowing viewers to participate through the Web or by cell phone. By seamlessly combining live events, television, Internet and mobile platforms, she said it also will illustrate the future direction of broadcast television.

"We will have a quarter of a million eyeballs at launch," she said. "We will be ramping up to 1 million very quickly."

Since the Web site will be free to users, the company will draw revenue from traditional and interactive clickable ads, sponsorships, and two areas McKissick admitted are normally difficult to sell in entertainment show but fit in well with auctions: direct response ads and product placement.

"Auctioneers are very much like Frank Sinatra," she said of product placement. "You can't give them a product and not expect them to sell it."

But the primary source of revenue will come from the auctions themselves.

With a worldwide platform, McKissick expects many auction houses will desire coverage. Auction Network will accept those that offer the best ratings potential, presenting the event not just live, but with original programming that explores its human interest stories. Auction Network will provide its services to handle the auction, receiving in return half of 1 percent of the overall sales.

Scott Withers, vice president of production and programming, said Auction Network crews have already filmed several portions for broadcast, including a South African wine auction that had its team covering not just the event, but following bidders on safaris and other adventures discovered there.

"One of the things we try to do with the programming is to tie in to the excitement of the community," he said - a factor that seems sure to capture viewers as it extends into such high-profile areas as sports memorabilia or celebrity auctions.

McKissick said the firm has developed several revenue models that show how profitable the firm can be with or without actual cable/ satellite broadcasting. But the long-term goal is to succeed on both fronts.

"Within four to five years, we expect to have a company that throws off more than $400 million in revenue," said Tony DeWeese, vice president of business development.

Doug Turner, vice president of network operations, credited several partners that have helped Auction Network meet its technical goals. Among them:

*OpenTV Corp. (www.OpenTV.com), a provider of digital television and cross-platform interactive services. Its participation, plus a related pact with LuJohns Enterprises Inc. (www.LuJohnsEnterprises.com), will allow Auction Network to support viewer participation in live auctions, tallying global bidding while providing a single account for customers across all platforms.