Cable upstart ZDTV has broken new ground on the cutting edge of convergence where the Internet seems to be taking an increasingly leading role on-the-air.

First, there were web site addresses like www.this and www.that plastered all over TV shows and commercials. Then, primetime shows like Public Eye with Bryant Gumbel started taking almost live e-mail questions. And, given that viewer call-ins are already a staple of leading TV talk shows like Larry King Live and Oprah!, not to mention on the radio, what's next? How about Internet video phone call-ins!

Welcome the latest on-air techno promo device -- the interactive "NetCam." That's right, the cable world's latest start up, ZDTV has upped the ante. After all, ZDTV, which bills itself as "Your Computer Network" is no techno-newbie. It's an affiliate of the high-tech publishing powerhouse, Ziff Davis, which is controlled by SoftBank, the Japanese media conglomerate; and they are taking their technological savvy seriously.

Could ZDTV be to the late '90's what MTV was to the '80's? Of course, they hope so; but they are facing the same channel capacity challenges as any cable start up. In fact, Greg Drebin, ZDTV's Sr. VP of Programming and Promotion, is formerly an MTV exec.; so it's no coincidence then that ZDTV has morphed the famous "I want my MTV" campaign into "ZDTV Me" as part of their cable system affiliate marketing campaign. Currently ZDTV reports 1 million cable subs and they say they expect to have six million by mid-summer, partially fueled by a "national affiliation agreement" that ZDTV has inked with TCI.

10,000 FREE NETCAMS
Like anything a TV network does on-air, one of the motivations behind ZDTV's use of its video phone "NetCam Network" is the need to capture an audience. By leveraging a launch promotion which promises to give away up to 10,000 BigPicture(tm) video conferencing systems provided by 3Com, ZDTV is not only trying to walk its talk as a leading edge communication channel, but they are attempting to "channel" the audience's enthusiasm for these new devices into a new kind of program enhancement.

Drebin says that unlike most broadcasters, "Rather than speaking TO the audience, we speak WITH them. Netcams mirror what the Internet is all about: a leveling of the communications playing field."

And the TV audience seems to be changing almost as fast as the technology. According to Peggy M. Keegan, ZDTV's Director of Affiliate Marketing and Communications, not only is the web taking viewers away from television, but "We believe that we're reversing that trend by bringing web users back to television."

In fact, Keegan sites a new kind of convergence. She says that a lot of TV watchers are also simultaneously web browsers. Sighting a factoid from Nielsen Media Research Services, Keegan reports that 52% of the people who happen to have a PC in the same room with their TV, have them both on at the same time. To ZDTV, convergence means the TV show driving people to its web site and visa versa.

As for NetCam Network member participation, ZDTV is exercising appropriate caution by using a seven-second on-air delay for live video call-ins and a pretty thorough screening and registration process on their web site.

ADVERTISER CONVERGENCE
Bottom line, for ZDTV, a web site is more than a promotional device. In fact, ZDTV's list of charter sponsors -- who include technology companies like Intel, Dell, IBM, Microsoft and Sun as well as at least one financial institution, Charles Schwab -- buy both web and TV advertsing as part of their package. Drebin says, "It is all one medium. It's not just a TV network, and it's not just a web site. We're working on the integration of TV and the Web."

On the production side, not only does every one of the ZDTV network's shows have it's own dedicated web producer, but as Harry Fuller, ZDTV's Director of News describes it, the NetCam Network is already changing the way they are covering stories. Unlike conventional canned studio shows, Fuller emphasizes that the NetCams give ZDTV "real people, in real locations, in real time. It's more like talk radio, but you can actually see the people who are talking."

ZDTV has the advantage that every one of their viewers is a computer user. They like to say, from a TV broadcaster's point of view, that they are redefining "computer programming." In any case, video conferencing cameras are still pretty much a novelty; but there's no question that with higher bandwidth Internet connections like cable modems and ASDL coming into more widespread, viewer-originated content will become more commonplace in the next few years. And, ZDTV is well positioned to play a leading role in defining some of these rapidly changing new dimensions. Stay tuned.

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