This new site hopes to effectively merge two of the main drivers of web 2.0 technology: online video (for which YouTube is the market leader) and social networking (where the likes of MySpace and Bebo are dominating). Marketed as an online "screening room", the site allows up to ten people to chat via instant messenger as they simultaneously watch a movie. A third part of the screen will give viewers information about the movie.
By playing on the social interaction angle as opposed to that of movie watching, Lycos hope that the service will encourage groups of people to watch hidden gems of rare movies (500 low budget B-movies are already uploaded) and users' home-made movies, which will be available to upload from December onwards. Aiming for the 18-35 demographic, the site also allows 'buddy lists' of friends as well as trendy features, like the ability to control the movie with a 'virtual remote control', allowing you to stop, start, rewind or fast forward a movie via the media player. Who takes responsibility for this in a group of ten teenagers may be another issue - but at least the functionality allows for easy toilet breaks!
Although the concept is designed for mass appeal, it's likely that the real beneficiaries of the site in the short term will be musicians and movie producers, who can use Lycos Cinema for promotions and focus groups. With Lycos planning to hold specialist events which will urge users to interact with the musicians and directors responsible for the film as they watch in real time, it's possible it might take off with the dedicated film buffs and fans. But whether the larger, general audience enjoy viewing the media in this format still remains to be proved.
Lycos will finance the service through a series of pre and post roll ads, which will appear during movies, as well as lining up advertisers like Columbia Pictures, American Express and Pfizer to display ads on the main landing pages.
This shift in the Lycos strategy is the first in a line of proposed moves to bring the portal back into the mainstream. Lycos TV, offering classic and contemporary TV shows, and Lycos Video on Demand, which will allow users to buy or rent a film, are the next moves in the pipeline that Lycos are hoping will restore their 'cool' factor. Whether these services burst into the mainstream is another matter, but it's good to see an age-old contender have a go at the big boys again.
