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MEDIA Big Media Plays in the Virtual World Who are the players and what are they doing? by Pollywog Gardenvale OnRez Viewer 
In this section, we explore what a few big media companies are doing in three very different virtual worlds: Second Life, There.com, and Kaneva. But this is the tip of the iceberg. Consider just a few recent projects by some of the large media companies that are active in this space. CBS Corporation
Time Warner, Inc.
Andrew Cleland, Executive Director of Time Warner Investments, summarized the company’s investment strategy in an interview with Mary Kathleen Flynn of Tech Confidential and Behind the Money: “We’re looking for a range of companies along four dimensions: online video, mobile, advanced content (machinima, mashups, and gaming), and social networks and virtual worlds. This is another space that we have become more interested in as a category this year.” Time Warner companies are actively involved virtual worlds, as shown by the following recent projects: Home Box Office
Warner Bros.
Turner Broadcasting
National Broadcasting Company
This past summer, NBC hosted a series of concerts “Live from the Peacock Room” which were streamed from the top of the NBC Universal building in Second Life. Viacom
Hearst Magazines
Showtime Networks
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2007 may be remembered as the year that big media officially arrived in the virtual world. In many ways it feels like the dot.com boom all over again, with companies acquiring existing technology and expertise rather than developing it inhouse. There’s money being spent and fortunes to be made for those who have the right thing, at the right place, at the right time.
Companies are looking for a good fit to complement existing projects or to extend their reach and gain a strategic position in an emerging marketplace.
In February 2007, CBS announced a strategic partnership with The Electric Sheep Company to “realize the potential of virtual worlds as a new way to interact with audiences, create communities and build new advertising channels.” As part of the partnership, CBS raised more than $7 million from existing investors.
Time Warner Investments recently announced that it seeks to acquire minority equity stakes in private companies, with a targeted investment up to $25M.
HBO recently acquired rights to a machinima series that was shot entirely inside a virtual world. 
CBS and Warner Bros. (working together as the CW Television Network) have teamed up with The Electric Sheep Company and Millions of Us to produce immersive experiences inside Second Life based on the hit shows, CSI:NY and GossipGirls. The CW Television Network is a joint venture between Warner Bros. Entertainment and CBS Corporation.
Turner Broadcasting System’s New Products Group signed a one-year deal with 
NBC recently aired an episode of The Office, which was shot, in part, inside Second Life. Clear Ink was retained to design and produce the Second Life scenes. (For more information on the project, see page 6.) The episode, “
MTV Networks has partnered with Makena Technologies to create 
Makena Technologies has entered into a strategic alliance with Hearst Magazine’s CosmoGIRL! to create a community based on the magazine in the PG-13 rated virtual world, 
Showtime Networks and The Electric Sheep Company teamed up to create what has proven to be one of the most successful communities in Second Life, based on the hit cable series, “The L Word.”
