Brave New Mouse

By: Chuck SalterWed Dec 19, 2007 at 8:20 AM

When Disney-ABC agreed to sell its prime-time hits on Apple's iTunes, the deal set off a revolution inside the media giant. Now a digital team with the spirit of a startup is reinventing TV--And the industry is following.

It's a confusing time for media companies. There's endless hype about the next YouTube, the next MySpace, or some other can't-miss disruptive service. Cheng and Disney are navigating through the chaos with a methodical and strategic approach. In the process of vetting Apple, Disney identified criteria for evaluating potential ventures. Among other things, Cheng asks, "Is it a brand we want to be associated with? What's the consumer experience? Can this partner help us reach customers we can't reach ourselves?"

Although Disney has gotten a lot of attention for iTunes and free streaming, it has been conspicuously absent from other high-profile moves. It didn't sue YouTube or acquire MySpace. It passed on taking an equity stake in the new NBC and News Corp. joint venture. None of these satisfied Disney's criteria.

These days Cheng and his team are exploring cell phones as a platform for video. Would full episodes of ABC or Disney shows fly? Or perhaps original material, like the Web-only comedy Voicemail? Because it's produced in brief segments, even shorter than a traditional commercial break, it's a perfect test case. The digital-media lab has made the "Webisodes" available on abc.com as well as top-ranked social-networking sites, so they can compare traffic and draw their own conclusions.

Sweeney, for one, is a big fan of Voicemail. "Have you seen 'Edible Undies'?" she asks. Mike, the hapless twentysomething star of the video, is wrapping a gift while listening to a message from his girlfriend. Her birthday is coming up, and she knows, just knows, that he got her that pair of earrings she pointed out. As he listens, he unwraps the edible panties he'd bought and takes a bite. "It just makes you laugh," says Sweeney. "And you wonder if it could turn into something else."

Voicemail also demonstrates that Cheng and his cohort really do operate differently. "I didn't tell them to do it," Sweeney boasts. "They told me they were doing it."

Sounds like a story for the wiki.

Feedback: salter@fastcompany.com