By Wesley Wong
Michael Peikoff, SVP of Marketing at Sony Pictures, arrives at his
LA office early for his 8:00 am meeting. He opens his laptop, checks
his email, and brings up a new browser window. Immediately he is directed
to www.inside.com, the default
homepage on his browser. In one concise page, Mr. Peikoff is presented
with various film industry indicators such as the box office results,
recent film-related litigation, job changes, critical reactions, upcoming
releases and industry deals and agreements. Curious about what the
critics are saying about a neighboring studios new release, he clicks
the link to the critical reaction listings. There he is presented
with a table listing the ratings given by each critic for a particular
film, and their comments. He returns to the main film section, where
he notices a new story anticipating a strong reception for Sony's
upcoming release citing a strong marketing campaign. He sends the
article to the printed to distribute to his team members when they
arrive.
This is the usage model inside.com has in mind for their web service.
By providing up to the minute information in a concise and manageable
way inside.com strives to be the primary source of intelligence for
the entertainment industry. Using a simple design layout that is easily
navigable, inside.com wants to be a daily reference for entertainment
executives and industry analysts. The site is organized into six major
categories including TV, Media, Film, Books, Music and Digital. With
the exception of Digital, all categories feature coverage of significant
depth. Each category has a main page neatly presenting all of the
major industry statistics (box office, book sales) and key news stories.
The information is organized well. A publishing executive that only
wants to follow industry acquisitions and mergers can do so without
being swamped by all the clutter and go directly to the "Deals
and Agreements" section.
To pay for its strong reporting team, boasting chief entertainment
writers and editors from publications such as the WSJ and Variety,
inside.com charges a fee to access its material. While a portion of
the content is offered free of charge, full access comes at a cost
of $199 a year, which includes a subscription to the print version
of Inside. Much like other services which produce both a web and print
version, most of the content is identical. Most disappointing about
inside.com is its repeated hype surrounding convergent media, with
little to show in substantial articles or updated new items. All in
all, as a source of timely entertainment business news, inside.com
fares extremely well in usability and content. However, its high price
tag and decidedly business-oriented content means it will alienate
most casual readers and attract primarily industry executives and
business analysts.