Los Angeles — Relentlessly striving to make good on its effort to revive its brand and expand its video programming, AOL on Wednesday announced a Web programming deal with big TV network reality show producer Endemol USA, to develop a pair of original Web series aimed at women.
The company has tapped Endemol USA, a reality TV powerhouse, which is acclaimed for producing reality shows such as “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” “Big Brother,” “Wipeout” and “Jerseylicious,” as well as the hit Web series “Married On MySpace 1 & 2” and “Coupon Mom,” to collaborate on developing new, “reality-based” online programming that will be initially tailored to women. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“Endemol is a premiere producer of unscripted programing and their mastery in creating unique, interactive, popular shows, combined with AOL’s growing video audience will take digital production to the next level,” said David Eun, president of AOL Media & Studios, in a statement. “Endemol is the latest in a string of partnerships that serve both the AOL consumers and our advertising partners.”
AOL has previously forged alliance with Michael Eisner’s Vuguru, and the Jonas Brothers, which has agreed to deliver minimum six original scripted series for AOL.
This new partnership initially targeting female audiences, will further focus on creating unscripted digital video content, which exploits the Web’s real-time, interactive and increasingly social nature, the two companies said Wednesday.
First on the agenda of the two series include “Re-Dressed By America,” an interactive Web series with a twist. Viewers will be urged to vote on various fashion and hairstyle changes a subject will undergo before attending a major event, such as a first date or a high school reunion. The series will be featured on AOL properties: Stylelist.com and MyDaily.com.
The second of the series is a culinary show called “Mamá’s Recipe,” in which families compete for the best family recipes and partake their secrets with the AOL audience. The series will be featured on KitchenDaily (http://www.kitchendaily.com) and AOL Latino (http://latino.aol.com/).
“We are excited to partner with such a successful and global leading company like AOL,” added David Goldberg, chairman of Endemol North America. “This deal continues our growth as a leader in interactive digital entertainment, and we look forward to creating many genre-defining series with AOL.”
AOL said the new shows will accumulate major promotion across all its sites, and added that the new series will feature “enhanced” online programming — user voting, extra video clips and blog content. All this to create more opportunities for sponsors.
AOL said its recent series “You’ve Got…” generated nearly 8 million views in its first month for the newly revamped AOL.com. The company stated that overall video views on the new AOL.com ballooned more than three times in its first month versus previous periods.
Other video franchises across AOL properties include AOL Sessions; The Engadget Show; Translogic on AOL Autos; a number of shows on Cambio.com — Cambio Connect, Cambio Style, and Cambio Goes Home; and The Secret Millionaire’s Club on AOL Kids.