So it’s not every day that an actual PR folk comes at me over something I say around here.

You remember when I gave Lycos static for not being, you know, relevant?  Just because it’s so far back in the search engine ratings that they’re not even listed on Nielsen Netratings and looking at a graph on Alexa comparing their traffic to Yahoo and Google’s is just downright embarrassing?

Well, their PR division, as represented by Kathy O’Reilly, dropped us a quick comment in protest.  So I says, okay, fine. PR folk wanna play, we can play.  I crack her off a quick email inviting her to take the five-question go-round, and she throws down.

1. Just for some background, could you give me a quick rundown on Lycos Cinema?

Kathy O’ Reilly: Lycos Cinema is the world’s first interactive, social video viewing experience and the only community to offer a SimulStream social viewing platform for both free and VOD rentals, giving film and TV fans a community to socialize in real-time while watching the same program synchronously with anyone, anywhere at anytime.

2. Lycos Cinema has just over six hundred titles in its “All genres” movie section, and just over seventeen hundred entries in its “All genres” TV section.  How does Lycos Cinema plan to compete with services like Netflix, which offers over six times your total number of downloads at over twelve thousand?

Kathy O’Reilly: First, our library of titles continues to grow month to month and our goal is to have as compelling and complete a library as any online option.  Our focus will be on quality before quantity.  Second, we support content partners with both an ad-supported/FREE VOD model as well as a Paid VOD model, opening our viewers to a MUCH broader universe of possible titles.  Third, and most importantly, Lycos Cinema is NOT about the “Click & Watch” viewing experience of Netflix and others, but rather, we bring movie viewers together in a community viewing experience through our patent-pending “Watch & Interact” platform.

3.  Services like Blockbuster Online and, again, Netflix offer set-top boxes and even look to be working with TiVo to improve the number of ways to download and watch movies, where Lycos Cinema is strictly a computer-driven service. Do you expect accessibility issues to be a problem with Lycos Cinema?

Kathy O’Reiily: Lycos is exploring similar device-driven partnerships as well.  But, the reality is that consumers tend to be confused by the explosion of ‘box’ options it any SINGLE option will achieve the critical mass needed to fully succeed. Importantly, we believe that our ‘Social Viewing’ Platform provides a much more compelling viewing option when combined with any ‘box’ solution.

4. Do you expect that Lycos’ relative lack of popularity as a search engine might be an impediment to Lycos Cinema usage?  (as compared against Alexa results and Nielsen NetRatings )

Kathy O’Reilly: To the contrary, Lycos Cinema benefits greatly from being a part of the Lycos Network.  Lycos is still one of the most-widely known internet brands in the world with 60MM+ uniques worldwide (comScore MM) and over 10MM + Active Registered Users.

5. Browsing Lycos Cinema’s title list reveals a seemingly complete lack of first-run theatrical release titles, and a huge weight in favor of lesser-known and direct-to-video titles.  What’s behind the failure to offer major titles like your competitors?

Kathy O’Reilly: First of all, not all of our major competitors have ‘first-run theatrical’ titles.  Most have older titles either in or beyond the Broadcast window, while some (Movielink-BB/CinemaNow, iTunes) have consistently recent titles because of their support for Paid VOD.  As I indicated, we believe that supporting both of these business models will, ultimately, allow us to offer an even broader selection of quality titles than those services that offer one or the other.  Second, we have been in discussions with all the majors regarding both FREE & Paid VOD and are confident we will be able to offer these titles to our viewing community soon.  The studios fully understand that providing their viewers with the ‘Social Viewing’ option that Lycos Cinema offers uniquely is incremental to the many “Click & Watch” options in the market.

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Clearly, Lycos believes that it’s got the long-term possibility to compete in the marketplace despite massive and heavily entrenched competition, not to mention that they’re specialty firms besides.

At any rate, hopefully Lycos’ new service will provide it an edge in the marketplace…

…because it certainly needs one.

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