Showtime mulls expansion of SL presence

By Eric Reuters

SECOND LIFE, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Unlike so many corporate presences in Second Life, “The L Word” sim is no ghost town. The virtual home of Showtime’s cable television show buzzes at all hours with activity, full of avatars chatting and dancing.

In contrast to real world companies that have abandoned Second Life amid a rash of pessimistic press coverage, Showtime stands out as one that feels its money has been well spent.

The network has re-upped its committment to “Season Two of ‘The L Word’ in Second Life” and may bring its medieval-themed show “The Tudors” into Second Life as well, said Robert Hayes of Showtime Digital Media. Executives are also contemplating virtual presences for Showtime’s “Weeds” and “Dexter,” but aren’t yet sure how to craft a user experience around themes of marijuana-dealing and serial killing, respectively.

Together with its developer, The Electric Sheep Company, Showtime won a technology Emmy this week for its work inside Second Life. The award was one of three scored by the virtual worlds industry, along with MTV’s Virtual Laguna Beach and Second Life creator Linden Lab.

Traffic at Showtime’s sim — which includes a custom orientation experience, a nightclub, and reproductions of several locations from the television show — hit an all-time high this week as the show kicked off its fifth season, up 70 percent from last year’s peak. (The company declined to give an absolute traffic figure.) Users who have spent over an hour at “The L Word” are up 48 percent.

Hayes said “The L Word” succeeded where other real world companies failed because his team was dedicated towards maintaining “a two-way conversation” with its users.

“Don’t try to control the community, listen to it,” Hayes said. “We constantly went in and tweaked and evolved our area in Second Life.”

After resident input, Showtime built a series of neighborhoods where avatars could rent virtual housing direct from the company in a neighborhood with other fans, something that was never part of the network’s original plan.

Showtime’s virtual houses rent for L$810 a week, about three U.S. dollars. “We sold them out in a matter of days,” Hayes said.

“There’s at least two events every day on ‘The L Word,’” said Jessica Segal (Second Life: Pica Paperdoll), a producer for the Electric Sheep. While Showtime does tie-ins to the show such as cast appearances in Second Life, most of the events are created by the community itself, such as birthday parties or dances in the club.

Events get listed and Showtime garners feedback from its residents via weekly “community roundtables.”

For L word fans like Petra Vervenne of the Netherlands, who didn’t want to tie her real-life name to her avatar, the community of like-minded women she found at Showtime’s site keeps her coming back. “I come here at least once a day to dance,” she said.