Disney exec: Wireless to be part of multitasking future

HOLLYWOOD, Calif.-Social networking sites and user-generated content have taken the driver’s seat in the world of digital media, Michael Stroud, CEO and co-founder of iHollywood Forum, said in opening remarks at the Digital Media Summit in Hollywood.
“Hollywood’s stock and trade generally is passive content,” he said, but interactive, multitasking media is what’s leading the trend today.
In his opening keynote address, Disney Online executive Paul Yanover said this new approach and desire for feature-rich, immersive content has “hit its stride very recently.”
Where many adults may consider e-mailing on their mobile phone while watching TV a feat in multitasking, kids are likely doing five to six things at once throughout much of their day, Yanover said.
With that in mind, Disney.com was recently re-launched to mirror the opportunities Web 2.0 presents for kids and families. “I live in a world of moms and dads and 11-year-old kids and 6-year-old kids,” he said.
“Community for me really has to be around context,” he said. “I want to build communities around context because I want communities that are safe.”
Disney.com was designed to be the front door to Disney’s characters, stories and worlds. “Disney is vast,” he said. “We wanted to really re-aggregate who we are to the public through this.”
The entertainment-focused, integrated environment allows kids to immerse themselves in the storytelling that is Disney’s heritage. Kids see Disney as a world of worlds, Yanover said.
Since its re-launch last month, Disney.com has streamed about 1 million videos each week, registrations have increased ten-fold while total page views have increased by 9 percent.
In closing, Yanover announced the forthcoming launch of DisneyFamily.com, a portal for parents to find answers to questions that come up every day in their family life. Information on everything from potty training to helping their kids deal with the all-too-often traumatizing effects of adolescence will be available on the site after it launches later this month, he said.