EBay Inc., the online auctioneer, wants to see if its popularity can translate to a bigger medium than the Internet: television.
Sony Pictures Television last week taped a pilot for an EBay television show -- with sports personality Ahmad Rashad and former "Daily Show" contributor Molly Pesce -- that, if all goes well, could hit the airwaves in fall 2004.
The show probably would not involve the actual sale of goods, but instead would package feature stories on items for sale on EBay with referrals to the Web site.
EBay views the show as a way to extend its brand and drive traffic to its Web sites, rather than make money directly from the show. "We're more concerned about building EBay," EBay spokesman Kevin Pursglove said.
"We're looking at television . . . . to attract more users who may know about EBay but, for one reason or another, have not made an effort to use the site," Pursglove said. "It's also another vehicle for us to connect with our current users or people who have an account but haven't bothered to go to EBay. "
While the show could become a profit center someday, in the short term, EBay wants to inspire viewers to leave the living room, get online and start clicking, bidding and buying.
A pack of unopened baseball cards? An Arnold Schwarzenegger poster? A house in Montana? Tickets to see Bruce Springsteen? It could all be fodder for EBay-
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/08/20/BU138306.DTL&type=tech
Sony Pictures Television last week taped a pilot for an EBay television show -- with sports personality Ahmad Rashad and former "Daily Show" contributor Molly Pesce -- that, if all goes well, could hit the airwaves in fall 2004.
The show probably would not involve the actual sale of goods, but instead would package feature stories on items for sale on EBay with referrals to the Web site.
EBay views the show as a way to extend its brand and drive traffic to its Web sites, rather than make money directly from the show. "We're more concerned about building EBay," EBay spokesman Kevin Pursglove said.
"We're looking at television . . . . to attract more users who may know about EBay but, for one reason or another, have not made an effort to use the site," Pursglove said. "It's also another vehicle for us to connect with our current users or people who have an account but haven't bothered to go to EBay. "
While the show could become a profit center someday, in the short term, EBay wants to inspire viewers to leave the living room, get online and start clicking, bidding and buying.
A pack of unopened baseball cards? An Arnold Schwarzenegger poster? A house in Montana? Tickets to see Bruce Springsteen? It could all be fodder for EBay-
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/08/20/BU138306.DTL&type=tech