Published in The Australian, May 16 2002

SINCE the Seven Network took a one-third stake in the local operations of internet service provider AOL in December last year, it's been suspiciously quiet on the AOL7 joint-venture front.

AOL has been focusing on trying to boost its local subscriber numbers to match its US market presence, while Seven has been concentrating on not getting slaughtered in the television ratings.

Aside from changing the address of the websites for most Seven programs, little seems to have changed following the deal.

In recent weeks, though, the AOL7 site has dipped its toes tentatively in the waters of paid content. The site has begun promoting enhancements and extra footage from Seven TV programs which are only available to viewers who have signed up with AOL for net access. In one prominent example, fans of Seven's reality TV show Temptation Island were able to view online "confession cam" footage shot especially for AOL members. Exclusive chats with stars from Seven's local drama line-up are also promised to subscribers.

As yet, AOL7 isn't ready to start charging for individual items of content, a plan being considered at arch-rival Ninemsn.

"[Direct paid content] is not part of our plan specifically at present," says AOL Australia CEO Amanda Lacaze. Indeed, with AOL's US parent recently announcing a $US54 billion ($99 billion) quarterly loss, saving money is a priority. "Any extra content has to be economically viable," Lacaze says.

Gaining extra revenue from subscription fees and charges is viewed as an increasingly attractive strategy for online media, especially given the stagnant state of the net advertising market. But is the ability to ask questions of a soap star or view extra footage from a reality TV program really enough incentive for people to change their internet access arrangements?

Some of the indications seem positive. A recent online chat with Home and Away star Tammin Sursok attracted the largest-ever audience for an AOL Australia chat, Lacaze says. For the record, Sursok revealed during her chat that she was recently sent a dead bird in her fan mail, and managed to get in several plugs for her own website.

AOL7 also has high hopes for Seven's Commonwealth Games coverage, complete with the ubiquitous Roy & HG, later this year. But as many other online media groups have discovered, convincing people to pay up for extras can be a difficult task when free content is always available somewhere else.