Tugboat

on-line

activities

Theodore Tugboat, star of the children's series produced by Halifax-based Cochran Entertainment, now has his own on-line activity center on the Internet.

Junior netters can read an illustrated interactive Theodore Tugboat story or amuse themselves with a downloadable on-line coloring "book," while senior surfers can glean info on the series and its production. There's also a guide to other kid-friendly Internet sites.

Cochran Interactive says this is the first cyber-content initiative by a Canadian tv production company via its own permanent connection on the Internet. The Theodore Tugboat site, launched this month, is the first of many Cochran Interactive plans to create.

"Our strategy is to get on there and stake our claim," says president Andrew Cochran. When things like cybercash come on-line, Cochran's site will grow as Internet evolves.

Among its many uses, Cochran foresees the site as a means of getting a quick market test on new ideas through distribution of "storyware."

In addition to the direct-response market research that is inherent in the net, Cochran believes a rating system - tracking how many visitors from different countries visit the site - could be used as a sales tool when meeting broadcasters from those countries at upcoming tv markets. And for any tv execs who wander into Theodore's site, there's info on the series tailored to broadcasters, and a way to order screening cassettes.

Without offending netiquette, Cochran hopes this will be a feasible platform in Theodore Tugboat's merchandising plans. There's a Theodore T-shirt promotion as part of the launch.

Other revenue-generating activities include publishing pages for others, and eventually, advertising revenue potential.

The first paying customer for Cochran Interactive is the cbc show Street Cents. Cochran will build and manage a site for the show. He is also in active discussion with three other groups seeking the same service.

Cochran, a computer user since 1980, says he's been acutely aware of the potential convergence between the two mediums. When his explorations of the net over the last year yielded few desirable nuggets, other than e-mail, he decided to start creating content specifically for Internet.

Start-up costs for the Interactive division were around $130,000 ($40,000 of which was equipment), plus monthly operating and line charges. Curiously, when Cochran was looking for digital programming and production talent, which he found locally, he learned that Nova Scotia has the highest per capita Internet usage in the world.