Disney's New Website To Be Unveiled

Disney is due to unveil its long-awaited new website today.

by Helen Leggatt

Rumor has it that Disney’s new website will be a Myspace for tweens. After a year of leaks and rumors an official announcement is expected today at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Disney’s new site could see the introduction of closely monitored external advertising. This would provide a handy revenue stream for Disney and be a potential gold mine for marketers targeting tweens.

Site content will be expanded to include social networking, chat and video clips, all of which can be executed simultaneously. The company will also offer a broadband tool, dubbed Disney Xtreme Digital, which will allow users to create customized profile pages and share them with others.

Other companies have been heading down the social networking track, but none have come close to the success of MySpace.

"Where Disney might pick up the most traction is with young teens, or tweens, kids that are not quite ready for MySpace or Facebook, and parents that want a little more control over what their kids do online", said Debra Williamson, a senior analyst at eMarketer.

According to new data from Brand Keys, Disney's online presence is on the rise. "We measured Disney's Web reach, compared to all other media, jumping from 5 percent to 11 percent from February to December of last year," said Brand Keys president Robert Passikoff. The study involved quantitative polling of some 1,600 web users in the appropriate demographic.