2) Incorporate an industry that can be a sponsor - and attract even more sponsors
Bebo's drama The Secret World Of Sam King is set in the music business. It has attracted sponsorship from the Universal Music label, which uses it to showcase new bands and lets the production shoot the series in Universal's offices
Bebo has also brought in sponsorship from related sectors with a particular interest in music for their own consumers: mobile operator Virgin Mobile and handset manufacturer Sony Ericsson.
And in March, music drama Rockville, CA will launch on TheWB.com. Conceived by Gossip Girl and The OC creator Josh Schwartz, this approaches the music business from a different angle, being set in a fictional LA club and filmed in a real one.
The forthcoming British online music show Twenty Twenty looks to have similar potential.
The world's first format developed specifically with a social media network in mind. A nationwide competition brings together twenty unrecorded bands and twenty first time film-makers to produce, shoot and edit a music video against the clock and with resources begged, borrowed and maybe even stolen from the social network subscribers.
The prize? For the bands, a chance to open on the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury 2009 and for the film makers, the chance to produce and direct a music video for a major label act. Based on a highly successful annual event held in Leeds, Twenty Twenty will run on a major UK social network for 14 weeks starting January 2009.
But don't assume that the industry necessarily has to be as cool and trendy as the music biz. Some contrarian and creative thinking resulted in two series being sponsored by and shot in furniture retailers: Ikea for Easy To Assemble and DFS for Heart And Soul.
And from a sponsor's point of view, why not look at the possibilities of setting the show in the product? Here's the Soyons Deraisonnables comedy from Citroën, with a busy couple who are almost living in their C3 Picasso:
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