The ambitious internet leisure site SCAPE has gone into voluntary administration only 18 months after Village Roadshow and Network Ten negotiated the joint venture. The news was announced in a joint statement to the Australian Stock Exchange today.

The first such formal coupling between a broadcaster and an entertainment giant had planned to use movie information, on-line radio stations and matchmaking and other services to attract the 16 to 39-year-old demographic but it never managed to establish a significant presence in the market.

"When Network Ten and Village first set out to develop a joint online presence, strict financial and performance criteria were established," the statement read. "Despite the efforts by the SCAPE team, these criteria had not been met and were unlikely to be achieved in the foreseeable future.

"A key reason for this has been the failure of the online sector globally to develop as expected. These developments left Ten and Village little choice but to stop funding SCAPE."

Unconfirmed reports put the spend to date at $10m (A$20m) for each party.