TORONTO – VisionTV has launched a new interactive portal to go along with its broadcast of the family drama Everwood.
The Everwood Live Experience (www.visiontv.ca/Everwood) will offer fans of the series the opportunity to participate in online polls, to view and share the results with others, and to discuss the show with friends. The site will also provide access to exclusive online content, including contests and cast interviews.
The primary target audience for the site is teen girls aged 12 to 17, admittedly not a demographic the multi-faith specialty service has attracted very often in the past.
"Everwood is a significant acquisition for VisionTV," said Suzanna Mandryk, VisionTV’s vice-president, marketing and communications, "an acclaimed series that appeals to our existing audience and promises to attract new viewers as well. Because the show already has a following from its first run on network television (on WB, which became CW in September in most U.S. markets), we felt the best way to refresh the property was to offer a new and unique experience – to create a social space online where fans can share their thoughts about the program."
Among the key features of the Everwood Live Experience is the opportunity for users to e-mail the weekly poll to friends and invite their responses. "Adding a viral component was always an integral part of the plan: it enables us to reach viewers who might not yet associate Everwood with VisionTV. The experience and insight of Fuel Industries was particularly important in developing this aspect of the experience," said Mandryk, in the press release.
Everwood Live will evolve and expand during the show’s run on the network, continually incorporating new features to keep fans engaged, says Mandryk. Warner has also supported the project, she added. "We’re tremendously grateful to work with a partner like Warner Bros. that has granted us the latitude to explore new creative avenues for marketing this property."
"Everwood’s demographics are serious multi-taskers: they’re surfing while they’re watching television, even talking with their friends about the shows they’re watching. Everwood Live is a great example of how a network can harness that behaviour and use it to create a new life for the show online," said Mike Burns, CEO of Fuel Industries, the Ottawa web company that developed Everwood Live.
VisionTV holds exclusive Canadian cable specialty television rights to Everwood, which currently airs on Saturdays at 8 p.m. Everwood, which was not renewed by CW this season, is also slated to run in VisionTV’s popular family block, Mondays to Thursdays at 7 p.m., starting November 6.
