With the driving premise of Prime Time for Change being the convergence of broadcasting mediums moving forward to an immersive experience for future viewers, it is vital that we understand the current environment in both traditional and online broadcasting. While we are all familiar with how Broadcast Television functions I’ve found that not many of us have an understanding of the history of Internet Broadcasting and its growth over the last ten years.
Internet Broadcasting was originated in 1997 by independent producer Anthony Kling, the creator of Television Internet. The first true online only series, Muscle Beach, was released in 1998. By 2000 the series aired a new episode weekly and had received an August 2000 nomination for the RAI Prixitalia Award, the first ever addition of netcasting to the forty year old annual television award. 2000 also saw the premiere of a second online series at Tvi, Sitcom.
Between the 1997 release of Muscle Beach and its weekly release schedule in 2000 only one other significant internet series was released. NBC’s Homicide: Second Shift, which ran concurrent internet episodes to compliment the successful television series Homicide: Life on the Street. Second Shift featured an alternate storyline focusing on the detectives of the night shift. February 5, 1999 saw the first true convergence of the internet and television in the seventh season of Life on the Street with episode 13, Homicide.com. This episode focused on a story line that originated and ended in Second Shift, for a three episode storyline: internet, television, internet. Though Life on the Street was cancelled in 1999 and there were several crossover television episodes building on the Law & Order franchise no additional Law & Order internet supplements were created.
With the cancellation of Second Shift, internet broadcasting became the exclusive arena of the Independent and a number of Flash animation franchises found significant fan followings, though none had more impact on the current environment than Broken Saints.
While cult classics like Homestar Runner presented internet episodes, their animation shorts were more reminiscent of ubiquitous Looney Toons clips than a cohesive interrelated series story line. Much like we would see individual cartoons about Wiley E. Coyote, the premise that the Roadrunner would trounce him at every turn no matter what plot was offered. Of course, Strongbad is no coyote.
Various small productions were put forth, such as Sweet J Presents on the Sony website, which would eventually morph into the cult classic Robot Chicken. No additional large scale ‘Hollywood’ productions were forthcoming.
True serialized internet broadcasting wasn’t revived until 2003’s Star Trek: New Voyages. First airing in January of 2004 with new episodes being released about once a year New Voyages, while slow to release, is the first offering of a professionally produced internet serial. Bear Town, an internet series featuring live action puppets, also premiered in 2004. 2004 also saw the creation of Tucson Underground, which was finally released in 2007.
Technology advances by 2005 grew the independent series and shows like Australia’s Forget the Rules became more prevelant. No independent up to this point really hit the web like 2005’s YouTube series lonelygirl15. Lonelygirl leveraged the social network video site to develop a true cult following. Though it still remained an independent production, its success grabbed the attention of traditional broadcasting when Lonelygirl was revealed to be a series and not an actual vlogger in September of 2006.
With that revelation Hollywood began to take an interest in the web and the corporate internet series explosion began in 2006 with the formation of Electric Farm Entertainment. EFE’s rotoscoped animation series Afterworld earned a Webbie nomination and developed a loyal fan following for 130 webisodes that ended the first season of three in January 2008. Afterworld was also the first true release of a multi-platorm distribution being available on the web, through mobile broadcasting, and on traditional television.
SciFi’s Battlestar Galactica released it’s own between-season series in September 2006.Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance provided ten 2.5 minute episodes providing insight in to the series and starring regular series talent.
Hollywood presence grew increasingly over 2007 with ABC’s Lost and NBC’s Heroes both offering exclusive web based content supplementing the broadcast series, and the conclusion of the aforementioned Afterworld.
By 2008 the web saw the first release of a true ‘Hollywood’ production with Joss Whedon’s Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. Dr. Horrible provided three webisodes and went exclusively to iTunes and DVD release, and has been a huge success; so much so that the site crashed the first day of release due to too many visitors. While an amazing success Whedon’s project can’t be compared with others due to it’s niche fan base and specific release structure. The episodes were only available online for a limited time before moving to purchase-to-view format. An excellent business model, but one that falls outside of free online content distributed by a major network/studio.
In early 2008 the first true big budget production of an online series was also in the works with Electric Farm’s Gemini Division. Starring well known talents like Rosario Dawson, Justin Hartley, Kevin Alejandro, and Daz Crawford, and Tony Curran, Gemini also offers well known and loved character actors like John Kapelos, Norbert Weisser, and Peter Jason.
Per the Wall Street Journal Gemini boasts a $2.2 million dollar production budget and will be distributed by NBC Universal [domestic] and Sony Television Pictures International [international]. In a special preview of the series on Friday, August 15 [See Tim’s post] Electric Farm took a step beyond the traditional to include well known bloggers into the traditional media-reporter-only press communication; with excellent results.
The series is also the first offering which includes embedded advertising as part of the production. Having also been a part of that special preview one of the points that I drew upon during the following Q&A with executive producer Brent Friedman related to the advertising.
I will call the embedded ads "realistic advertising", and I found them to be a much more effective and intuitive way to communicate a brand; I'll go as far as to call it almost subliminal though it is obviously visible.
Example: I have a BlackBerry. Similar to what we saw in the episodes, my BB has a branded interface that I take as second nature, not realizing that those icons are BlackBerry specific. Yet when I see the icon I know instantly that I am looking at a blackberry icon, and equate that back to my blackberry on an emotional level since I love my BB.
The principle applies to every brand we saw displayed in both episodes. Since both episodes are now live on the GD site, I'd challenge everyone to watch the episodes then, off the top of their head, write down the different advertisers. I'll bet you can, because you see them in everyday life, most of them surround you until you don't realize they are there; but on a more visceral level you do, and you equate emotional responses to them.
That is what makes this type of brand embedding genius...It mirrors what we already experience in our daily lives, ties to us on an emotional level, and buys that precious suspension of disbelief required to gain the viewer's undivided attention.
When you see a Cisco logo in a subtle and realistic way in a show that you love your emotional attachment to that show will drive your consumer will power during your next purchase without you even realizing it. Because the show mirrors reality now and as we move forward it makes the show more believable AND ties the advertisements to the viewer on a non-cognizant level which drives ROI.
Had it been the "actor holding the Coke can" viewers would have all noticed and given a snicker at the blatant marketing. Utilizing 'reality advert', only those of us who were specifically looking during the preview found the advertising. Everyone else took the episodes in as they were supposed to and accepted that the advertising was nothing more than the branding reality we know today.
This was validated during the after preview Q&A when I raised my question and a substantial number of attendees commented, “What advertising…I didn’t see any advertising”. This level of embedded branding is something that we already take for granted, yet it has a great impact on our consumerism.
As marketing guru Martin Brandt once said: "Companies make products but customers buy brands."
The most successful brands are carefully managed and consistent. Savvy marketers know that retaining customers while acquiring new ones is the best way to maximize ROI and beat the competition. Delivering on the brand message with sound marketing initiatives; extending the brand values in the packaging of the corporation's products and services, both drive relevant customer experiences and build brand loyalty.
By utilizing a form of branding that we live with day to day Electric Farm and their advertising partners have keyed in on a valuable marketing avenue.
NewTeeVee’s Daisy Whitney and Wired’s Jenna Worthham agree that this series will be a leader in the internet media model. Daisy advises that Gemini Division [is] a Litmus Test for Old Media, New Media.
If Gemini Division is a success we can expect to see both the advertising and production models expand in the future, possibly including shows that fail with network focus groups or in Neislen ratings and are unable to succeed in a broadcast format.
This front-runner will be an internet series to watch over the next twelve weeks.
Labels: ad, Afterworld, broken saints, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, Gemini Division, integration, Internet broadcasting, lonelygirl15
