Back in 2007, when I first worked with a broadcast news client, I tried to impress the importance of people online wanting to connect with each other and the network’s show as they watched it. Not a radical idea to me back then or now: Isn’t it more fun watching a tv show with a group of like-minded friends than sitting home alone on the couch? But back in 2007, Twitter was just beginning to get on people’s radar and Facebook didn’t have today’s corporate buy-in, so blogs were pretty much the social media tool of choice.
Since then, media companies have upped their game to tie-ins and contests on Facebook, broadcast personalities have their own twitter feeds, and show blogs have improved light years in content. And even with with every major news network having rolled out iPhone, iPad and Android apps, I still hadn’t seen one with a feature that effectively encouraged active participation.
Until now.
MSNBC released the new free iPad app for “The Rachel Maddow Show” in mid-January, and even if you’re not a fan of the show, it’s so worth checking out for its smart integration of social media features. The app opens with a strong push towards video with a top slide show of spotlighted clips and below, broadcasts organized by air date along with with transcripts that let you search by keywords.
Where this app rates far above other media iPad apps and fully embraces the idea of community is in Twitter integration features. Click on the Watch Party tab and viewers can follow @maddow’s real-time tweets during the show as well read what other viewers and guests are saying on the #maddow hashtag. They’ve added another show account — @MaddowApp — to act as a feed curator and those tweets favorited by @MaddowApp show up highlighted in a yellow box.
Coincidentally, as I was working on this post over the weekend, I caught Twitter newbie Howard Stern’s (@HowardStern) real-time Twitter commentary during HBO’s Saturday airing of his movie, “Private Parts”.
I’ve seen the whole movie, and parts of it again probably half a dozen times on cable, but being able to read his commentary and be connected to a global party of people hanging out on their couches on a Saturday afternoon made me flip on HBO. Online buzz quickly spread about Stern’s tweeting and “Howard Stern” vaulted to a top trending topic on Twitter. Not bad for a newbie, eh?
Both the Maddow Show app and Stern’s tweeting are great examples of how to build fan loyalty and appointment broadcast viewership, and at the same time, give something back of real value to their fans.
