Category: Best Social Commerce or Marketing Program Social TV Award

EW Staff
·2 min read

Statement:
In September of 2011, EW.com launched viEWer, a web-based second-screen experience that lets readers watch and chat about their favorite TV shows with their friends and EW writers. viEWer is an ideal platform for advertisers looking to reach the social TV enthusiasts.

Users can peruse a list of live or about-to-air shows and click to join the conversation. Inside each episode track, users can read insightful commentary by EW staffers; post comments, links and YouTube clips; participate in polls; and Like and Reply to others’ posts. Users who log in via Facebook or Twitter can cross-post to these accounts.

Advertiser units are integrated within every step of the experience and can be utilized to deliver contextually relevant and timely messaging. In January, NBC utilized viEWer to promote its mid-season programming, creating powerful content alignments. For example, ads promoting The Voice appeared within American Idol episode tracks. And viEWer has delivered results for EW’s advertisers, with high time spent and strong engagement metrics. viEWer is also optimized for tablet and Facebook, providing advertiser brand exposure across multiple platforms.

We think what sets viEWer apart from other social TV apps is the quality of the moderation. Live chats are hosted by EW writers who are truly experts in the shows they cover. They sprinkle their commentary with behind-the-scenes insight and scoops gleaned from set visits and interviews with showrunners and stars. We also leverage our unparalleled access to get major celebrities to join in the conversation: In the last few months, show chats were co-hosted by stars including Mary Murphy (So You Think You Can Dance), Phil Keoghan (The Amazing Race), Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead) and Gabriel Mann (Revenge).

Unlike other co-viewing tools, viEWer also works for shows on DVD and DVR! Anytime after a show has aired in his area, a user can open an episode track and click Replay to relive the live-viewing experience with comments from fans and the EW host popping up on their screen over the course of the show.

In a typical week, viEWer features 25 shows a hosted by EW writers, with non-hosted tracks for pretty much any show on TV.

Sample URLs:
viEWer landing page: http://tvrecaps.ew.com/viewer/
Once Upon a Time chat, featuring castmember Josh Dallas: http://tvrecaps.ew.com/viewer/episode/?id=EP014194780019
Revenge chat, featuring castmember Gabriel Mann: http://tvrecaps.ew.com/viewer/episode/?id=EP014195250017
Survivor: One World featuring former contestant Rob Cesternino: http://tvrecaps.ew.com/viewer/episode/?id=EP015225410008