To complement the intro of four-day-a-week stripping of Everwood, VisionTV has launched an interactive venture. Called The Everwood Live Experience, it’s aimed primarily at girls aged 12-17 who are socializing online while watching the popular series. The initiative was developed for VisionTV by Ottawa-based Fuel Industries and launched yesterday to give fans the opportunity to participate in online polls and spread the word to others via emailed poll results.
VisionTV is running 15-second tags throughout its schedule, designed to drive viewers to the new site and participate in a contest component for a chance to win DVDs, books and blankets. Cast interviews and other show-related material are also offered at the site. Banner ads in the Toronto Star, National Post and free commuter daily Metro will push both the Everwood series broadcast and the interactive online experience. VisionTV media relations manager David Todd says VisionTV is ‘open to speaking with advertisers interested in tying in to the Everwood Live site in some fashion. We haven’t actively pursued this yet, as our main priority has simply been getting the site up and running.’
In its first four weeks of airing this fall on Saturdays at 8 p.m. ET (with repeats on Mondays at 8 p.m. and 12 a.m.), the show has drawn an average 52,000 AMA, says Todd. ‘That Saturday night is really our prime. But we’re going to be stripping the program and running it in a daily timeslot.’
The channel’s daily family programming block runs 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., Monday to Friday. Starting on Nov. 6, Everwood will air at 7 p.m. ET, Mondays through Thursdays, with the Saturday night broadcast remaining unchanged.
VisionTV VP marketing and communications Suzanna Mandryk called the show a ‘significant acquisition for VisionTV. Because the show already has a following from its first run on network television, 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. 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.’
www.visiontv.ca/Everwood
www.fuelindustries.com
