TV show’s online launch aims to build buzz for broadcast

The Family Channel is claiming a Canadian first with its new series Life With Derek, a television show that will actually premier on the Internet before it airs to television audiences. The show, produced by Toronto’s Shaftesbury Films and St. John’s-based Pope Productions Ltd., will begin a five-day preview run on Astral Media’s Family Channel on March 13. However, the full episode will be streamed online starting Friday March 9. "What we’re finding as producers is that it’s no longer enough just to deliver a great TV series," says Shaftesbury Films CEO and chair Christina Jennings, who is also one of the show’s three executive producers. Consequently, Shaftesbury followed a model set by earlier convergence projects such as ReGenesis and created additional online content to go along with the show, including a game and desktop downloads. "Games are still the number one activity with kids online," agrees Barbara Bailie, director, interactive at the Family Channel, although she adds that "they’re probably the most expensive content to create." While the show wasn’t designed from the ground-up to be offered online as well as in a traditional broadcast format, Jennings says Shaftesbury did shoot Life With Derek in high-definition, which lends the production a certain amount of future-proofing. "I think the idea of streaming came after we shot," she says, but adds that Shaftesbury staffers "tested it, we know what it’s going to look like on the smaller screen and it’s going to play perfectly – there aren’t going to be any concerns.". However, Baillie adds, the practice of building compatibility for alternate platforms into the production plan from the outset will definitely become more common. "I would say it’s probably a good idea to keep the small screen in mind when you’re producing a series," she says, noting that the Family Channel used to follow up with producers of popular animation properties after the fact to see if there was any ancillary content that could be used online. "Now, producers are producing those assets often as they go along," she says. "It makes it a lot easier to be able to do activities or other short little bits online when you’re doing it while you’re producing the show. And despite contrarian views that such strategies might cannibalize broadcast television viewership figures – and their attendant advertising revenue stream – Bailie says the decision to stream the show online will build advance buzz for the broadcast franchise. "I don’t feel totally threatened by it," she says, pointing to NBC’s The Office, which topped the television downloads chart on Apple Computer Inc.’s iTunes service earlier this year. "Peoples’ focus these days is all over the place, and so you’ve got to reach them in new ways." While she sees the number of such alternate delivery initiatives increasing in the future, Baillie adds that the experience of watching a half-hour show on a computer screen has yet to catch up with the ambiance and comfort of the living room. "The main event is still the television, bigger-screen relaxed experience," she says. "We’re hoping that it’s just a great way for people to sample and drive them to the TV." Thirteen episodes of Life With Derek have been produced, and the show is already airing on the Disney Channel in the US and Toonami in the UK; due to the rights associated with broadcasting the show in those foreign markets, the Family Channel’s online preview will be "geoblocked" so that only those accessing the site from inside Canada will be able to watch it. Life With Derek will settle into its regular spot – Fridays at 6:30 p.m. – on March 24.

TV show’s online launch aims to build buzz for broadcast

Broadcast | March 7, 2006

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