Online bonus content for TV shows often means a trivia game here or a cast bio there – a necessary but not-well-planned afterthought, if you will. CBC wants to take its second screen experience up a notch during Wednesday night’s season finale of its action drama series Arctic Air.
Viewers watching the show live will be able to access additional layers of content online at cbc.ca/arcticair in real-time during the broadcast.
Each time the show goes to commercial, viewers following the TV broadcast with their computer, iPad or smartphone handy will be able to unlock unique content related to the finale’s plot that adds new dimensions to the story. (An on-screen prompt will read “The story continues now at CBC.ca/ArcticAir.”)
Nataline Rodrigues, executive in charge of commissioned and scripted programming, explained during a sneak peek of the second screen content last week that CBC’s goal is to reward the audience with a “transmedia storytelling event” that happens in tandem with the live broadcast.
Going beyond standard online bonus materials, she explained that the Arctic Air experience provides more information on the characters, their motivations and elements that won’t be seen on TV.
The online material runs parallel with the TV show storyline – which involves a hostage situation – and shares extra evidence, clues and details to “provide a more robust experience,” said Rodrigues.
The new scenes, or “extension pieces,” as interactive producer, television arts and entertainment Nick McAnulty called them, also offer viewers an element of interactivity. For example, they will be able to choose to view material from different perspectives, including that of the hostage.
Other parts of the experience allow viewers to choose from a selection of missed calls on a character’s cell phone or to read their text messages to glean new information. “It’s more narrative detail for the superfans,” said Rodrigues.
Tessa Sproule, director, interactive content at CBC, acknowledged that this second screen experience is for the more engaged fans of the show (as opposed to the “massive passives” – those viewers that watch TV as they always have, as opposed to with new technologies on hand to complement the experience). She noted that a recent CBC study showed that 54% of its viewers have an internet-enabled device in their hand as they watch TV.
Extra material that’s part of the Arctic Air social TV experience will remain online after the finale airs, Sproule added, and will help keep people talking about the show between seasons. It will be integrated into a webisode that features a police interrogation scene and more back story.
Sproule said that Arctic Air’s additional content wasn’t “bolted on” after the episode had already been written and shot. “It’s part of the original script—it was part of the creative process,” she said.
At this point, Sproule said the Arctic Air offering is “proof of concept” and that there are no advertisers involved. Fergus Heywood, senior producer of interactive content for CBC’s commissioned and scripted programming, added that CBC is working on “the next iteration of what storytelling could be” with other shows.
