As I’ve mentioned before, Australian company Hoodlum Entertainment, created the online extension to the popular UK soap Emmerdale. A quote from my previous post outlines the format:
According to Hoodlum, the Emmerdale Channel is fully integrated with the TV show. At the end of each episode, the show will encourage viewers to visit the channel where, every night, new content will be uploaded. The channel will attempt to involve them in the whodunnit’s various storylines through gameplay and a competition to gather points: among other things, they will be able to listen to online “voicemails,†receive whodunnit-related emails, access secret broadband video content, play games and follow clue trails. They will also be able to become virtual “Emmerdalians,†moving to town and setting up their own cottage, Hoodlum says.
Since Christmas Day Emmerdalians have been pacing the virtual streets to discover Tom Kings murderer. The finale is about to happen and in an interesting approach to content rollout itv have justed announced (through email) that:
In a few weeks, in an exclusive online revelation, those on the Emmerdale Online Channel will find out BEFORE the national TV audience exactly who killed Tom King!
I really like this approach: rewarding active audiences with unique content before TV audiences (they’re doing that with the Heroes 360 Experience too).
Check out: http://emmerdalemurder.itv.com/