Can livestreaming make for compelling linear TV programming? Viacom thinks so
Can the best of live video on social be integrated into linear TV programming? That’s what Viacom is betting on, announcing earlier today that Viacom Labs (its division dedicated to figuring out the future of TV fandom and engagement) will debut a new format that integrates curated livestreams from fans into scheduled programming.
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MTV Australia will be the first to produce and launch a show with this format, which will debut some time in 2017. MV Australia – with the help of Viacom teams in the U.S. and Europe – tested this format in June 2016 on MTV Music Australia with production teams and music fans livestreaming themselves dancing to music videos.
“Viacom Labs’ mission is to constantly evolve how fans connect to the content they love and give them opportunities to make it their own,” said Susan Claxton, co-head of Viacom Labs. “Labs’ global livestream-to-tv experiment with our amazing colleagues at MTV Australia demonstrates what’s possible when we work together to leverage the dynamics of the social web and the massive scale and context of linear television.”
For the test, a show producer in a control room selected which livestreams to display. Most livestreaming platforms make the content readily available, and producers were able to sort them via the designated hashtag they asked fans to use.
“By partnering with Viacom Labs, we are developing a truly innovative and immersive fan experience never seen on television,” said Simon Bates, Vice President and Head of MTV Asia Pacific. “Marrying the technology of livestreaming with a linear broadcast catapults fan engagement into the 21st century and we’re excited to be the first market to bring the concept to life.”