Over the next few months, I’ll be speaking with various executives across the television and film world to discuss their interactive strategies. If you’re interested in learning more, sign-up for our newsletter.

Copyright: Associated Press

The Associated Press is one of the leading news organizations in the world, providing content to thousands of publications. I had an opportunity to speak with Lou Ferrara, VP & Managing Editor for Sports, Entertainment, Lifestyles and Interactive at the Associated Press.

What did the AP do this year for the 2010 Games from a digital perspective?

The AP introduced a number of new efforts this year across the board. This year, the AP had Facebook and Twitter profiles. The Twitter profile was broadcasting messages from a variety of different perspectives — journalists and atheletes.

For the first time, the Associated Press also released it’s customer-facing white-label product — http://wintergames.ap.org. Content and sections on this site could be embedded by member organizations.

In terms of content, the Associated Press had the second-largest coverage of the 2010 Olympics after NBC. The AP was also publishing content across a wide range of topics — ranging from breaking-news to the culture and life at the games.

How did the coverage of the 2010 Olympics differ from the 2008 Beijing Olympics?

The largest difference in 2010 was that the desire for content from a consumer perspective had completely changed. This year, there was much more interest in personality and life at the games. Another aspect from a content perspective was to produce and distribute content that other outlets were not covering.

Estimated staff at the 2010 Olympics?

• 120 journalists.
• 30-35 support staff.

Podcasts and original content for the 2010 Olympics?

With the introduction of social media, podcasts have reduced in popularity. For the games, the Associated Press created a hosted web show to highlight the Winter Games.

Using high-quality still cameras with video capabilities?

The Associated Press is using cameras such as the Canon 5D Mark II that produce high quality photos and videos. While these cameras haven’t had a big impact yet, it’s predicted that these cameras will play a significant role in the near future.

Content for three-screens:

Producing content for 3-screens is still a challenge. For portable and mobile devices, such as the iPhone and the iPod touch, it’s acceptable to deliver lower-resolution files. However, for larger screens and HDTVs, a lower-resolution product is unacceptable.

The future of white-label products?

At this point, the AP is exploring what customers and consumers want. However, the viability of such products is still unknown. It takes time to analyze market needs and offer customer and consumer facing solutions.

Biggest challenge in the interactive space?

The biggest challenge is figuring out what’s going to work for the end-user. What do they want? Success largely depends on what the consumer needs. With the rapid progress and innovation in the social media space, it’s essential to stretch boundaries and experiment with various ideas and products.

Next step in the product deveopment enhancement?

“To keep going and to keep going faster.” Media and technology are both evolving and changing on a daily basis. Therefore, for the AP, it’s essential to keep pushing new products to the market — including determining the sustanability and viability of the different markets.

Breakthroughs at the 2010 Games:

• First customer-facing website.
• Enhnanced social-media involvement and engagement.
• Hosted video show on a daily basis.
• Better technical products and reach via web and mobile.

Over the next few months, I’ll be speaking with various executives across the television and film world to discuss their interactive strategies. If you’re interested in learning more, sign-up for our newsletter.

The Oscars are a big event for fans as well as for those in the industry. Many of them look forward to all sorts of aspects surrounding the event, ranging from fashion to film analysis. 

The show’s website, Oscars.com also has a large presence, making it one of the most popular entertainment sites leading up the the event. I had an opportunity to speak with Alexis Rapo, who oversees Oscars.com about the various digital initiatives used by the site for the 2010 Academy Awards.

How does the site keep fans interested between the nominations and the live event?

The site has done a couple of things in 2010, including introducing new content and features during this time period.

• Top 10: A week after the nominations were announced, Oscars.com rolled out its ‘Top 10′ list feature, which allows users to create their own lists, that not only relate to the current awards, but across different themes surrounding the event. Examples include: Favorite Chase Scenes, Favorite Red Carpet Dresses, Favorite All-Time Comedy, etc.
  
• Twitter: This year, Oscars.com is leveraging Twitter in a number of different ways. Many people involved with the show are posting Tweets from a variety of different perspectives, including views from the producers and those that have backstage access. These status updates are not only limited to during the event, but are being posted leading up to the event.
  
• Oscar Play Along: This interactive game allows users to predict winners. As the winners are announced live, the site will also unveil a dynamic leader board. For 2010, this feature has been expanded by introducing “social share” features.
  
• Oscars Designer Challenge: Going live on February 23rd, fans will have a chance to vote on a dress that will be worn by one of the female presenters on the show. These dresses are designed by local designers.
• Interactive video series: Oscars.com will launch an original video show on February 26th, titled ‘The Road to the Oscars.’ These videos will feature special events, backstage access, and numerous events.

How much content is produced for Oscars.com?

With over 10 interactive features prior to the event and more during the event, thousands of hours go into building Oscars.com. The conversations for the site begin as early as 10 months before the nominations.

How is Facebook and Twitter used for Oscars.com?

For Facebook, there was a live-stream of the nominations announcement via the event’s fan page. This widget could also embedded on any site. There was another Facebook event on February 15th for the nominee luncheon, which included Q&A.

The site has also introduced various social share features on Oscars.com, which allows users to share their lists or produced content via a number of different ways.

Briefly describe the user interaction on Oscars.com:

Given the attention that the Oscars command, it is essential for the site to have good user interactivity, and the sharable Top 10 lists allow the users to be part of the process. The share features introduced in 2010 also allow for more frequent and deeper engagement opportunities than previous events.

The 3 biggest days for the site are:

• Day after the event.
• Day of the event.
• Nominations day. 

How do you keep the momentum alive between the various shows?

The primary goal of Oscars.com is to drive people to watch the show. However, the goal of Oscars.org is keep fans informed and up-to-date about the Academy. Oscars.com sees a steep drop-off 7 days after the event.

Intimacy online:

During the awards show, Oscars.com streams multiple videos from different sources. 2 of them include the:

• Thank-you cam: Allows winners to say an extended ‘thank you.’
• Backstage cam: A roving camera that goes behind the scenes of the awards.

Personal favorite feature?

• For last year, the favorite feature was the backstage camera.
• This year, it’s the sharable lists feature.

Oscars.com on mobile devices:

The company has a mobile WAP site, as well as an iPhone app for the event. Both sites have the ability to view nominations and include interactive features, such as polls.

Looking at next year:

Based on the share functionality introduced in 2010, Oscars.com will analyze statistics to see how they can increase engagement across various features on the site.

Special thanks to Karen Hobson from Disney for arranging this interview. 

Over the next few months, I’ll be speaking with various executives across the television and film world to discuss their interactive strategies. If you’re interested in learning more, sign-up for our newsletter. 

In this first interview, I had the opportunity to speak with Bill Binenstock, VP of CBS Interactive. 

CBS.com is a destination for fans to learn more about their favorite CBS shows and immerse themselves outside the television set. During this conversation, we focused on numerous topics, including user generated content, YouTube and Facebook. 

How does cbs.com support prime-time programming? 

CBS.com is used in a couple ways when it comes to television programming. Prior to the show, the site publishes previews, so that the users are aware of what’s coming up. After the episode airs, it provides additional content to keep the viewer engaged between episodes. CBS also extends the “water cooler” moment for engaged audiences. 

What are some of the common interactive tools that CBS interactive uses for its different shows? 

Today, cbs.com uses a wide variety of community tools, including blogs, profiles, games, emails, (mobile) alerts, iPhone applications, social web, etc. Even forums associated with daytime programming, which historically have an older demographic, are continuously buzzing with activity. CBS.com allows users to stretch and engage deeper with the show. 

How does Facebook help a popular show, such as How I Met Your Mother?  

The Facebook fan page for the show has roughly 1.5 million fans and is amongst the top 3 fan pages for CBS programming. However, that wasn’t the case 12 months ago. Facebook helps the show in 2 ways:

1. It provides another avenue to engage with the show. 
2. It allows other people to discover the show through their friends. 

How I Met Your Mother also leverages YouTube by publishing previews. How does YouTube help the show? 

As a comedy, How I Met Your Mother is a better candidate for viral distribution than an episodic show. Short previews and jokes can go viral very quickly and can have a positive impact on the show. 

How important is it to publish frequent content for a show like How I Met Your Mother?

Preferably, it’s better to have more and more content on cbs.com because there are multiple ways to acquire content digitally. Therefore, the greater the amount of content on cbs.com, the lower the chance of acquiring and viewing content on other sites — legal or not. 

How I Met Your Mother has an Adobe AIR powered desktop application. Why create this application and how does it help? 

Different people access different assets in unique ways. As a show, How I Met Your Mother uses the web in many ways. All the URLs mentioned on the show are real and accessible. For example: www.tedmosbyisajerk.com, www.canadiansexacts.org, etc.

Adobe and CBS worked together to build this desktop application and while CBS won’t share numbers, they were pleasantly surprised with the number of downloads, with Facebook being a major driver. 

What about mobile applications? 

Mobile is of growing importance for the company. The TV.com (a CBS property) Android application was the second most downloaded application in it’s category. 

User-generated content and CBS. 

CBS has been aggressively using user-generated content as well as user-feedback across their many properties. One prime example was the recent Grammy awards, where users could vote on a music artist, who would then perform live — during the show. Consumers were also asked to upload video, which was then submitted to the Grammy production team and used during the show.