The CW will offer broadband and wireless extensions for each of its shows when the network launches this fall. It has named Yoanna House, the winner of cycle two of America’s Next Top Model, as the face of its multiplatform offerings.
The network, which will target 18- to 34-year-olds with largely a combination of programming from The WB and UPN, announced an ambitious slate of digital offerings at its New York upfront presentation to advertisers today at New York’s Theater at Madison Square Garden, including multiplatform extensions of its TV programming andl as ad-sponsored vignettes of user-submitted video that could air on the network. Deals to stream full episodes of its series and offer iTunes downloads, are in the works, says CW President of Entertainment Dawn Ostroff at Thursday's upfront presentation to advertisers.
“We know this demo and what makes them tick,” Ostroff said, telling advertisers the network would “break the mold” of what has heretofore been offered for ad opportunities. The CW, which will launch in September, will be “for the viewer, about the viewer and by the viewer.”
To that end, the network said it was planning a “Famous for 15” section of its Web site where viewers could create video using their own content. The 15-second clips could then end up on the network featuring advertisers' products if, as Ostroff put it, they were game.
House will appear on air, online and on wireless to guide viewers through the network’s digital offerings, which will include Webisodes and online diaries tied to CW series. A “Metropolis Mix” section of the Web site, for example, will feature video musical performances that air on Smallville.
