Having viewers vote on social media is nothing new, but MTV
is taking the idea a step further in its digital efforts for the upcoming MTV
Music Awards by showing the votes as they come in for the "Best Hero" category.
The programmer is calling the move "a first-of-its kind social voting Twitter
experience."
"Other shows have used social media for voting but what is
new here is that we are displaying the results in real time," explains Michael
Scogin, VP of mobile for MTV. "They won't just be voting and having it go off
into the ether until the results are announced. They'll be able to see how
their nominee is doing, which really taps into social media" and will encourage
fans to use social media to boost the votes of their favorite actor.
The live results will be shown for the Best Hero category,
which is being sponsored by Sprint.
Colin Helms, senior VP of digital for MTV adds that the new
live voting results is one of a number of new features that are being added to
their digital platforms to encourage viewers' involvement with the award show.
"For any of our big live events or even the scripted reality
program the goal is always to find ways to engage the audience with the show
before, during and after its airing," he noted. "We are always looking for new
ways to do that and the social voting is one example of how we are looking to
build fan excitement and the two screen experience."
The voting in the Best Hero category begins Friday for the
show, which will air June 3 on MTV.
For the awards, MTV will also introduce a new Facebook
tracker, created with Offerpop. The new version of the Facebook tracker will
highlight and visualize fan likes and shares of key show moments from the MTV
Facebook page.
During the show, MTV will also offer an extensive second
screen co-viewing experience, All Access Live. This will allow users to access
to content from different cameras and offer them a variety of additional
content and tools for discussing and sharing highlights of the show.
