| Initiator |
ABC.com |
| Completion |
2008 |
| Description |
In general, a digital viewing party is akin to a mashup of Evite and instant messaging. The idea is that any group of friends watching the same television program may hold a private, online party to discuss and interact with the show, in real time, in a highly dynamic and visual way. Between 2006-2007, the concept started surfacing at conferences and industry events, but no killer viewing party applications were deployed publicly during that time. ABC, like most TV networks, was looking for new ways to entertain and retain viewers during live programming, and in early 2008, ABC.com approached the AFI Digital Content Lab about developing a viewing party prototype together.
The collaboration between the AFI Digital Content Lab mentor team and ABC.com resulted in an easy-to-use viewing party application model that allows users to create and participate in parties centered around a live broadcast of their favorite ABC show. Although the ABC.com team chose GREY'S ANATOMY as the sample series for the AFI prototype, the viewing party was conceived as an application that could work across all of ABC's TV programming, with particular emphasis on narrative-driven shows.
Special features include a virtual lobby in which users can meet others and chat while waiting for the TV show to begin. There is also a count-down clock designed to help build excitement before the start of the episode. Once the show begins, users may access and share character bios, trivia, music and other show extras in addition to chatting about the episode they are watching. Browsing available parties is simple. A ticker displays the most popular chat comments and a dynamic party browsing feature utilizes the x, y, and z axes of the screen to control a spiral of circles each representing a fan logging onto the application. Users may roll over a circle to see someone else's pop-up profile, including username, city, and a slider showing the person's most recent chat comments. If the comments are intriguing, a user may join that person’s party, while continuing to participate in their original viewing party. |
| Mentors |
ABC.com: Ted Bramble, Celeste Cefalu, Darcy Fleck, Marc Johnson
Adobe: Dave Devisser
Rubin Postaer and Associates: Brenna Hajek
United Future: Scott Holmes, Yuegu Hu, Chris Jacobs, Kris Matheney
Consultants: Marcia Zellers |
| Platform |
Broadband |
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| Direct Link |
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©2007 American Film Institute. All rights reserved.