Syfy’s Being Human may not be breaking new ground in terms of content – It’s a remake of a popular British series, already seen in the US on BBC America – but it is making technological moves no-one has seen before by becoming the first season-long “TV Tagging” series on the air.
Syfy is partnering with Shazam to allow viewers to use their phones to tag specific episodes and get links to exclusive web content, including previews to upcoming episodes, downloads and the chance to enter a show specific sweepstakes contest (They’ll also be encouraged to explore the music heard in every episode through further partnership deals with Shazam). This isn’t the first time Syfy and Shazam have partnered like this – The season finales of both Warehouse 13 and Eureka were part of a pilot program in 2010 – but it is the first time the initiative has been extended to a full series. According to Blake Callaway, Syfy’s SVP of Brand and Strategic Marketing, it’s all down to advertisers and viewers being excited by the idea:
The audience reaction to ‘TV Tagging’ on Syfy with Shazam was immediate and impressive, providing new opportunities for our advertising partners. After researching the viewers’ reaction and their willingness to engage with this new technology and embrace a whole new behavior – tagging the TV – we knew we had to extend the concept to a whole series.
Being Human launched on Monday, and runs for the next twelve weeks at 9pm on Syfy.
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