TV Characters Blog Their Way to Build Ratings

Jan. 23, 2006 — -- FX's hit show "Nip/Tuck" recently wrapped its third season by revealing the identity of the serial rapist known as "The Carver." But before he was unmasked, the character shared his innermost thoughts -- and his affinity for early 1980s pop music -- on a blog on MySpace.com.

"There was a great deal of mystery," surrounding the character, said Stephanie Gibbons, FX's vice president of marketing and promotions. "That was the perfect scenario to go online (www.myspace.com/thecarver), where you can give your viewers an experience you cannot give them on television."

Internet marketing is nothing new for the industry, but marketers are increasingly teaming up with TV producers to create original Web content, hoping to create a buzz and involve the audience in a whole new way.

Moreover, that content is increasingly being written under the guise of a show's fictional characters. The character Barney from CBS' "How I Met Your Mother" also has a blog (www.cbs.com/primetime/how_i_met_your_mother/barneys_blog), as does Dave Groves of ABC's "Invasion" (http://www.didyouseethelights.com).

Mike Benson, ABC's senior vice president of marketing, said creative content on the Web can cater to loyal viewers as well as the growing number of people who skip commercials using digital video recorders like TiVo.

"That just puts the onus on us to make our marketing more engaging," Benson said. "We're trying to please core fans, but we're also trying to make it so that they share it with their friends."

The producers of ABC's "Lost" are also developing more interactive features for that show's Web site, which currently includes a podcast where cast members and producers answer fan questions.

Todd Chanko, media analyst for Jupiter Research, said marketers are drawn specifically to blogs because of their increasing popularity and low cost compared to traditional advertising.

"Blogs have become a main part of people's media diet," Chanko said. "And the good thing about them is that they're really cheap."

In the case of "Nip/Tuck," a staff writer posted blog entries and occasionally responded to a fan message board. That FX is using the popular MySpace is no surprise -- parent company News Corp. acquired the site in July, giving it access to 48 million registered users. So far, more than 116,000 of them have linked to The Carver's profile.

"One thing MySpace is really good at is creating community," said FX entertainment President John Landgraf. "If we could use the site to connect our viewers, then it's a perfect marriage."

FX's Gibbons cautioned that marketers risk a backlash if they go overboard on social networking sites like MySpace, where users create personalized pages with little, if any, advertising.

"We were very conscious of that," she said. "You can't go into a space like that, which people have created for themselves, and put up marketing wallpaper."

Benson said that the success of these campaigns depends on the popularity of the show and the originality of the Web content.

"You will see more of it, but there is no cookie-cutter way to do this," he said.