Lifetime Ready to Get Desperate
By Mike Reynolds -- Multichannel News, 7/23/2006 11:00:00 PM
Desperate Housewives is joining the network’s lineup Aug. 5 at 11 p.m., and Lifetime Television executives want to welcome the viewers of the women of Wisteria Lane.
The women’s-targeted service embarked on a multimedia advertising campaign behind its acquisition of the ABC hit series that not only includes billboards, magazines, radio and TV -- both on-air and cross-channel spots -- but a dedicated area on its Web site (www.lifetimetv.com).
Executive vice president of digital media and business development Dan Surratt said that beginning in the middle of this week, the area will extend beyond some show clips and background information that users can also find out about the characters on ABC.com (abc.go.com).
Playing off Lifetime’s new “My Story Is” tag line, the site will showcase moments from the series and encourage users to cast their opinions about how they relate to the scenes.
“It’s going to present us with a great opportunity to connect with viewers and find about their lives and stories,” he said.
Surratt added that the site will also house gossip content through which fans can find out about the real lives and loves of the fictional housewives played by Eva Longoria, Terry Hatcher, Nicollete Sheridan and company.
On-air, Lifetime will ply pop-ups to remind viewers that more information about the show is available on the Web site. “It’s important to create contextual promotion between the two media,” he said.
The network -- which is paying a reported $500,000 per episode to sister company Buena Vista Television for exclusive cable rights to Desperate Housewives -- can air one encore of the show until September 2008, when it can begin stripping the series. The game plan calls for Lifetime to start with the pilot of the series, which begins its third season on ABC Sept. 24.
Lifetime -- which is adding off-network acquisitions Still Standing and Reba to its weekday schedule from noon-1 p.m. and 6 p.m.-7 p.m., respectively, Aug. 7 -- also buttressed its Web presence behind original sleuth series Angela’s Eyes, adding such content as a clue-finding scavenger hunt to “really help get users within her world,” according to Surratt.
The moves are part of the process of revamping LifetimeTV.com overall. “These are the first steps in really trying to inspire viewers and users to go to and fro from the TV to the computer screen,” he said, noting that an official overhaul won’t be completed until the new year.
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