Nickelodeon's SCREENS UP, a free companion app available on the App Store and Google Play, allows Nickelodeon fans to experience TV like never before through eye-popping Augmented Reality (AR) experiences that play in concert with Nickelodeon linear programming.
These AR moments appear to be happening in your physical space, breaking the fourth wall and spilling into your living room– a first in the US market!
Additionally, the app serves as a robust second-screen experience for this augmented programming, enabling viewers to play games, take polls, and, often, literally affect what happens in the show they're watching!
Over half of kids multitask while watching TV, creating distractions that could cause them to lose interest in televised content. Though this is problematic for networks like ours, we saw an opportunity to combine the best elements of social media, gaming and augmented reality to take our content to the next level and interact with our viewers in a whole new way— boosting program retention and driving ratings.
Through a unique collaboration between Nickelodeon and four agencies/tech partners spanning three countries, we utilized months of research, development, iterating, and testing to bring SCREENS UP to life. The app's launch was paired with Kids' Choice Sports 2018 (which aired Friday, July 20 at 8/7c). Its usage was interwoven with the on-air show script for maximum interactivity by viewers/users.
Thus, we utilized the app's available products (AR functionality, live votes, trivia, polls, meme makers, video, and more) to create a streamlined complementary experience that kept focus on the TV screen while maximizing device users' autonomy and involvement in the show.
Initial downloads of the app surrounding Kids' Choice Sports exceeded expectations with three quarters of users reporting that the app made them feel connected to the programming and want to continue watching. Users continue to download and engage with evergreen functionality and additional programming stunts. In a massive win during Danger Things, SCREENS UP retained 98% of its lead-in users.