In the most atypical year of quarantines and social distancing, we set out to bring our audience and viewers closer by casting a spotlight back on them--interweaving their voices and faces in the crowd into our programming more so than ever before. We identified opportunities within our existing programming and developed engagement opportunities for our viewers to actively participate with us. We were producing more, if not everything from our homes--they doubled as offices and classrooms, and we set out to create opportunities for our audience to make a connection outside the confines of their homes and feel as they're part of a larger, NFL community. When we workshopped ideas, we were inspired by "participation-tv", "gamification", and "edutainment"--a portmanteau for education + entertainment.
Our strategy was to take what we were doing and add a layer of engagement on top of our pre-existing segments and programming. That way, we would retain the intent of the segment, but with an added fan experience married to the execution.
As we were producing content from our homes, they were able to participate from theirs as well.
There's no way to sugarcoat the fact that television viewship continues to experience a decline, which is more of a reason why we actively look for mechanisms to engage with our community. Wth that said, we saw success in our metrics.
Our accompanying network Social Twitter handles grew 9.03% since the start of the 2020 Regular Season and our interactions increased nearly 300% in that span.
One of our top social integrated pieces of content that went viral this past year. Draft hopeful Ben Bartch's Smoothie Demo garnered over 7 million views world wide.
