Comedy Central's annual tradition of Stand-Up Month usually consists of online showdowns, smackdowns, trash talks and weeks of voting. In January 2012, we did something different. Instead of casting digital “votes," fans were invited to engage with a Facebook app that would allow them to watch videos from their favorite comedians and then “like" them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter. There were no restrictions on how many comedians you could like or follow – just like in real life. Throughout the month, the most popular comedians’ in the app had their pre-taped specials make the Friday night line-up on Comedy Central and served as the lead-in for the channel’s stand-up premieres each Saturday. Thus the viewers engaged with the Facebook app to directly affect Comedy Central’s on-air programming. Stand-Up Month went from a competition to a conversation. And it was good.For Comedy Central's Stand-Up Month (January 2012) we let viewers program the Friday night on-air line-up via a new Comedy Central Stand-Up Facebook app (http://mashable.com/2012/01/13/comedy-central-stand-up-app/ ). Once users “liked" Comedy Central Stand-Up (which had zero likes on January 1, 2012 – and 500K likes by the end of January), they were given access to the app itself, which featured short clips of a series of comedians. By watching, liking and following these stand-ups, viewers were casting a "vote" for these comedians. The comedians themselves were chosen for the app with social media in mind. The comedians with new specials premiering in January -- Tom Papa, Kevin Hart, J.B. Smoove and John Mulaney -- each chose talent that they like and follow on Facebook and Twitter. The comedians with the most votes on the app (Donald Glover, Aziz Ansari, Jim Gaffigan, Michael Ian Black and Chelsea Handler to name a few) had their pre-taped specials broadcasted on Comedy Central in a block of programming every Friday night in January, leading up to January’s debut specials from Papa, Hart, Smoove and Mulaney. Meanwhile the app itself, created by third-party Omnigon, won Outstanding Achievement in Website Development by the Interactive Media Awards™ in June 2012. The app was recognized for its design, usability, innovative technical features and content. The whole app was built to connect comedy fans with their favorite comedians, introduce them to like-minded stand-ups and, especially, to integrate social media more closely with on-air programming. The app also served as a sneak peek to the new Comedy Central Stand-Up website (launched October 2012): http://cc.com/standup.
http://cc.com/standup
