09.16.07

Reviewing The Broadcast Network Web Sites

Posted in ABC.com, CBS.com, CWTV.com, FOX.com, NBC.com at 8:46 pm by Rick Ellis

With the new season getting ready to kick off, I thought I would take a look at just how effectively the broadcast networks are highlighting their new fall shows. Considering how much time and effort the networks are putting into their online promotional strategies, I was curious to see just what a visitor could discover about a show by simply visiting the home site of the network.

I chose to highlight one show from each broadcast network, and I strove to pick both a show that had some critical buzz, and one that seems to be receiving a typical presentation from the network.

It’s not scientific, but it does offer a glimpse of how each network is promoting their new fall shows on their own sites.

ABC.com
I chose to look at “Pushing Daisies,” since this seems to be the new fall show that ABC is spending the most time promoting. So presumably, this series should be getting the most promotional love on the network web site.

The main “Pushing Daisies” page has a clean, almost sparse look to it. The video window is front and center, and is a reasonable size. The downside is that there is a huge, ugly ad window that dominates the right side of the page. It looks especially intrusive when it features nothing but a text ad.

On the right side, there are a couple of windows below the ad. One highlights two comments from message boards. I’m guessing that someone selected the quotes manually, since they are both raves. But one is from July 6th and the second from July 30th.

Below that, there is a window named “Blogs,” which is odd, since it includes two links. One to a Chicago Sun-Times piece, and the second to something from the Lexington, Ky Herald-Leader.

One somewhat geeky suggestion. If you moved the top header banner ad down the page and next to the show logo, it would push the entire page up and make for a much better viewing experience.

Basic Show Info: There is a typical show description copied from the press kit. While the bios are a bit sparse, I like the fact that there are bios for both the actor and the character. There is also a “Pie Hole” link, which leads to an odd “review” of the Pie Hole Restaurant.

Photos: Other than the small photos included with bios and other features, there aren’t any photos. It’s unusual to see a show page without a photo gallery, and I’m frankly a bit stunned not to see one here.

Video: The video autoloads, and there are some 15-second commercials interspersed in the clips. Although I wasn’t able to determine an average frequency. But they aren’t frequent, which is a plus.

Currently, there are 14 clips, although that number is a bit deceiving. A number of them are just different versions of the show promo, and another group are clips from an interview with someone from ABC.com. There are a couple of extended clips from the show and some behind-the-scenes interviews. But given the fact that this is a quirky show that’s difficult to explain, some additional video would definately be helpful.

Forum: There is a show forum, which is part of the ABC.com message forums. It’s not threaded, but it’s no worse than any of the other network forum solutions.

Mobile: There’s a mobile link to the ABC Mobile offerings, where you can download ringtones and wallpaper and sign up for alerts.

Podcasts: None.

Other features: Visitors can look at a cool “Pushing Daisies” comic book (which was given away at Comic-Con). There is also a page where you can grab wallpaper and AOL icons.

Closing thoughts: I’m quite surprised at just how sparse the offerings are here. It’s nothing you wouldn’t have found on a similar page last season, or maybe even the season before. Given the importance of this show to ABC–and the network’s refusal to stream the pilot or preview it online–it seems astounding that this page isn’t more robust.

Overall Grade: C-

CBS.com
Since “Moonlight” is still such a work in progress, I chose to focus on the new Jimmy Smits drama “Cane.”

Basic Show Info: The typical show info and cast bios, although the photos are larger than the standard, and there is a nice horizontal thumbnail navigation method to move from bio to bio. One suggestion would be to move the thumbnails from the bottom of the page to above the bios. It makes the navigation a bit more obvious and easier to use.

Photos: There isn’t an images navigation button at the top of the page, but there is a horizontal thumbnail photo navigation at the bottom (below a similar one for cast bios). Clicking on of the images opens it up in a flash-based pop-up window. On the positive side, the images are large and sharp. But by not having an images link higher on the page, I suspect many readers will miss the photos.

Video: The CBS.com Innertube video player is a favorite, and the video link on the page opens up the player to the “Cane” section. The positives are that the default window is larger than you’ll see on most network sites, and there is a full-screen option available.

The downside for “Cane” fans is that right now, there are only two clips available. One 30-second promo, and a 2:30 behind-the-scenes look at the nightclub featured in the show. While the nightclub video is nice (and is hosted by series star Eddie Matos), the video is compressed at a rate which makes it very pixillated, even at the default window setting.

Forum: No yet available (see above).

Mobile: None.

Podcasts: None.

Other features: None.

Closing thoughts: At the end of the day, there’s not much here, and certainly nothing that would prompt a return visit. That might change once the season starts, but as things stand now, the section is really not much more than a well-put together press kit.

The page does offer several show-specific widgets, but the only widget for a new series is the one for “Kid Nation.”

Overall Grade: C+

CWTV.com
Sure, it doesn’t help that someone else owns the domains CW.com and TheCW.com. And I am not a fan of the color pallet for the site, which is a bit too colorful and retro-looking for my taste.

But The CW’s web site has a straight-forward presentation that I appreciate, even though I wish there was a bit more content to navigate through.

The main page has an embedded video window which autoplays a short show promo.

The page is nicely laid out, in that, while there is a lot of other links and site promos below the fold of the page, all the links you need to access for the show itself are visible above the fold.

Basic Show Info: The typical info is here, formatted into a text window that scrolls.

Video: The video links goes to a CW video player, which autoplays the two Reaper links. The video clips look great, sharp with no pixellation. I just wish there was more to see. One nice feature is that there is an RSS feed for video.
Forum: Yes.

Mobile: There is a mobile link with wallpaper and ringtones, but nothing yet for “Reaper” or any of the other new CW shows.

Podcasts: None.

Other features: The best feature is a Reaper widget, which fans can embed into their website. It has a video window, a countdown clock and links to the Reaper site and other “goodies.” There’s also an option for embedding it in your Facebook page. While the widget itself looks a bit clunky, it’s a great idea, and I’m shocked more networks haven’t done this for their new shows.

Closing thoughts: The CW site reflects the younger demo of the network. It has a casual hipness along with a few extra features that will appeal to younger viewers. The site isn’t exactly dense with content, but it’s worth a visit if you’re interested in the show.

Overall Grade: B-

Fox.com
I picked the drama ‘K-Ville,’ which arguably is the network’s highest profile new fall drama. Teamed with the returning “Prison Break” on the very competitive Monday schedule, it’s a series can do very well if it finds an audience.

The K-Ville main page is pretty straight forward, and will seem familiar to anyone who’s visited Fox.com in the past year or two. It’s flash-driven, but not overally busy and it’s easy to find the info.

The video window is a bit small for my tastes, and I think you could make a solid arguement that it should be pushed higher up in the page. But it thankfully doesn’t autoplay, which is a definite usability plus.

Here’s what is included on the page

Basic Show Info: A show description and bios which seem to be cut-and-pasted from the show’s press kit.

Photos: You can access a dozen or so images on the front page, and there’s a link to the show’s main photo gallery page. That page has about ten images on it, and there are another eight pages of images.

The images are rotated through an embedded flash window by clicking the thumbnails on the page. But don’t be concerned that Fox is giving up any page views by not popping up the images into a separate gallery window. Each time you load a new image, the page refreshes and a new ad loads into the window at the bottom of the left-hand bottom of the page.

Video: One video box that can be loaded with one of three clips. There’s also a link that takes you to the Fox.com video player. That is loaded with a total of 11 clips from the show. The player works well, although the video window itself isn’t that large. A 30-second preroll ad runs in front of every video, and unfortunately when I was testing it, the same Army spot ran every time.

Forum: Yep, the standard Fox template built on the Prospero forum software.

Mobile: There’s a mobile link to the Fox mobile alerts, but it’s not clear just how much of that would include something of interest to a “K-Ville” viewer.

Podcasts: None.

Other features: The only other feature of note is that readers can sign up for a “K-Ville” newsletter.

Closing thoughts: A podcast would be nice, particularly with a new show. Something as simple as the cast interview format utilized by Showtime for “Weeds.”

Overall Grade: B

NBC.com
I chose NBC’s page highlighting the remake of “Bionic Woman.” NBC’s presentation was the slickest of any of the network pages. A full-screen Flash intro, and a very smooth Flash navigation layout.

But while the Flash looks great, there are a couple of issues. I found it difficult to stop the vertical scrolling navigation bar at just the section I wanted. It kept rolling past my choice, and I had the problem in several different browsers.

Also, the interior pages don’t have an obvious link back to the main page. You have to find a button that reads “Back To Teaser Site.”

And one observation on the look of the page. It was interesting to me that there isn’t an obvious link back to the main page of NBC.com. There’s not an NBC logo, and the only consistent network promo space is the small window in the upper right hand corner of the page.

Basic Show Info: The show description and bios appear in an embedded flash window on the front page when you select the appropriate selection. The information itself is typical, although to be honest, I’m not a fan of using Flash to present text info this way. I find it harder to read than the more traditional presentation, and it tends to make the page info load into the window a bit slower than if it were just a typical HTML file.

Video:
Like everything else on the site, the video page is slick and very functional. An embedded video player with a good-sized window and video which is both clear and glitch-free. There were 8 preview clips, which were primarily minute-long TV spots. There were also three “behind-the-scenes” interviews and one “web-extra” clip, which was footage of Greg Grunberg interviewing Miguel Ferrer at some red-carpet event. Overall, though, a very pleasant video experience.

One unusual thing on the page is the ability for visitors to comment on the video. The last six comments are highlighted, with links to the older posts. When I checked, a number of the posts were repeated, which either was a technology error, or impatience on the part of the visitors.

Photos: The photos are rotated through an embedded flash window. You navigate through the photo using a scrolling horizonal thumbnail navigation bar. The page is fine, but I wish there were more than 12 images. Plus, the images that are here are the same dozen or so that you can see anywhere (and the same ones that are on the NBC press site).

Forum: A pretty busy forum for the show, although I did notice a “blog” link, which led to this page. It includes a press release from March about NBC.com’s social networking plans, and some other notes and posts from April and June.

Mobile: None.

Podcasts: None.

Other features: None.|

Closing thoughts: Of all the networks, NBC presentation is the most “TV-like.” If there’s a criticism, it’s that sometimes the slickness tends to overwhelm the information. I wish there was more meat here, particularly given NBC’s strong digital skills.

Overall Grade: B+

Permalink