NEW YORK — Four Next TV Awards, judged by a panel of three top media executives, were presented at the event on Nov. 12, honoring a second-screen app, a branded Internet video campaign, a program extension on the Internet and an original Internet series.
The winners are:
Best Social TV or Second-Screen App:Sharknado 2 App, Syfy and NBCUniversal. “We couldn’t be happier with the success of the Go Shark Yourself app,” Matt Romano, director of emerging platforms at NBCUniversal, said in accepting the award. “First of all, it’s probably one of the best named apps in the app store, so we’re really proud of that. For the Syfy channel, Sharknado continues to be the gift that keeps on giving. It’s one of these things that was an overnight success for us, and we’re so happy to replicate the success with Sharknado 2. We’re really excited this summer to bring Sharknado 3 to all you guys, so keep an eye on this app, because it’ll be back this summer.” The app was available in more than 10 countries, providing hundreds of thousands videos that were created and shared worldwide. Months later, the app continues to see growth, Romano said.
Best Branded Internet Video:Key & Peele Non-Stop, Comedy Central and Viacom. Key & Peele’s recurring valet characters who are obsessed with Liam Neeson were a dream fi t for Viacom’s Non-Stop. Bringing the characters together with Neeson for this custom piece allowed Comedy Central to make the dreams of these characters, and their fans, come true. The stars stoked anticipation by tweeting pictures from the set to their huge social followings. A 60-second cutdown of the 2:33 sketch ran on air, with the full version living on Comedy Central’s YouTube channel and ComedyCentral.com. Social promotion from Comedy Central handles, as well as those of the stars, amplified the reach of the content.
Best Broadcast or Cable Web Extension on the Internet:Banshee and WelcometoBanshee.com: Cinemax. Cinemax and Banshee showrunner (and transmedia enthusiast) Greg Yaitanes used digital media as a storytelling mechanism to engage viewers and offer them content beyond traditional television. The short films on the site serve as character backstories, which can be “unlocked” by fans who find episodic “Easter eggs.” The video on WelcometoBanshee.com amounts to more than 90 additional minutes — a whole movie — and all of it was shot during regular series production. Banshee, now preparing for its third season, is Cinemax’s most popular original series, with the most digitally-engaged fans to date: Viewers call themselves “Fanshees.”
Best Original Internet Series , Short or Long Form:Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, Crackle and Sony Pictures Television. Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee has been established as one of the most popular original Web series, with nearly 70 million streams. Widely praised by critics, the show was renewed in April for four additional seasons, all sponsored exclusively by Acura.
Judging the Next TV Awards were Daniel Tibbets, chief content officer, Machinima Inc.; David Wertheimer, president, digital, Fox Broadcasting Co.; and Mike Murphy, head of content partnerships, Intel.
