You’ve got to hand it to CTV — they seem to have developed an excellent multi-platform model for extending one of our their most successful young-adult brands: Degrassi.
Besides the regular television debut later this month, Degrassi: The Next Generation will have the following extras.
- A double-feature style airing of back-to-back episodes, beginning November 28 on CTV and on CTV HD East/West
- It will air a pre-release of Episode 1 on the web a full week ahead of its television premiere. CTV’s newly positioned “CTV Broadband Network” (brilliant branding, in itself) will begin streaming the season premiere Tuesday, November 21 at 12 noon ET.
- Exclusive online content with 19 scripted webisodes (a.k.a. “Degrassi Minis”)
- 19 behind-the-scenes documentaries (a.k.a. “Degrassi: On the Set”)
- Two animated shorts (a.k.a. “Degrassi Mangasodes”)
- All 40 bonus-elements will be available on-demand throughout the season via The CTV Broadband Network.
And, just in case that wasn’t enough, in addition to the multi-platform campaign in support of the series, CTV has released Degrassi: Extra Credit, a multiple-volume series of graphic novels that expand on Degrassi plotlines.
Sooner or later, we’re all going to hit a tipping point where this kind of multi-platform programming is simply the way television has to be done. In that future, no television executive in their right mind would air a show without extensive support online (and I’m not talking about just a blog or podcast here and there).
In other words, the television show simply becomes something of a necessary evil.
Did CTV just force the entire TV industry into coming a little bit closer to that future, or is CTV’s Degrassi push too far ahead of its time? What do you think?
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| Drama, Programming, The Media Landscape |
I think their timing is just right. Their target audience is still in primary and secondary school. They are priming these kids for a bright future in consuming multi-platform television/advertisement.
Given who their target audience is (and it’s not people my age, despite the number of friends I have who are obsessed), I don’t think they can be too far ahead of its time. I don’t know what the content is like, but they seem right on target with the platforms.
Degrassi is just depressing now. In the old days on the Ceeb, the old series used to QUESTION society, like abortion, drunk driving and teenage pregnancies… the current series pales in comparison. “Degrassi:TNG” does have the sponsors, the audience and the screaming teenagers, but it doesn’t have the SOUL it used to have.
Try this plot: One episode, a character gets drunk and… *flashes*… her upper goods. This video was recorded by the son of a member of the school’s administration on one of those little camcorders. This video is used for blackmail and eventually airs on school televisions, destroying this character’s credibility.
First of all, many schools can’t afford televisions, they’re all spending this money on worthless items like… textbooks. And what kind of a plot is this going to REALISTICALLY show up in today’s schools? I doubt it, unless there’s some sinister A/V club members out there…
Sure, the advertising money’s there. But where’s the part where current teenagers can relate to?