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“Whose Line is it Anyway?”
Network: The CW
Date: July 16, 2013
Viewers: 2.9
Key to Success: Distinguish new from old
Launching a brand new show that represents a clear break from programming norm is quite a feat for a network. For this launch, however, it was made a bit murkier, as people still watch the very same show on reruns and YouTube.
So for The CW, strategy revolved around making it crystal clear that this is the new “Whose Line,” not the old.
The unscripted improvised comedy series “Whose Line is it Anyway?,” which was taken off the air by ABC in 2004, was revived this summer for The CW. The series, now going strong on The CW and already renewed for a second season, represented quite a comeback for the improve comedy show, as well a break from the teen drama slate the network has cultivated so well. And this month, it became The CW’s most-watched unscripted series premiere in six years and its most-watched premiere since “Arrow.”
According to The CW’s Rick Haskins, EVP of marketing and digital, “Our biggest challenge was to make sure the consumer knew these were new episodes, as opposed to reruns which people were so used to.”
With a lead-in campaign starting 10 weeks before the “Whose Line” premiere, The CW wanted to first make sure people knew that this was a new iteration of the show, not merely reruns or YouTube clips. So the marketing team came up with ways to integrate the “Whose Line is it Anyway?” and CW brands, starting with videos and promos marketing two shows at once.
The “Whose Line is it Anyway?” team first did a series of improv scenes based on “deleted scenes from ‘902010,’” another CW hit.
They also did a similar improv scene with Wayne Brady singing the greatest hits of “Songs of ‘90210.’” With these spots, people who had never heard of the show began looking into it, and existing fans got excited for its comeback. By using “clear, concise messaging, and the existing brand with built-in equity of ‘Whose Line’” The CW was able to make it obvious that the show had “new episodes, funnier than ever,” according to Haskins.
In true CW fashion, they went social and digital, utilizing the talent’s social media accounts and taking into account fans’ habit of watching old clips from the show online. The CW went to Twitter with “Whose Vine is it Anyway” Vines and released blooper reels from the show on YouTube and cwtv.com.
They also took advantage of the show’s talent being successful in other realms, with a large media buy during Aisha Tyler’s “The Talk” and Wayne Brady’s “Let’s Make a Deal.”
Summing up the show’s success, Haskins agrees that The CW might not be the most obvious place for “Whose Line’s” big comeback, but according to Haskins, it was the perfect place because, simply, “Funny is funny.”
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